Joy Lin is almost finished with the art class she is taking at the Banana Factory. She REALLY enjoys it and her teacher enjoys working with her. I think we are going to have to sign her up for something else! I thought she would do drama, but her heart doesn't lie there, I guess. Oh well, there's always Gracie and she is a drama queen already.!

Carrots.

Preschool agrees with Gracie. The teachers and Miss Trish and Miss Susan say she is doing really well. She is learning the routine. She does what she is supposed to do. She sits when the kids do and eats with the kids. Yes, she eats with the kids. I think the most important thing is that she is attempting communication with both the teachers AND the kids! That is so important. She seems to make more sounds after a school session. I caught the end of their class today and they sing a goodbye song to each of the kids. When they sang her name she gave a BIG smile! It is so great to see her blossom! AND FOOD! Gracie must like carrots! We started a new routine today where she takes three tastes of fruit or veggies and then gets her nutella. On her third time doing this routine, with carrots this time, she took three swipes all BY HERSELF!!! She is so smart!! The down side to this is that since she started preschool she has figured out how to open all the doors and turn the lights on and off. Oh well! ;)

Sweet, sweet potatoes

Yesterday Miss Trish and Miss Susan were so thrilled to see how Gracie is eating! She has been letting me feed food other than nutella to her with her hand.Today we had sweet potatoes and nutella ... ok, not such a great combo... but I think Gracie would eat anything to get her nutella and we'll just have to find out. But with the sweet potatoes, she actually fed herself with her other hand!!!! I have it on video to prove it. She is starting to take off. She is almost walking upright and unassisted up the stairs. She is making a whole lot more sounds. ( She said MAMA the other day) I am so proud of her!

My treasures.

Fall Festival at Advent

Today the teachers and therapists held a fall festival for the kids today and Gracie, and Joy Lin, of course, had a great time! They had a moon bounce and Gracie headed there right away. She even went in without Joy Lin! She did an obstacle course with Miss Trish took everything in! She wanted to climb in with the chicks and goats they had for a petting zoo! Today she let me feed her pineapple banana but the favorite was pear-carrot! She even ate that BY HERSELF when the nutella ran out! Every day is a learning day. Treasure every little thing!

Carrots!

Today we did Nutella and real applesauce and it went very well! It is so awesome to see food go into her mouth, and to have her LET me put it into her mouth!!! Then for dinner I did strawberry pudding as the favored food and carrots. Strawberry pudding is not as favored as nutella but it still worked and she let me put CARROTS in her mouth!!! I can say no more!

Last night we took Joy Lin to see Steven Curtis Chapman in concert in Lancaster. Chapman and his family are HUGE adoption advocates and had 3 beautiful China daughters of their own. Several years ago, they lost their youngest, Maria, in a freak car accident. Since the tragedy, the family has survived their loss through God's grace and they now honor Maria' by sharing how they overcame their pain with God's help and look forward to the day they will be with her again and also by aiding orphans in China and assisting families that want to adopt them. Joy Lin has always sung his songs so we thought we would surprise her but she figured out where we were going before we left. Just like her father. As Mr. Chapman talked about adoption I felt so blessed to have her sitting next to us. I felt people looking at her and seeing how beautiful she was. And the fact that we were lucky enough to be able to bring another beautiful child from China into our family was a double blessing. I would even be open to another child, if age and finances weren't pressing issues, but every time I say something about it, Joy's eyeballs get huge and and Chris clams up! ;) Mr. Chapman and his family show everyone that we can get through the deepest valleys and pain if we only realize that God is beside us even when we feel most alone.

My beautiful artist and the necklace she made!

something different

We did something different today. I noticed this morning that Grace would let me swipe her hand over her mouth with the fruit, which she normally avoids, if I then gave her a little bit of nutella. So at 2nd lunch , we tried it again. This time I let her eat the nutella, gave a swipe of apple-blueberry over her mouth (which she LET me do) then gave her more nutella. We did this for at least 8 or 9 times. She accepted the swipes to get the nutella. Maybe this is the start of something big?!? We'll see!

Miss Grace goes to preschool... Part 2

Miss Grace had a big day... again. She went to preschool for the whole "day", which is, well 2 hours!. They sent me away. :( Miss Trish and Miss Susan said "come back at 11:30. ( I was there at 11). Hey, I am not used to this. Gracie and I have been attached since last September! They said she did well! Only a few "moments".She made her first preschool art- a pumpkin for mom to display! I think it will be good for her to be with other kids. It wore her out! She had a nap at 3:00 for the first time in weeks! But no more naps... It's 10pm and she is still bouncing in her bed!!! Change is good. Right?

Doubt.

I don't like Mondays. Ask my husband. Joy and I like to sleep ,and Mondays intrude on our weekends. Sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough with Gracie. SHould I be doing ABC"S and flash cards ALL DAY or should we just put a spoon in her mouth like you do to babies and just go for it. Do you ever feel like you are doing the right thing as a parent? Should we be farther along than we are now? Would she be eating more if we had gone in the other direction? What do people think when they see her and she doesn't talk to them like they expect her to? I know I shouldn't let these things bother me and normally I don't but today is a Monday. Don't take this the wrong way. I believe in what we are doing. I just wonder sometimes, is it enough? I made an appointment for an evaluation from a developmental pediatrician recommended by my pediatrician and that isn't till January....2013!!!!!!!! THey told me it would take a long time to get one, so get one just in case.... If there was a problem, wouldn't that be wasting valuable time to work with it? it just doesn't make sense. But that is the system, and now with the new "healthcare" it's just going to get better, right? Right. It's hard being the patient one all the time.