MIA

Sorry guys – been real busy around here.  I do have some pictures but I haven’t even gotten them off the camera yet!  Baseball is going full force.  L’s team is in the play-offs.  Then he starts Jr. Legion.  Summer is right around the corner!

 

I wanted to put up a few quick videos.  I got myself a Flip and I really like it!  Its small, easy to use and even easier to upload to the pc.  T likes it because I can put her on the TV! 

 

The first video is T telling me about her day and a story. 

 

This second video is for my sis!  She sent Little T a cute ladybug umbrella.

What is Her True Special Need?

When we decided to adopt from China we got into the healthy as young as possible line.  We didn’t even think about going special needs.  In fact, the words “special needs” scared us.  We were logged in on May 30, 2006.  At that time we were told we would have our referral in 9 to 12 months.  As we all know this didn’t happen and we waited and waited.  I started doing some research and talked to Big T about getting in the special needs line.  I especially wanted a heart baby because of all I learned about the heart when my mom was so sick.  Big T?  Well, he wanted nothing to do with a heart baby.  When we got that call, that wonderful call, I called him and told him to get to a computer so he could see his little girl.  After he saw her picture I told him she was a heart baby.  Was he mad?  Yep, just a little but he knew she was his daughter so he got over it pretty quick. 



Once we got home with her we made an appointment with our pediatrician who referred us to Wake Med and a pediatric cardiologist.  (We were under the impression that her heart hadn’t been fixed but when I got to China I found out she had been operated on about a month before we got her.)  So, we go to the pediatric cardiologist and get some tests done.  He was very pleased with China’s work on her heart and told us that she is fine and he didn’t need to see us anymore.  Praise the Lord!!  We were so happy!!



As we went along our merry way I noticed she wasn’t talking.  Yes, she just spent 2 years of her life in an orphanage where they spoke a different language.  But she understood us, would do what we asked her.  What was going on?  She was referred to EI where they started her on speech therapy and occupational therapy.  The OT was for chewing because at 26 months old she didn’t know how to chew.   That is another story for another time.  The EI was happening 2x a week.  Then when she turned 3 she went under the county and started speech therapy with them 2x a week at her pre-school.  I wasn’t happy with her progress so I made an appointment with her old EI speech therapist for another evaluation.  That is when we learned she has verbal apraxia. 



Wait a minute!!  That isn’t her special need!  No one said anything about verbal apraxia!  But there it was, in black and white.  Little T, who will turn 4 next month, can not talk like a normal soon to be 4 year old.  She can’t carry on a conversation, she can’t tell me about her day at school, she can’t tell me if someone was being mean to her.  Since I’m with her all the time this doesn’t bother me but when I’m around another 3 year old that can talk your ears off, my heart just aches for her.   Its so hard for me sometimes when I hear a young child talking and laughing with their mom or dad.  Will she ever be able to do that?  


We didn’t put verbal apraxia as a need that we would “accept” on our little checklist we gave to our agency.  In fact, it wasn’t even ON the checklist!    But here it is, in our lives, as her true special need.

Snow!!!!

The weather man was right for a change!!  We got around 5 or 6 inches of snow and its the good packing, throwing snowball, building snowman type of snow.  Little T loves being out in it.  When she walks around it makes that crunch sound and she just giggles away.

 

 

The Dirty Snowman!!

 

KaCee catching a snowball.  Stupid dog…

 

 

Little T making a snow angel.  Every time she would fall off the boogie board she would make one!

 

 

 

The southern way to sled….boogie board!!!!!

 

 

 

Wipe out!!

 

 

 

 

 

Another wipe out!

 

 

Lets talk about talking

I had Little T evaluated by another speech therapist.  I just haven’t been very happy with her progress through the school ST.  She sat down with her and had her point out different things in pictures like where is the boy under the table or where is the girl going up the stairs.  Little T did awesome in this!  She asked her to point to her different body parts and a few other little things.  Then she got down on the floor with her and just played with her.  She listened to her interact with me, watched her while she played and continued to ask questions to Little T and then to me about her.  When it was all done and said she told me that she understands everything and can follow complex instructions.  (ok – nothing new there!)

 

 

 

 

 

Then she asked me if I continued to hear the same sounds like she was – the d’s and some other sounds when she was babbling.  I said yep.  She asked her to say momma and then milk.  Momma came out wonderful, milk came out “il” (and of course she signed it!).  The therapist then asked me what I knew about verbal apraxia.  Actually, I told her, quite a bit!  Every time I did research on the internet about her being non-verbal I came back time and time again to this same thing. 

 

The ST then went on to say that she didn’t want to put Little T in this “box” as she called it.  She didn’t want to put a label on her because once a child has a label like this it becomes hard to change it.  I told her to go ahead and do it because then the insurance would pay for private therapy which was my ultimate goal in the first place!! 

 

 

Verbal apraxia – scary stuff.  What does this mean for our sweet girl?  It means nothing in the sense that she’s still our beautiful little girl that we love and adore.  It does mean that we will have to work harder with her and for her.  She’ll be going to speech therapy 4x a week instead of just 2x a week.  After more research I learned that fish oil can help her so I’ve started giving her Nordic Naturals ProEFA (omega 3,6,9) and EPA.  (You guys should see me squeezing the oil out of the pills.  She holds the spoon, I squeeze and she takes it and waits for more.)

 

 

What will the future hold for her?  Only God knows that answer. I do know that this won’t stop her – she’s to much of a little spit fire to let anything as trivial as this stop her.  She gets her point across through sign language and attitude.  Will she ever talk normal?  Yes, I think she will but again, it will take hard work and dedication by both of us.    

 

 

 

 

Christmas and a visit from the T’s!

Little T enjoyed Christmas this year though she seemed to be a little overwhelmed again.  She opened up her Itty Bitty baby from American Girl and got so excited!  She also got a backpack with it that had a few other pieces of clothing.  Oh my, I think I changed that doll’s clothes a hundred times Christmas Day!

The above picture is Little T taking a picture of me while I was taking a picture of her!  She loves her new camera!

 

My oldest came home a few days after Christmas for a nice visit.  We can’t believe how big Baby H is getting!  She’s not quite as tall as Little T but she weighs about 3 or 4 pounds more and is as cute as a button! 

As you can see from the above picture Little T was very excited to have Baby H here!

Heh…here they are waiting for their daddy’s to come home.  They were at the window yelling “Dada!!”.  In fact, Little T is right here and when she saw this picture she yelled “DaDa!!”

 

 

I love the picture below!!  Look at those eyes on my babies…

 

 

And if you can stand any more cuteness here are some pictures of my girlfriends little girl.  Isn’t she just adorable??!!  I crack up every time I see her in pink because her momma does NOT like pink at all.  Too funny!

Discrimination

I never thought I’d experience discrimination.  Sure, I’ve been teased, picked on, all that but discrimination?

Let me start from the beginning.  Many of you know that we are friends with some Chinese people who own a few restaurants here in town.  They are great people and and we enjoy their company.  Recently his brother sent his two kids over from China.  An 11 year boy and a 9 year old girl.  They are very sweet kids and are trying their best to get used to America.  Can you imagine being thrust into a school where you don’t even speak the language?  They started school a few days after they arrived.  How brave is that?? 

Anyway, Pan brought the boy over to my house on Friday and said that he hurt his elbow, had no strength in it.  The poor kid just looked at me and I could tell he was miserable.  Instead of taking them to the hospital I took them to my pediatrician.  When we went up to the receptionist she asked if we had an appointment and I said no and explained to her what happened.  

Here’s the conversation:

Snotty Receptionist (SR):  Have we seen him before?

Me:  No,  he will be a new patient.

SR:  We need his records from his other doctor.

Me:  We don’t have any of his records.  They are in China.

SR:  You mean you don’t have any records for him, even from where he was born?  Has he NEVER seen a doctor before?

Me:  Not here in the US.  He is from China and all of his records are there.

SR:  Well, I don’t think we will be able to see him without his records.

Me:  Why not?

SR:  Well…do they have insurance?

Me:  By “they” do you mean his dad?  No, he does not but he will pay cash today.

SR: They have no insurance?

Me:  No, but he will pay cash today.

SR:  Well…I can’t believe they don’t even keep records!

Me:  Yes, his parents have records but they are in China.

SR:  Can’t you call over there and have them faxed here?

Me:  No, sorry, its not that easy. 

Finally an angel in the back said it was okay that we don’t have his records and for us to have a seat and someone would be with us shortly.  The doctor was extremely nice as was his nurse.  Their receptionist needs to take some lessons on manners!  I was shocked at her attitude towards Pan and this sweet boy.  I can’t imagine how they would have felt if I wasn’t there.   When I told Big T about the incident he said that he was glad I was with him to help out.   By the way, after x-rays we were told that nothing was broke and we needed to get his shirt back on so they could put his arm in a sling.  When trying to manipulate his shirt Pan grabbed his arm and kind of pulled it back and we heard a “pop” and then a loud scream (heh…boy…can he scream!).  After that he was fine!  The doctor ran back him and we told him what happened and he said that obviously the elbow was out of joint and we popped it back in.  Jeez….  :) 

Later that evening I started thinking about the whole thing.  Is this something that Little T is going to experience or will she have it easier because she speaks English?  What if she never talks and has to use sign language?  Will she be looked down on like the SR did to Pan? Is this what he faces everyday because he is different?   How do I protect her from the ugliness that is abound in this world? 

That’s a hard question and I’m not sure I can protect her.  I can prepare her though.  I can teach her that everyone deserves respect no matter who they are or where they come from.  I can help her grow up to love herself for who she is. I can teach her about God and his love for her and then, I can pray that the lessons I’ve tried to teach her will help her handle the difficult times. 

Nap Time is No More!!

Well, I think Little T has decided she no longer wants to nap.  This is good and bad.  Bad in that she is home while I'm working in the afternoon so I'm going to have to come up with something to keep her busy for a few hours.  Any ideas?  And then good because she will go to bed at 8 which means I actually have some down time!!  Yeah!!!!! 

This morning while cruising around I saw a blog who "Elfed" themselves.  Then I remember doing that to the boys a few years back and thought what the heck, I"ll go do it to them again.  This time I added a few extra people!  Enjoy

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween, Thanksgiving and some other stuff

We dressed Little T up her the costume she wore last year.  Since she really doesn’t remember last Halloween I could get away with this.  Next year?  Who knows!!
We let her clean out her pumpkin this year too.  She really didn’t know what to think of the stuff inside.  You can see L’s hand helping her.  Oh..and she’s wearing her gymnastics outfit!






For Thanksgiving we went to my BIL’s house.  It’s always nice to spend a holiday with your relatives.  They have accepted Little T into the family in such an easy way that its like she has been here since day 1!!










She made her first gingerbread house this year!!!  Not bad for her first time – she actually had candy left to put ON the house instead of IN her mouth!

And here’s a picture of what happens when you have a 3 1/2 year old and you leave her alone for a bit while you are working!!  Yes, she was “working” to and decided to tape up her work on the TV! 



I’m actually done shopping for everyone except for the stocking stuffers and the usual socks and undies.  We can’t wait for Christmas morning this year!  She will not be as overwhelmed as she was last year so it should be a hoot!  We got her a new Ittby Bitty Baby from American Girl, a Jeep Rubicon, a bike glider (heh…she’s riding that right now!  better put it away for Christmas) some puzzles, books, clothes, crayons, etc.  I can’t wait!!  I’d tell you what L got this year but he might actually decide to read the blog so I better not.  Today or tomorrow I plan to get the Christmas photo done of L and Little T so I can get the cards out by next week. 

On another note, this time of year is always bitter sweet for me.  Putting up decorations, hearing Christmas carols, decorating the tree…it all brings back the flood of memories that I have of my mom and dad.  I wish they were still here with us, enjoying their favorite time of year and enjoying their newest granddaughter and their great-granddaughter!  Yes, I know they are watching over us and are very happy in heaven but I’m a tad bit selfish and want them here! 

Its hard to believe that Little T has been with us for almost a year and 1/2!!  She’s changed and grown so much since those first few days in China.  Everyone comments about how tall she’s getting (yeah!) but she’s still so small compared to the other kids in her pre-school.  And her talking?  No, its not there yet though she is trying.  I’ve not been very happy with the results of the school’s ST so I’m looking into getting her back into some private ST.  We actually saw her old therapist and she said that she was disappointed because it seemed to her that she has not progressed very much.  Yeah…trust me…I know!  I think it has to do with the atmosphere of her therapy.  She’s in a room that other people go in and out of during it.  How can you teach and expect a 3 1/2 yr old to pay attention to you when people are constantly walking in and out of the room?  Yep, you can’t.  Plain and simple.  I’ve watched her therapy a few times and it felt rushed to me.  Like the therapist was just going through the motions with her – does that make sense?  I’ve also decided to learn American Sign Language.  I’m hoping that this will help her communicate better.  I talked to my oldest about it and he thinks that maybe this would encourage her NOT to speak but I’m not so sure.  What do you guys think?  What else can I do to help her?  I swear, if I hear one more person say “she’ll talk soon” or “she’s only been in here for 1 1/2 years so she doesn’t understand the language yet” I’m gonna scream!  She understands the language people!!!  She understands what you say to her, she can follow complex instructions (go put your coat in your bedroom on the back of the chair and then go wash your hands for dinner).  She just has expressive language issues. 

Ok – enough.  Sorry – went off on a tangent there.  If anyone can think of something else that I can do to help our sweet girl talk please let me know!!  And no…I do NOT allow her to point to what she wants.  I make her tell me mostly by her signing it but sometimes by her babble so please don’t say that we are “talking for her”.