She also laughs at her brothers a lot. Sometimes I think they wonder what is so funny, but all she has to do is hear their voices and she laughs. She loves to be with them and follows them around the house. We've also seen her disappear, and go off by herself. I'll find her in the dining room, or sitting on the stairs. It must get so overwhelming at times. She has a new family she's still getting to know, and all she hears is a totally unfamiliar language. It's amazing to me with what she's gone through, and is still going through, that she can laugh so often!
She is still very shy and timid with others. When we're around other people she wants to be held, but she is opening up a little more there too. She'll now usually look at the person, rather than hide her face in my shoulder. When we walk to the bus stop, she likes to get down and walk herself. As soon as the other parents and siblings arrive, she wants to be picked up, but she's now watching the other kids and has even smiled at the little girl down the street. Of course when she sees Alex's bus, it's all I can do to hold on to her! She jumps around in my arms and squeals, and laughs. She is soooo excited to see her big brother. Alex always comes over and gives her a big hug. Then she wants to get down and run home with her brother, laughing all the way.
We haven't seen a lot of "orphanage behavior". Maybe it is because she went home with her nanny, who was more like a foster mother, so often. We did notice in China that sometimes she would take her snack and go to a corner and turn her back, basically "hiding" to eat it. Since we've been home, we've had one incident where she found a piece of chocolate and hid in a dark corner of the study to eat it. When I found her (not knowing what she was doing), she handed me the partially unwrapped chocolate, and fled into the other room. It took me a little time to get her to look at me again........and, I did give her the chocolate. She is also eating a lot right now. It may be that she never had quite enough to eat, or maybe it's all the new flavors. From the information we were given, she had a very bland diet. Right now she'll eat anything, except cheese. And Mom..........she loves Grandma's spaghetti sauce and meatballs! She cleaned her bowl tonight!
There are so many times that I wish I could explain things to her and she could understand. It was different with Michael. Although he understood Korean, he was just a baby and was dependent on us for everything. Lily is her own little person. She has her habits and ways of doing things. I can't explain to her that we are her forever family and will never leave her. I can't tell her that this is her home, and unlike the 2 previous hotels, we won't be moving again. I can't explain to her that it's ok to ask me for the piece of chocolate, and that she doesn't have to hide from me. She doesn't understand how much we love her and how happy we are that she's our daughter/sister. I talk to her throughout the day about what we're doing, and where we're going. She usually looks at me and smiles (or laughs!), but I know she doesn't completely understand. She is understanding more every day though. She understands if I ask her to go potty, or when it's time to eat, or if she wants some water. She knows 'all done', and 'more', and of course all of her brother's names. She also knows how to give a high 5! She still hasn't tried to repeat any english words, and remains rather quiet with the exception of an occasional Chinese phrase. I've heard that some children will wait a few months, and then start talking in short sentences. I look forward to the time that I can "talk" with Lily. I know she'll remember her time in China and when she met us. I can't wait to hear about it from her perspective.
Lily has become quite affectionate with me. She'll run up behind me and hug my legs. If I hold out my arms, she'll run to me and jump in my arms. Sometimes she pretends to run away, but when I chase her, she'll turn around and run towards me........laughing of course! Friday, while we were waiting in the carpool line, I leaned over to kiss her and she turned her head. (with a smile) When I tried again, she started shaking her head really fast. She thought it was just too funny that I kept trying while she shook her head. Now she does it all the time, whenever she thinks I'm going to kiss her. I just love that playful side of her. I love that she feels comfortable enough with me to run to me laughing, and throw herself at me! I know we still have a long ways to go with our bonding, but it sure feels like we've made a good start!
Unfortunately, she still very reserved with Daddy. I know how much Ruben longs for her to run to him for a big hug, but she's just not ready yet. She does let Daddy hold her, and she's been smiling and playing games with him, but from a distance. We try to make sure that she gets a lot of "daddy time" in the evenings. Tonight when I was putting her to bed and she was giggling, I told Ruben that I can't wait to be downstairs and hear the giggles coming from her room as Daddy puts her to bed.
Speaking of bed time and sleep, we decided to stop her naps last week. That seemed to be a time of a lot of tears and crying out in Chinese. After crying, she would only sleep a short time, and then cry more upon waking. This was usually during the time I was trying to do school work with Alex. She doesn't seem to miss her naps and likes the extra time with Alex. Night time has been going pretty well. She awakens sometimes and whimpers, but goes back to sleep easily. She is sometimes 'mad' when she wakes in the middle of the night. She'll kick at the blankets (she does not like blankets), and kick at us, but she goes back to sleep and wakes up happy.
Last night (Tuesday) was a big night as we moved her into her own room! She was fine when I first put her down, but after about 10 minutes, she started to cry. She kept crying out the same phrase in Chinese, and nothing I did seem to comfort her. Finally I asked if she wanted some water (that's not what she was saying), and she nodded yes. I gave her some water, and put her back to bed and she fell asleep. We fully expected her to wake and cry during the night, but she slept until 7:30am!!!! We are so happy!! Tonight I put her down, and she didn't cry at all. We'll see how the rest of the night goes, but I'm optimistic. Last night was also the first night that Michael did not get up. Finally, a night we could sleep straight through!
Last Thursday was Lily's first doctors appointment. No surprises, which is good. She's 26.75lbs, and 35".......just a little thing. We now have to head to the lab for blood work, and stool samples. Besides the lab, our next stop will be the Urologist for a scan of her kidneys. Then it's to the Dentist to decide what to do with her teeth. It appears, like many babies in China, she was given a bottle of sugar water at bedtime. The tongue protects the bottom teeth when sucking on the bottle, which is why her bottom teeth look so good. Sugar water at bed time and no teeth brushing are a bad combination. Lily will have a lot to deal with in the days and months to come.
We are truly blessed to have this precious girl in our lives. We look forward to watching her grow in our family.
Watching Curious George (Lily's favorite show), while Mommy gets ready in the morning.
Trying on her jewels
Lily discovers the kitchen
Alex monkeying around (in case you're wondering, those are sandals on his arms!)
We want to go play outside!
Lily loves the shopping cart at the grocery store!
Dressing up in high heels with Lily
Michael lounging while he takes in some football
All the kids wanted to try on the play aprons. Well, Alex didn't. He said they were for girls. This is coming from the kid who was walking around in high heels the day before!
Playing together
Lily hasn't show much interest in dolls yet, but she loves the strollers
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