The Good, the Sad, and the Fussy

 

We stayed in the room all day today, so far.  It was nice to rest and just be together.  Yesterday was so busy.  We intended on going to a bookstore across the street, but didn’t make it.  I want to get some Chinese videos for Jia and maybe some picture books too.

Last night, she had a really rough time.  Bedtime seems to be the hardest.  I’m sure she had a nice routine with her foster family.  Ours is still a little awkward.  She cried hard for about 30 minutes.  Then she woke up about 2 hours later crying hard again.  It really breaks my heart.

I’m so amazed by her.  Her heart must be breaking too, but she’s so resilient and trusting.  She wants to be with us so much, but I can tell it hurts to leave all those loved ones behind. 

I’ve had a few more “What was I thinking?” moments as I get my mommy-of-a-toddler bearings.  Last night, I asked her if she was tired.  She looked at me sheepishly.  I think she wanted to say no and just stay up and play some more, but she knew she shouldn’t.  Then I brushed her teeth and said, “It’s time for bed.”  She obediently hopped into bed.  I totally forgot to potty her!  So when she woke up two hours later, she was soaked.  Mommy fail!  I’m sure that contributed to the second bout of tears. 

Then today, I let her play on the white bed with a red marker.  Um…hello…She’s five.   What was I thinking?  And you guessed it.  She set the marker down and voila…big red spot!  Thankfully, they were washable, which actually means, ‘this marker will come out with tons of soap and 30 minutes of scrubbing’.  Whew!  Crisis averted and I’m starting to get the hang of toddler parenting again.

I’m amazed at how attached she is to Rachel.  She lies next to her with her legs draped over her.  It’s like they’ve been sisters forever.  Poor Rachel has a nasty cold and slight fever.  Despite feeling crummy, she’s always excited to play with Jia.  She is such a blessing. 

Jia recognizes Alli and Erin on Skype too.  She says, “Hi, sisters,” over and over.  When some neighbor girls came on Skype to see her and say hi, Jia shook her head no.  She wanted her sisters back.  She’s bonding with her sisters over Skype!  I’m so happy for that.  (Emma and Lily, she will warm up to you.  I promise.) J

I’ve been saying more things out of the book “Simple Chinese Language for Adoptive Families”. (Heather- thank you so much for the recommendation.  We would be having a very different week if it weren’t for that book!)  Jia was given some of her preschool books to bring with her and she writes one through five in English very well.  I was so surprised.  In Chinese, I told her, “You are so smart!”  She loved that.  Now, she brings me the book and wants me to tell her things.  We’ve told her, “I love you,” a lot of times and “you’re so pretty” lots too.  She loves that we are communicating with her.  I wish we could understand more of what she’s saying.

We brought a Ni Hao, Kai-Lan video and she loves it.  She has figured out how to operate the computer and loads it all by herself now.  She’s mimicking the video already and is saying “hello”, “Kai-Lan”, and other things.  She’s also copying a lot of what we say. 

We’ve had to start saying “no” to her.  She doesn’t like it much and starts crying.  But, she prefers jelly beans to noodles, so we’ve had to step in and redirect her to the real food.  She has some orphanage behavior, of course.  She doesn’t want any of us to touch her things unless she gives us permission.  She has a little whine that escalates until the item is returned.  We’re being sensitive to that.  Sharing will come in time.  That said, she does share quite a bit, especially her food. 

I think I understand why she has so many cavities.  She holds food in her mouth for a long, long time.  That includes the sweet yogurt drink she likes and all sorts of food.  Hmmm…not sure yet how to handle that, except to eliminate sweet drinks once we’re home.  I guess that’s a start.

Tonight we are having dinner with an American family that lives here and works at a University.  I really can’t wait to chat with them.  They speak Chinese, so they interpret too. 

We are missing Alli and Erin terribly.  Daddy will be home soon, girls.  I’m so sad not to be able to tuck you in every night and have our little chats.  I can’t wait to see you both.

Here are a couple of pics from today.  More later.