My Little Blossom Blooms
Two years ago today, we were in China finalizing Maggie's adoption at the US embassy. So, tonight I went back and read those posts. I haven't read them in sometime (sorry for all the typos) and I found the posts amusing and a little heartbreaking all at once.
Maggie had a rough time with us in China and a rough time when we first came home. I still can't watch our Family Day video of her...the look of terror on her face breaks my heart. When she came to us, she was starting to show signs of malnutrition, she was covered with eczema and she was covered with nervous hives from the stress of being adopted. Unlike her sister, Maggie's lungs were healthy and she could scream louder and longer than any child on our trip. Today, when I think back on those days, read my old blogs and watch the video, it is hard for me to believe that wild little baby is the same child I'm raising now.
Fast forward two years and Maggie is a normal, happy three-year-old. She loves life, her family and friends. She has a very wacky personality and is only quiet when she sleeps. These days most of the noise she makes is English, but she does occasionally just babble to herself for fun. Half the time, she is singing some song I don't recognize, because she gets the words wrong all the time. Even when she falls asleep, she makes this little clicking noise with her tongue. That noise is the only proof I have she is still the same baby we adopted.
As her teacher said during our parent/teacher conference, "Maggie does everything big." If she's coloring, she uses the most colors and covers the most paper. If she's pretending, she is the most gracious princess, the most terrifying tiger, the most helpless baby (and these are just today's 'pretends') that you have ever seen. And when she smiles, she lights up a room.
Of course, she still doesn't really like men-except her dad, fruits and vegetables, milk that isn't chocolate and wearing clothes that are not her choice. She does like her wankie (blanket), her pink cowboy boots, anything chocolate and anything sweet, and doing arts and crafts. She is remarkably coordinated, incredibly funny and insanely neat.
I've thought a lot about why things were so rough for her early on. My intuition tells it was a combination of things. She grew 7 inches in the first 7 months she was with us, she got about 12 teeth in the same time period, and she was most likely going through sugar withdrawal. So, we definitely had some physical things happening. But also (and this took me a LONG time to figure out), I believe she was afraid of her crib. Once I let her nap on the couch and sleep in our bed if she woke up, her disposition began improving, because she was rested. The majority of her sleep issues were resolved once she started sleeping in a toddler bed and with the departure of the sleep issues, the happy girl came home to stay.
With two girls so close in age (only 19 months apart), I rarely have a chance to sit and think about how far we've come. With Maggie, it's been like watching a flower bloom. She didn't take to her transplanting at first, but with time, patience and love, she's blossomed. And we're so very grateful this Thanksgiving to be sharing her journey.
A belated happy family day to my Magster. We're looking forward to many, many more.
Maggie had a rough time with us in China and a rough time when we first came home. I still can't watch our Family Day video of her...the look of terror on her face breaks my heart. When she came to us, she was starting to show signs of malnutrition, she was covered with eczema and she was covered with nervous hives from the stress of being adopted. Unlike her sister, Maggie's lungs were healthy and she could scream louder and longer than any child on our trip. Today, when I think back on those days, read my old blogs and watch the video, it is hard for me to believe that wild little baby is the same child I'm raising now.
Fast forward two years and Maggie is a normal, happy three-year-old. She loves life, her family and friends. She has a very wacky personality and is only quiet when she sleeps. These days most of the noise she makes is English, but she does occasionally just babble to herself for fun. Half the time, she is singing some song I don't recognize, because she gets the words wrong all the time. Even when she falls asleep, she makes this little clicking noise with her tongue. That noise is the only proof I have she is still the same baby we adopted.
As her teacher said during our parent/teacher conference, "Maggie does everything big." If she's coloring, she uses the most colors and covers the most paper. If she's pretending, she is the most gracious princess, the most terrifying tiger, the most helpless baby (and these are just today's 'pretends') that you have ever seen. And when she smiles, she lights up a room.
Of course, she still doesn't really like men-except her dad, fruits and vegetables, milk that isn't chocolate and wearing clothes that are not her choice. She does like her wankie (blanket), her pink cowboy boots, anything chocolate and anything sweet, and doing arts and crafts. She is remarkably coordinated, incredibly funny and insanely neat.
I've thought a lot about why things were so rough for her early on. My intuition tells it was a combination of things. She grew 7 inches in the first 7 months she was with us, she got about 12 teeth in the same time period, and she was most likely going through sugar withdrawal. So, we definitely had some physical things happening. But also (and this took me a LONG time to figure out), I believe she was afraid of her crib. Once I let her nap on the couch and sleep in our bed if she woke up, her disposition began improving, because she was rested. The majority of her sleep issues were resolved once she started sleeping in a toddler bed and with the departure of the sleep issues, the happy girl came home to stay.
With two girls so close in age (only 19 months apart), I rarely have a chance to sit and think about how far we've come. With Maggie, it's been like watching a flower bloom. She didn't take to her transplanting at first, but with time, patience and love, she's blossomed. And we're so very grateful this Thanksgiving to be sharing her journey.
A belated happy family day to my Magster. We're looking forward to many, many more.
posted by One Lucky Mom @ 7:06 PM
1 Comments:
At 3:37 PM ,
Chris Ayers & Kelly Kline said...
I'm with you on the crib factor. Helen's time in a crib was very short-lived, and sleep improved dramatically with its departure. I wish I had known in advance -- I certainly wouldn't have bothered to make the investment for only a few months worth of use, not to mention the sleepless nights!
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