We've been home for 16 days now, and we picked up Mebi nearly 3 weeks ago.
If you've been reading our blog, you'll remember that the first week home was very tough. She was pushing the limits and fighting us on everything. I'm happy to report that the last 8 days have been amazing. I'm not naive enough to think that this will last forever, but it's quite a nice streak we're on. She is generally happy, eats well, plays well and is even obeying pretty well. Now, she's not perfect, just like none of the rest of us are, but I'd say I don't notice much difference between her behaviour and that of our bio kids when they were that age...which is amazing since she's been through so much. Of course there are little things like bedtime that went easier with them, but we're working on it and if that's the worst of our troubles right now we have nothing to complain about.
I'm also happy to report that we have completed the last of our stool samples today. YAH! It's funny how you hear things before you adopt and you just can't imagine how that will work when you actually have to do it. The stool samples went off without a hitch (nothing like bribing with a candy...now she wants to give stool samples every day! :-) ) and the doctor's appointment went well last week also. The only one that we had a bit of a fight on (and I can't blame her at all!) was the bloodwork. She is being tested for so many different things, and they had to take soooo many vials of blood. Luckily Arvid was there to help - we had one nurse taking blood, one holding her arm, Arvid held her body and I tried to distract her with books, sucker, gum, whatever worked. It was not my favourite time (she was screaming and crying so hard and so scared) but she didn't end up "de-attaching" from us at all...she just kept telling us about her "koosil" (owie) and we kept kissing her and hugging her and telling her how well she did.
The girls are all still playing really well together. It is so neat to see the changes that I never expected. I think Mebira has G wrapped around her little finger. Before this, G didn't like going outside, and didn't like kisses. Now she lets Mebira give her a full-on kiss on the mouth (and sometimes it's even wet!!), and G will go outside with her anytime she wants. E is also a great big sister...she's probably struggling the most since she was the baby before Mebira came along. If anyone has any advice on how to best deal with this I would appreciate it!
Until later...
It so nice to know that Mebira is adjusting well to your family. I am really happy for you.
ReplyDeleteThat bloodwork is pretty nasty -- Z. screamed and screamed and screamed. Poor little things! Every time we go to the doctor or dentist, we have to spend tons of time reassuring her that there will be no syringes involved. Glad to hear that Mebira made it through okay!
ReplyDeleteRe: older kids -- yeah, I could use some advice about that too. It's tough. :(
Let's try this again. I think u r doing a fabulous job and although I can't give advise based on adoption experience I can tell you that with three bio girls the same age as your three girls we often deal with middle child issues, I remember the day I brought home p from the hospital and v went from being a happy, sweet toddler to crying non stop and clinging to my leg for a year. Even still she is the most insecure of the three. She needs more kisses, more reassurance, more time. I think it's the same for e. She is struggling to define her place in the family now. For g it's simple, she was the oldest before and she's still the big sister. My advise is give e lots of kisses and words of affection and reassure her that your love for her hasn't and won't change. But you can only do so much. a middle child sometimes can't seem to get enough of you, so it can be exhausting. You only have so much of yourself to give. Let her know her role in the family is important and some of it she'll have to work through on her own. Send her our way if she needs a sister break!!! Keep up the awesome work!! B:)
ReplyDeleteGod bless each member of your family; may He provide exactly what each of you needs today - strength, health, cheer, peace, and some fun (He knows we need some of that, too!).
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