6 months home!

                                      Gotcha Day          3 months home           6 months home

These 6 months have FLOWN by! That's half a year. I think it's amazing when I look back and think about how much Ava has changed in these 6 months. I think she looks so much healthier, and she's very confident. She's talking more and more, and I think that is because she is going to school. I think up until now I would have said that adoption has been so easy for us, that we were blessed by not having all the negative experiences that so often comes with adopting a child from a foreign country....from an orphanage....a baby who was abandoned and didn't have their needs met. 

Well, the 6 month mark brings us new challenges. Our sweet little Ava can now be quite the challenge. I think she may be experiencing some grieving, or at least she is having difficulties dealing with school. I think she is so stimulated at school (and the teachers say she is perfect) that she is taking all her frustrations out on me when she gets home. Plus she is tired and hungry because she won't sleep at naptime and she eats very little lunch. So, after 2 1/2 weeks of school I have learned to take a snack with me when I pick her up and she has to have a nap within about 15 minutes of getting home. She still has meltdowns at suppertime and bathtime (and other times too, for that matter) which is very unusual for her. She can be quite the "spoiled little brat" (or maybe it's just normal 4 yr old behavior--however she acts more like a 2 year old, so it could be 2 yr old behavior) and I'm really trying to teach her what is appropriate behavior and what is not. We have the timeout (really time in) chair, and she doesn't like that at all. Ava's pretty stubborn and tells us "no" a lot. So, yes I'm quite frustrated. I spoke with a wonderful friend of mine today who really opened my eyes, so maybe I can look at this in a different manner. She said that because Ava feels like she can be ugly to me, or let out her frustrations to me is really a good sign because it shows that she trusts me. She doesn't have to walk on pins and needles, she can let out her emotions and frustrations and she knows that I will still love her. So, I need to be thankful in that respect. My friend also feels like Ava may be pushing me because I probably have been extremely patient with her. I need to toughen up a little and require her to behave and not give her so many chances. Ava is also probably trying to do anything she can to get my attention too. It's been such a busy time of year with Laura and all her senior activities, Christine and her soccer, plus just the craziness of LIFE!!  So, for all the time that I couldn't respond with examples of how hard it was for us for the first several months of our adoption, I think my time has come!! This isn't easy anymore!!! It is one of the hardest things I've ever done. But, it's worth it!! And we will all survive :) I praise God for this new challenge!!!