Home 4 months!

Home for 4 months!!

We had a mommy/Ava lunch date today at Lin's Bistro! Ava ate 2 bowls of Egg Drop soup!!

This is her signature "cheese" smile!!

Cute pic of Ava, but Laura and Christine didn't like it of them.

Cute pic of Laura and Christine, but not the best of Ava.  If I could just get everyone to cooperate!!! Ha!

Wow! Time flies! Ava has been living with us for 4 months! She's still as precious as ever. I don't know of any major things that have changed since last month. I think we are understanding each other more. I'm really trying to help her focus on words, instead of the whining and grunting and pointing to things. We've had to deal with her sassy "no" answers to everything I say. And the funny thing is that if I tell her no, she just says it right back to me and points her little finger at me and spouts off in Chinese babble. So, mainly she can tell me to go jump in a lake and I would never know!! However, I do not like it when she talks to me like that, and somehow I have to make her realize that she can't speak to me in that tone. So, since I can't say "no-no" I've been trying to say that the way she is speaking to me is "not nice." Or "that sounds naughty..." I'm having to choose my words carefully, because she mimics everything I do and say. I even drew out "frowny faces" and "smiley faces" the other night and held those up when she did something sassy, or when she did something good. The language barrier has been the most difficult thing. I feel that she understands everything I say to her, but she cannot always get her point across to me. Ava is beginning to learn how to "fit it." Like how to talk "softly" in a doctors office, or even how to entertain herself for small (very small) periods of time while I try to cook supper etc. Everywhere we go people comment about how happy she  is, and for that I know we are truly blessed! Because she really is ALWAYS happy!

Today Ava was accessed by our County for the Early Childhood Development Program. They will decide if she is eligible for physical, speech, or occupational therapy. We will get written results next week. They verbally approved her for our County's Pre-K program. They said that because of her past circumstances she is delayed, however she is not "learning disabled." They were very positive that with just a little help that Ava may even be on track by next fall. They were amazed at the things Ava understood and how she would try to engage in conversation with us. (It was a lot of Chinese baby babble with a few hand motions and sound effects thrown in!!) They will recommend a specific course of action next week. I was waiting to put her in a preschool program next Fall, but the team today said that she really needs to be around other children. She will learn more around other children than I can teach her. And I agree. I didn't want to put her in school right away because I felt like we needed time for her to attach to me. She needed to be like any other child and want her mommy. I am happy to say, that when it is time to leave somewhere that she wants me and her daddy and sisters. When we first arrived home, she didn't care who held her, but now she understands who her family is, and she wants to make sure she is with US! I think that is great progress!!  She is more on a 2 yr old level right now, and she will be 4  March 12th. But in the 4 months we've had  her, she has made tremendous strides! She's amazing to us, and there's not a day that goes by that she doesn't make us laugh! She has brought so much joy to our family. I can't even imagine not being her mommy! Sometimes I look at her and wonder if she really looks Chinese, because all I see is my little brown haired daughter!!

And just think, when we started this process, we were looking for a little girl with a heart problem. But God had different plans.... He gave us a daughter that just needs a little love, nourishment and extra help to get where she needs to be. Her special need is only temporary. God is bigger than I ever imagined. I'm thankful every day that He has allowed me to be a mommy again! I love having three daughters!!