Home a month+

Can't believe we have been home more than a month! Rob had the flu this past week. It was horrible! I think the kids all had a touch of it except Grace. She has been healthy as can be. I have avoided it as well. Anyway, wanted to post about regular life because we will probably post a lot next week concerning our meeting with the cleft team on Tuesday.

Grace continues to do so well. She is happy, energetic, determined, and sooooo loved! I have returned to my two mornings of teaching PE at Cole's school and she has done well staying with my Mom. We practiced separating a few times before my first morning and she does well. The first time I left her to go run a quick errand she cried a little and then played happily. She didn't want me to put shoes on for the rest of the day though! After a few other practice times of separation she seems to be doing well with it. I think she is understanding that Mommy always comes back just like Daddy does.

Grace is very active and very busy. She loves to sing and dance and play outside. We hike in the woods just about every day and visit the little park at the church. She is learning to pedal a bike and doing pretty well with it. When it rains we all get very antsy! Cody and Grace need a lot of supervision so I don't get much done during the day. Call before you come over or you may witness what appears to have been a major disaster inside my house=) Grace loves taking baths, putting things in and out of her Dora backpack, and playing with Daddy. Her Dora backpack is falling apart. She fills it so full with heavy stuff and carries it everywhere. I don't understand how her shoulders take it!

One of the most challenging thing is Grace's speech. She understands us so well but she has trouble saying a lot of sounds so it is hard to understand her. This considered, it is truly remarkable how well we do communicate. She has a way of telling us how she feels and what she wants despite her speech delay. At times though her inability to communicate clearly can be frustrating to her and to us. She yells and grunts a lot when she wants something which can be tough to hear again and again but she is slowly learning to break this habit and ask for help, or chocolate, appropriately=)

Grace is doing very well at nap and bed times. These are the times she usually would cry and cry for her foster grandmother. She doesn't cry anymore and she responds well to looking at their pictures and talking about China and the adoption. We talk about the day Gracie met her Ma ma and her Ba Ba and how it was hard to say bye bye to her Nai nai and Ye ye. We ask her if she has to say bye bye to Ma Ma and Ba Ba and she says no no no no. We say that's right no more big changes, this Ma Ma never leave this Ba Ba (Daddy) forever. She has been told these things often in Chinese and English. I really do sense she understands.

Well, that is it for now. Thanks for checking in on us!!!