Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Lost in Translation
Poor Chloe. She has been making such great strides in her development, but unfortunately for her, some things just take time. Recently she has taken to using large hand motions and emphatic, repeated words to try and make us understand. It's just not working. We have no idea what she is trying to tell us and so we nod our heads and agree, or ask her to show us what she is telling us about. But it isn't helping. The same sentences are repeated over and over, her eyes pleading us to understand. She won't be deterred! Thankfully, her vocabulary is growing and it won't be long before her stream of chatter is understood. In the video below, we managed to figure out that "Ny" means "nice". The smile that came over her face when I finally guessed it was heart melting.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Redemption
I've been thinking a lot about my two youngest children recently. Let's be honest, these two girls have consumed a lot of my thoughts and attention over the last three years. Three years ago we learned I was pregnant with a child we had not planned. This is not to say we weren't excited. Once we got past the 'what have we done?!', we were ecstatic to welcome another 'lyttle' baby to our family. However, this was the month three years ago where our world would shatter. We learned, at eleven weeks pregnant, that our child had anencephaly, that she was doomed to die upon her entrance to the world. We were told repeatedly, in no uncertain terms that the best course of action was termination. To the shock of our doctors, and more than likely quite a few of our friends, we decided that we would carry her and love her until her body ceased working. We couldn't, and wouldn't, be the ones to take her life. We prayed for miracles, and prepared for her birth and death. She was born on March 9, 2012 and lived 95 beautiful minutes. On March 14, we celebrated her life with a beautiful 'celebration of life' service. Our pastor spoke of how 'every life has a purpose'.
On March 14, 2012, Chloe was abandoned on the other side of the world. "Every life has a purpose"...
We had always talked of adopting a child: in the future, when we could afford it, when our bio kids were a little older... It was something we talked about but never thought would occur. A dream that was too big. Sophie changed everything. We decided that we would pursue adoption as soon as our family healed. And so our journey to Chloe began in November of 2012.
Now I had something to focus on that dulled the pain of loss and I dove in head first, learning everything I could about international adoption. I joined groups on facebook, stalked timelines, read and reread our agencies information, basically made it my job to know and prepare for every eventuality. Soon our dossier was on its way and I was sure we would soon see the face of the child that would join our family. But we didn't. We waited, and waited... I remember how impatient I was during this time. I had long ago decided that we would be matched shortly after our dossier was logged in. Instead we waited 5 months. Knowing now the plan God had, I wish I could have just relaxed and enjoyed the ride. What if I had decided to take matters into my own hands? If we had chosen that child with a major heart defect? Or the cute girl with some unknown questions on her brain scan. We would of course have loved and cherished her, but we would have missed out on God's plan. Chloe is so clearly a Lyttle! I am thankful we waited for him to finish the work he began on March 14th.
March 14 was a day of loss. And yet in that loss came redemption. Chloe was rescued from the side of the road and eventually brought into our family. Sophie is no longer with us, but there is joy where there was mourning. I believe God wove these girls stories together to show us that he makes beauty from ashes. He took the brokenness of two different girls, and brought healing from tragedy. I don't know Chloe's biological families story, but I pray there is healing for them as well.
On March 14, 2012, Chloe was abandoned on the other side of the world. "Every life has a purpose"...
We had always talked of adopting a child: in the future, when we could afford it, when our bio kids were a little older... It was something we talked about but never thought would occur. A dream that was too big. Sophie changed everything. We decided that we would pursue adoption as soon as our family healed. And so our journey to Chloe began in November of 2012.
Now I had something to focus on that dulled the pain of loss and I dove in head first, learning everything I could about international adoption. I joined groups on facebook, stalked timelines, read and reread our agencies information, basically made it my job to know and prepare for every eventuality. Soon our dossier was on its way and I was sure we would soon see the face of the child that would join our family. But we didn't. We waited, and waited... I remember how impatient I was during this time. I had long ago decided that we would be matched shortly after our dossier was logged in. Instead we waited 5 months. Knowing now the plan God had, I wish I could have just relaxed and enjoyed the ride. What if I had decided to take matters into my own hands? If we had chosen that child with a major heart defect? Or the cute girl with some unknown questions on her brain scan. We would of course have loved and cherished her, but we would have missed out on God's plan. Chloe is so clearly a Lyttle! I am thankful we waited for him to finish the work he began on March 14th.
March 14 was a day of loss. And yet in that loss came redemption. Chloe was rescued from the side of the road and eventually brought into our family. Sophie is no longer with us, but there is joy where there was mourning. I believe God wove these girls stories together to show us that he makes beauty from ashes. He took the brokenness of two different girls, and brought healing from tragedy. I don't know Chloe's biological families story, but I pray there is healing for them as well.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
3, wait no 4 months home!
Can you believe its been 4 months? I seriously cannot believe that Chloe has only lived with us for 4 months. How is that even possible? My heart bursts with love for this amazing little girl.
We took our first vacation last month when Sean's mom came to visit. I had everything planned out for the last month but I hadn't realized how confusing it would be for Chloe. Although the bulk of the trip went well, Chloe really struggled when it came to sleeping. By the second night of our 4 night vacation, I was ready to come home. Luckily, the daytime fun was enough to keep me sane and we survived our first vacation. Chloe experienced many firsts on this trip - the beach, swimming by herself (with a life jacket), feeding animals at the zoo, mini golf, and the many sights and sounds of Cocoa Beach.
Chloe had no idea what to do with the sand on the beach. When we first placed her down she just stood and stared at her feet. She wouldn't move and we had to pick her up to get to our spot further down the beach. After watching her siblings and other kids on the beach she decided to be brave and head towards the water, sand or no sand! That was all it took and Chloe became a happy beach baby from there on out. We looked for sea shells ("where are you shells?"), waded up and down the beach, and built sand castles.
Chloe has become more verbal in the last month, often trying to repeat the words we say. They are often still unrecognizable by most people but we understand a lot of the baby talk. She certainly knows how to get her point across and a big smile lights up her face when we understand her words. Current vocab: Mommy, Baba, Daddy, Noah (Nan), Ben (Bee), Teagan, Pop (for Poppa), Nana, Dexter, Strider, up, tacky (she loves weird al), bye, hi, eyes, hair, teeth, night-night, yeah, more, see you later, I love you, where are you, stop, baby, and the list goes on and grows constantly.
She can show you where her hair, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, teeth, and tongue are, as well as hands and toes. She loves music and will give me a big smile if I ask her if she wants me to sing at bedtime.
Bedtime involves me laying her down, and then laying on the floor beside her crib. She will smoosh her face up to the bar with a giggle and wait for me to give her a kiss through the bars, then she will push each hand out to be kissed. Once she has gotten her kisses, she will settle in and is out after 20-30 minutes usually. I lay on the floor holding her hand until she is out and she sleeps through the night until 7:00. Some nights she will wake in the middle crying for Mama but she is comforted quickly and asleep again in no time.
During the first weeks with Chloe, she had a few mishaps using stairs (running full force off the steps) and had no idea how to sit correctly on the slide or use any playground equipment. Last week we were at the park and I realized she can play by herself on the toddler playground. She was climbing steps (and correctly going down them), climbing ladders, going down the slide (and climbing back up it), even using the rock wall! What a huge change! She has learned so much in the last few months.
This little girl lights up our life and brings joy wherever she goes. Our local grocery store always gives her the royal treatment and if either or us happen to go without Chloe we will be stopped by no less than three employees asking where the baby is.
We took our first vacation last month when Sean's mom came to visit. I had everything planned out for the last month but I hadn't realized how confusing it would be for Chloe. Although the bulk of the trip went well, Chloe really struggled when it came to sleeping. By the second night of our 4 night vacation, I was ready to come home. Luckily, the daytime fun was enough to keep me sane and we survived our first vacation. Chloe experienced many firsts on this trip - the beach, swimming by herself (with a life jacket), feeding animals at the zoo, mini golf, and the many sights and sounds of Cocoa Beach.
Chloe had no idea what to do with the sand on the beach. When we first placed her down she just stood and stared at her feet. She wouldn't move and we had to pick her up to get to our spot further down the beach. After watching her siblings and other kids on the beach she decided to be brave and head towards the water, sand or no sand! That was all it took and Chloe became a happy beach baby from there on out. We looked for sea shells ("where are you shells?"), waded up and down the beach, and built sand castles.
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| First time on sand. "What is this stuff?!" |
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| Checking out the monkeys at the zoo with Noah |
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| Just before she got her first mouth full of salt water |
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| Group selfie aka Groupie ;) |
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| And a one and a two... |
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| Feeding the deer at the zoo |
Chloe has become more verbal in the last month, often trying to repeat the words we say. They are often still unrecognizable by most people but we understand a lot of the baby talk. She certainly knows how to get her point across and a big smile lights up her face when we understand her words. Current vocab: Mommy, Baba, Daddy, Noah (Nan), Ben (Bee), Teagan, Pop (for Poppa), Nana, Dexter, Strider, up, tacky (she loves weird al), bye, hi, eyes, hair, teeth, night-night, yeah, more, see you later, I love you, where are you, stop, baby, and the list goes on and grows constantly.
She can show you where her hair, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, teeth, and tongue are, as well as hands and toes. She loves music and will give me a big smile if I ask her if she wants me to sing at bedtime.
Bedtime involves me laying her down, and then laying on the floor beside her crib. She will smoosh her face up to the bar with a giggle and wait for me to give her a kiss through the bars, then she will push each hand out to be kissed. Once she has gotten her kisses, she will settle in and is out after 20-30 minutes usually. I lay on the floor holding her hand until she is out and she sleeps through the night until 7:00. Some nights she will wake in the middle crying for Mama but she is comforted quickly and asleep again in no time.
During the first weeks with Chloe, she had a few mishaps using stairs (running full force off the steps) and had no idea how to sit correctly on the slide or use any playground equipment. Last week we were at the park and I realized she can play by herself on the toddler playground. She was climbing steps (and correctly going down them), climbing ladders, going down the slide (and climbing back up it), even using the rock wall! What a huge change! She has learned so much in the last few months.
This little girl lights up our life and brings joy wherever she goes. Our local grocery store always gives her the royal treatment and if either or us happen to go without Chloe we will be stopped by no less than three employees asking where the baby is.
With the start of school, Chloe has begun a new routine. She now spends one morning a week with a friend of the family. I was very anxious about this, as some days I worry about her attachment. Chloe has a very friendly personality and seems to get along and interact with anyone. This girl has never met a stranger. However, it became quite clear upon leaving her that she is truly attached to me as her momma, as she cried when we talked about staying with Miss Vicky, and then really brought out the waterworks when I left her. It was very hard to leave her, but it makes work so much easier for those few hours! Chloe always calms down quickly and enjoys her time, and the joy on her face when I come to pick her up is the best!
Chloe has always struggled with eating. We have had a very hard time getting her to eat anything. After the seizure that landed her in the hospital, we became very concerned with the number of calories she was consuming and put her on three pediasures a day. Thankfully, she is finally over 20 lbs and is eating a little bit better. We can pretty much guarantee that she will eat grapes, noodles, oatmeal, and peas. Everything else seems to change daily. She may devour a chicken nugget one day, and then the next day she will throw it on the floor and tell you she is all done (having eaten nothing). It's definitely a work in progress but we are happy to see 2 lbs added to her little frame. And did i mention she gained an inch and a half the first 6 weeks home? We have some serious catching up to do over here!
And here are a couple random shots for you to end the post :)
And here are a couple random shots for you to end the post :)
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| Singing in the truck |
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| At the Dr's office. Before shots. It's a bit dark but she is belly laughing. |
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