4-29 We've been home just over three weeks
To update everyone, we have now been home just over three weeks and been a larger family for just over four. Things are going pretty well - I think we are on the very good end of the spectrum for adopting a child this age. Katherine XiaoTing is generally happy. She seems to understand alot of what we say or motion to her. The verbal part will take longer - even her Chinese is hard to understand. I think having the cleft palate for so long caused her not to talk too much. She eats very well, in fact, we have to watch the amount of food she eats because she can really put it away !!
That's not to say there aren't challenges. And even though we knew there would be -knowing and living them are two different things. Katherine is very physical in the things she likes to do. If the weather is nice, we have more options. We spend alot of time outdoors - playing ball (she is pretty athletic - anything with a ball is great), riding her bike (with training wheels, she caught on real quick and now goes so fast I have to ride with her to keep up. She learned to ride very quickly , though I'm sure she had never done it before. She now listens when we say side to go to the side of the road and to stop at intersections to look both ways for cars. She has the hang of stepping on the pedals to brake if she is going too fast, also.
The challenge of what to do if the weather is not nice is harder. She does play some computer games and likes legos. She will listen to us read. But generally she has a short attention span, lots of energy and doesn't want to sit inside the house. Today is a great example - it is raining and she keeps pointing outside and I try to tell her she can't go outside because of the rain. The language barrier makes it challenging. She doesn't really know how to play with dolls or color or anything because it seems she did not use her imagination much. That will have to develop. So we do have some long days.
Our house is a mess because it is hard to find time for housework and watching Katherine (we really have to watch her like she is a three year old right now - can't really leave her by herself). We also are chasing with Sarah to soccer, etc. And now we have to split up to do this, so it is hard.
Sleeping is another issue. When she got home, she slept in her own bed right away, which is pretty unusual. However, she doesn't always sleep through the night. She wakes me up anytime between 1:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. and then we either put her in our bed or I try to sleep with her in her twin bed. Of course, I usually don't go back to sleep, so I am feeling pretty tired these days.
Sarah is doing ok, but is overwhelmed by her homework from the three weeks she was gone and also is still trying to bond with Katherine. Katherine is so independent and stubborn that she doesn't really want Sarah to show her things, so it is hard. Sarah is trying really hard, but this has been alot harder on her than she or we imagined. I just hope she can catch up on her homework and get back in the swing of things. She seems more quiet and withdrawn right now.
I know things will continue to get better and I also know things are going pretty well, but I do have to pray for patience and for all of us to adjust to this new family. There are times we laugh so hard because Katherine cracks herself up and then we laugh, but there are other times that we really have our patience tested.
Please continue to pray for our family as we continue this adjustment.
God Bless,
Marie
That's not to say there aren't challenges. And even though we knew there would be -knowing and living them are two different things. Katherine is very physical in the things she likes to do. If the weather is nice, we have more options. We spend alot of time outdoors - playing ball (she is pretty athletic - anything with a ball is great), riding her bike (with training wheels, she caught on real quick and now goes so fast I have to ride with her to keep up. She learned to ride very quickly , though I'm sure she had never done it before. She now listens when we say side to go to the side of the road and to stop at intersections to look both ways for cars. She has the hang of stepping on the pedals to brake if she is going too fast, also.
The challenge of what to do if the weather is not nice is harder. She does play some computer games and likes legos. She will listen to us read. But generally she has a short attention span, lots of energy and doesn't want to sit inside the house. Today is a great example - it is raining and she keeps pointing outside and I try to tell her she can't go outside because of the rain. The language barrier makes it challenging. She doesn't really know how to play with dolls or color or anything because it seems she did not use her imagination much. That will have to develop. So we do have some long days.
Our house is a mess because it is hard to find time for housework and watching Katherine (we really have to watch her like she is a three year old right now - can't really leave her by herself). We also are chasing with Sarah to soccer, etc. And now we have to split up to do this, so it is hard.
Sleeping is another issue. When she got home, she slept in her own bed right away, which is pretty unusual. However, she doesn't always sleep through the night. She wakes me up anytime between 1:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. and then we either put her in our bed or I try to sleep with her in her twin bed. Of course, I usually don't go back to sleep, so I am feeling pretty tired these days.
Sarah is doing ok, but is overwhelmed by her homework from the three weeks she was gone and also is still trying to bond with Katherine. Katherine is so independent and stubborn that she doesn't really want Sarah to show her things, so it is hard. Sarah is trying really hard, but this has been alot harder on her than she or we imagined. I just hope she can catch up on her homework and get back in the swing of things. She seems more quiet and withdrawn right now.
I know things will continue to get better and I also know things are going pretty well, but I do have to pray for patience and for all of us to adjust to this new family. There are times we laugh so hard because Katherine cracks herself up and then we laugh, but there are other times that we really have our patience tested.
Please continue to pray for our family as we continue this adjustment.
God Bless,
Marie
posted by Journey for Xiao @ 2:32 PM
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