She is doing really, really well. She eats anything we give
her, she is sleeping all night and taking a two hour nap during the day, she
loves playing with her sisters, and she has (mostly) done very well at trying
new experiences. We get asked a lot about how much she understands – it is so
amazing what she seems to understand. Before April 8 she had never heard
English, and now she can follow 2 or 3 step commands, she doesn’t seem
frustrated like she can’t understand us, and she even nods or shakes her head
at the right times every once in awhile! It’s pretty amazing to us how much
receptive language she has and we are hopeful that her expressive language will
grow so much after her palate surgery in August. Even still, she has so many
sounds that she makes, which also makes us hopeful that speech therapy will go
well. She is also signing more, all done, thank you, and please.
Our lives have been pretty consumed with doctors’
appointments since arriving home. It has honestly been a little overwhelming
for me at times: going to all the appointments (in Houston, mostly), scheduling
appointments, speaking with the insurance company, calling for results of blood
work, calling to confirm appointments – we knew this would be the case, but it’s
just a lot to manage when learning to manage three kids itself is a lot! This
week we have three appointments, all in Houston, and I’m so thankful for all
the help we’ve had with Kendall and Cooper. We really could not do this without
the help of our friends and family and we’re so, so thankful.
Kendall and Cooper are doing so well with Calli. They just
love her and immediately saw her as part of our family – and that hasn’t
changed as the “newness” has worn off. Kendall has been such a big help and has
seemed so mature since we came home. Cooper loves Calli so much, but they are
so close in age that she gets a lot of Calli’s reactions to having grown up
around lots of other kids, having had to defend herself. She will hit at Coop
when Cooper comes to sit with me, or when she wants the toy she has, or
whatever. It makes Cooper sad, but she seems to be picking up on me saying that
“we just have to teach her what to do and what not to do” and now she will say
to me, “Mom, we have to teach her that.” She has also seemed so much bigger
since we’ve been home and I can’t believe she’s going to be three in August!
Calli seems to be doing really well with attachment, but
this is still something that is hard for us to gauge. She lets me do things for
her, wants me to hold her, and will sit in my lap and snuggle with me, just
like she does for Randy. Most of the time she stays close to us in public, but
several times she has walked away with no concern for whether or not we are
following her. People will say, “Oh, she’s
so friendly!” but that’s not necessarily a good thing that she will just go
anywhere when we’re out. She will still sometimes reach for other people to
pick her up, and times like these show us we still have a ways to go in the
area of attachment. We still are asking that when we are out in public that you
don’t reach for her or try to pick her up. She gets very easily overwhelmed and
overstimulated when we are in crowds. Last week we had a hard week at church.
By the time I dropped Kendall and Cooper off in their class, and made my way to
the foyer to see Randy, Calli was completely overwhelmed and upset. Her eyes
were big and she was clinging to me. Randy is preaching this week, so the girls
and I are having to stay home – I need his help during the service to take
Calli to the foyer during the message. Also, when he has gone on the stage to
make an announcement or do the welcome, she gets upset and wants to go with
him. It wouldn’t go well if she was in there when he is preaching! I keep
telling myself it’s just a season, but I really miss being at church!
We had our first experience with staying away from home this
past weekend. We met Gigi and Peeps and Val and her three at Jellystone Park in
Waller to camp. It was so much fun and great to get away, but it was too much
too soon for Calli. She didn’t sleep well and we think maybe it was just too
soon to be out of the cocoon. The second night went much better than the first,
but we’ll definitely be sticking close to home for awhile now! It’s hard to
know what she will do well with and what will be too much, so I’m sure we’ll
make a few mistakes along the way. We’ll just keep following her lead and
making decisions that are best for her.
So I think our biggest adjustment at this point is to having
three girls. It’s so much fun and also so crazy! Especially with them this
young and this close in age – there is just always someone – usually at least
two people - who need me. And Calli is so busy. She has learned to climb the
bunk bed ladder, she loves to dump out the contents of drawers, and she never
stays focused on anything for too long. Typical stuff for this age, but oh so
busy!
Such a full two months! Travel around China, home to Texas,
first to Ft. Worth then to Lake Jackson, meeting her big sisters, lots of
doctor visits, lip surgery and recovery, first times at church, the library,
friends’ houses, dinners out at restaurants, the splash pad, visits from her
grandparents, swimming, camping, riding on the golf cart, riding in a car seat,
sleeping in her own bed, playing at the park, swinging, swinging and more
swinging. We’re so proud of how well she’s doing and can’t imagine our family
without her in it. We are so thankful for her and can’t wait to see what the
next two months hold!
