smart little cookie

The other night Kaylee fell asleep in the car and actually stayed asleep when we stopped. Usually she is such a light sleeper and wakes up very easily, but that night she didn't wake up, so I was able to watch her sleep. When I was staring at her, I just thought " how beautiful she was". It makes me wonder what her mom looked like and also makes me wonder what she would think if she saw her now. I just think she is so beautiful and smart. I wish her mom could see her and see that she is going to be something when she grows up.

I know I keep saying it, but Kaylee is just so smart. She has learned that when we go through a drive thru that means we get food and she just gets so excited and starts squealing. She has learned that if she refuses to eat vegetables, mommy might feel sorry for her and feed her something else. And if she keeps signing please, mommy will think it is so cute and give in to her and give her more to eat. 

Ok, seriously she is smart. Yesterday, she learned to sign "cheese" after I only showed her one time. Cheese and french fries are definitely her favorite foods. She doesn't really like fruits or vegetables, she still eats them though. I'm really not sure if she ever had fruit in the orphanage, she still makes a face when she eats them. She also loves bananas, but I'm not sure if it would be something she would request or if it is just because she eats so many of them. One day, I was thinking about it, and wondered why God only made one fruit that did not have to be cut up and was so easy for babies. 

I think she is loving this american life and is starting to show her independence and personality more. She knows what she wants and if she doesn't get it, she will definitely let you know. Sometimes, I think she knows she wants something, but either can't tell me what she wants or maybe she isn't sure what it is she wants, just knows it is not what I am doing. Last week, we were outside and she reaches up and grunts to be picked up, so I pick her up, then she wants down. Then she wants in her swing, then wants down. Then wants on the slide, then wants off. Finally, I just say "enough" and just let her figure it out on her own. 

She has figured out how to go up and down the stairs too. And has figured out that bedtime is not her favorite time. She used to be so easy to put to sleep and would not make a peep. Now, I let her climb up the stairs on her own, but she is so smart and when she figures out that it is bedtime, she slides all the way back down, with a huge smile on her face. 

For anyone wanting to know, she is doing so much better with eating. I do still sit next to her while she eats and have to keep a close eye on her, but it is still way better than it was. She does not usually shove her mouth full anymore and takes bites of things, even if they are bigger than I'd like. The last week, she has done pretty well on chewing, but goes back and forth. She is very good at her pincher grasp now, but still has to be reminded at times. 

I have a question for those with children with DS, do your children stick their tongues out when they eat? The OT said we really need to work on it, but she just isn't getting it. I know it is a common thing for DS, but really, is it all that necessary to do anything about it? It is kind of gross, but it isn't really bothering much. If I make her keep her tongue in her mouth, she does better about chewing, but I have to watch her like a hawk. It has only been about a week, should I just keep at it, or give it up for now? Oh, yeah, she sticks her tongue out when she is trying to swallow something.

This is how Justus woke up from his nap one day.

The kids wanted to play with the hose in the front yard, then Kaylee decided to just crawl in the muddy water, so I said "Oh well, have fun"

Kaylee has somehow figured out that she should smile when I get the camera out. 

 I love this smile.

 I know this picture is so blurry, but he is just too cute

 I put Kaylee in this pack and play so we could work on the bathroom floor and not have her into everything. She really does hate it, but with Malika and Justus joining her, she has a blast. 

Malika's birthday

Last week, Malika turned 4! I just cannot believe she is already 4. She is so big now and so helpful, sometimes, if Justus or Kaylee cry, she will pick them up and bring them to me and say "It's ok, do you want your mommy", it is too funny to see, since they aren't much smaller than her.

We celebrated her birthday at home with family and then the day after went to the Haglers and celebrated again.

Malika has been waiting so long to have her birthday, she has been talking about it for months. And has had to wait through the other kids birthdays. The first thing she said on her birthday was "where are my presents?" Kids are great! I'm sure many times in the past, I had wanted to say that too, but it would just be impolite, so I refrained. But, kids say whatever comes to their minds. :)

I love this picture, she is so sweet. It makes me want to pick her up and give her a big kiss and tell her to stay little :). The saturday before her birthday, I took her to the mall and she picked this outfit out. She loved it so much, she wore it for 2 days straight and would have worn it for 4 days, had I not made her take it off to wash it in between.

I finally got a good picture of them together, I think I will hang this one on the wall.

Daddy working with Malika on a project. He took her to home depot to pick something out for them to make together and she chose this treasure box.

We went to the park in the morning on Malika's birthday. It was so hot, but we stayed until we were very sweaty.

At the Haglers. After we got there, I noticed that the kids were segregated :), our three Ukrainian babies were "playing" together...

... and I look over and the other 4 were playing together (Justus was here too, until I got the camera out)

 They were so sweet and even made Malika a cake. So, she had two birthdays.

 Malika and Trey. I think they are best friends, it is so cute to watch them together. They played all day long. When we were in Ukraine, we would compare our kids, it is just so amazing how many similarities there are. They are so different than most other kids, but yet, are so much alike. I never thought I'd meet another child like Malika. I think these next two pictures really show how much they are alike. Maybe only their families can tell :), but with Trey putting his arm on the table and not smiling... just waiting...

 ...and how I know Malika is happy about her gift, but she refuses to smile :)

  Here they are again. I just think they are so cute together. They were watching this video and kept whispering to each other, finally Malika whispers to Trey " Let's go play" and so they run off together. 

Lindsay was so sweet to put up their bounce house for the kids to play in. They had a blast.

I loved watching Kaylee, she is a different child than she was 3 months ago. Instead of staying by me the whole time, she actually gets out and plays. She is playing more like a 2 year old should play now. She absolutely loved the bounce house and even figured out how to go down the slide.

 Lindsay and me with our little girls. Lindsay is truly the best friend I have wanted for so long. It took us sharing a house half way across the world and 3 little orphans for us to find eachother :)

orphanage behaviors

Since bringing Kaylee home, I have struggled with wondering if we really did so much for her by taking her out of the orphanage. I know in the long run, we have, but she just seemed so happy there. And she was well fed and seemed loved. But, tonight, after discovering a new orphanage behavior, I realized she may have "seemed" happy, but was probably just coping. She may have not known she was coping, since it was all she ever knew.

Kaylee has had sores and scratches all over her. I knew she was scratching herself, but I didn't realize how bad it was, until I realized the sores are from her scratching. I thought they were just bug bites and maybe they started out that way, but are now infected. I have been watching her the last few days, wondering why she has big welts all over her legs and now understand after watching her scratch her legs raw. And there are what looks like bite marks all over her crib. That is what I thought they were, except, I just couldn't understand how they got there, since, she does not have top teeth. Now, I'm thinking they are from her scratching it. Her poor little nails are so tore up. 

This just makes me so mad. Not at her, but just that she has had to resort to that in the past to entertain herself and it now seems to be a habit. This even bothers me more than all of the eating issues she has, I think it is because she is hurting herself, and doesn't even care. 

And then it makes me mad to think that some mothers think they are doing what is best for their child by putting them in the orphanage. We saw that everyday while we were there. Some of the mothers would come and visit their child everyday, but still wouldn't take them home. One little girl in particular, I fell in love with and would go back to get her, if only she were available for adoption. I saw her mom come to visit her and I could tell she loved her, I just wish she were told she could have a better life and that she would believe it. An orphanage is no place to live.

Kaylee is starting to crawl correctly now. Three weeks ago the PT said to go back and only work on crawling, since it is so important. So, we did and it has paid off, because this last week the PT said we don't have to put an emphasis on either anymore, since she was doing so well.  I bought some new shoes for Kaylee and they have helped so much, she is walking and crawling better because of them. 

Cardiology appointment

When we adopted Kaylee, we were told that she had an open oval window and a heart murmur, but that both of these had healed on their own. We were also told she had a thin muscle in her heart.

When we were in court, one of the witnesses sitting next to the judge was trying to convince the judge that she would not be able to travel by plane because of her heart condition. Even though we didn't know anything about it, other than what the orphanage doctor told us, we had to convince the judge that her heart would be fine and that she would be fine. We even had to tell him that we had Doctors here in America that we could call if anything went wrong. We do have doctors here, but not sure they would have or could have done anything.

Anyway, fast forward to her cardiology appointment, which was yesterday. When we went into the room with the Cardiologist, he looked at her chart and then turns to me and asks "what is an open oval window?". At first, I thought he was joking, then he said there is no such thing. He asked where she was adopted from, and then said that usually they over diagnose to get them out of the country. Well, I'm not sure if that is true, but it completely makes sense that there is no such thing as an oval window, because I have googled it and haven't found much, other than other adoptive families wanting to know what it is too.

He did an ultrasound and her heart is completely fine. He said it looks like she had a VSD at one time, which is a hole in her heart. He also said that since he didn't see her from birth, he is unsure when it closed. It could have closed before she was born. By looking at how it healed, he could tell that it was a very large hole and if it was there after she was born, then she would have had to have surgery, which she did not. I asked about the heart murmur, he said she did not have one now and thinks maybe there was just a lot of noise before when they checked her.

He said we did not have to come back and everything looks good. Praise God!

Here are a few pictures of the kids:

Playing in the bathtub

Kaylee got caught playing in the bathroom trash, after this, it has been very hard to keep her away from the bathroom. She is starting to get into everything now. Last night, she dumped all the toys off the toy shelf, trying to climb to the top of it. I just sat and watched her to see if she could do it, and she almost succeeded. 

Me and my girls. This was right before I bonked Malika in the nose with the camera. Poor baby, she had a huge bruise and bump for two days. 

 The kids playing with their babies. They were pretending to drive. I love it, Kaylee wants to play with them all of the time now.  Oh, and she loves that baby. One day, I asked her to give me a kiss, she starts looking around for her baby. I think for some reason, she associates "kiss" with banging her baby against her face :)

videos of Kaylee

I had this long post I wanted to write, but I haven't had time yet, so I will post these videos for now. 

Kaylee started feeding herself with a spoon 3 days ago, she is doing amazing.

Here are two videos of Kaylee doing the signs she has learned. I am amazed at how quick she has learned. She still sometimes gets them mixed up, but is learning. She knows about 10 signs and even tries to say "all done" and "outside". I'm so proud of her.

Justus and Kaylee turn 2

We had a hard time deciding what to do for Justus and Kaylee's birthday and ended up just doing separate parties. We had originally wanted to have a joint party for them, but since neither of them really care about other kids yet, except Malika, we decided to just do Justus' party at home with family and celebrate Kaylee's birthday at the zoo. Here are some pictures of their birthdays.

We tried to fill the living room up with balloons for Justus. We wanted to make the whole day fun, so we started off with some gifts in the morning and just played and had fun all day. Later in the evening my family came over for pizza and cake and more gifts. 

 I love Justus' face in these pictures, he was just so excited about his gifts. 

Trying out his new gift. He loves to use Daddy's tools, but these are much safer to walk around with.

 My mom makes all of the kids cakes, it's a good thing, because if I was doing it they would just have a plain cake with frosting and sprinkles :). Justus loves Cars, so she made this cake for him, it turned out so cute. 

 Both Justus and Kaylee trying out Justus' new blocks. 

 This was after everyone left, I found them on the table eating the leftover frosting. 

In case anyone wants to see my HUGE belly and my silly husband :). I look at pictures and think, "no wonder I feel huge and uncomfortable". Actually, I started taking iron yesterday and I have so much more energy, it is amazing. I am 29 weeks here. 

 Who wouldn't want a super cute, naked carpenter?

Me with Malika at the zoo, I wanted to take this picture, because I have one holding her in this same spot when she was 7 months old. 

 Trying to get one of the kids together, but it never fails, at least one child won't cooperate.

 Kaylee and my dad. She loves my parents and my parents love her. They act as though she has always been apart of our family. I am so glad for their support through this whole process and their acceptance of Kaylee. 

 Playing in the amphitheater. 

 I took Justus and Kaylee's 2 year old pictures while at the zoo. It was so hot and it was nap time by this time, so maybe it was a bad idea, but I got a few and I was happy with the few I got.

These are Kaylee's typical faces, so it is really difficult to take pictures of her. She always has her head back, and so in the right one I tried to take it from the top, thinking she would keep her head in the same direction, but instead she put it back even more. The eye doctor said it is a good thing that she puts her head back, because she has nystagmus and her eyes don't move as much when her head is tilted either up or down. He said this at Malika's eye appointment, Kaylee's is tomorrow, so we will find out more about it then. 

 

My favorite picture of her.

I tried again to take pictues of the kids. I just held my finger down and hoped for a good one, I think I took about 50 of the same shot. I think these are pretty good. 

 Josh found this butterfly and it followed us through much of the zoo, it was strange to see it so friendly. I tried to get it to fly away or put it on a tree, but it kept coming back to us. It loved Kaylee, if only it knew sitting on her was a bad idea and it might become her snack :) 

At the hotel, Kaylee opening her gifts. We actually took her to the store to pick out her gifts, since she has some sensory issues with some things. I was trying so hard to get a picture of Kaylee holding her baby and thought the second one was cute, until my mom pointed out that she was really looking at the piece of wrapping paper in her hand. She was way more interested in the wrapping paper than the toys.

 Here you can see how excited she was over the wrapping paper and a preview of the next few days with Kaylee's new toy. I think she has gotten to play with it maybe once.

 Eating her first cake. 

 I love this picture, it is one of the few I have of her actually looking at me. 

 Oh, and I had to throw this one in, the last bite before choking.  We all knew it would happen and were just waiting for it, but also wanted to let her enjoy her first cake like any child would a first cake. She was so upset when we took her cake away, but was happy again when I put her in the bath.

Kaylee is doing really well and loves her new home. Some days are great and it is like she has been with us forever and other days are really hard, and she acts like she has never been with us. It is all a progress. 

Our biggest issue is with eating. She has gotten better, but it is still difficult. She usually doesn't crawl around in search of food anymore, except for the last two days. And she is learning to feed herself and not shove her mouth full, but as soon as I look away, she starts shoving her mouth full. 

Sometimes, she won't even feed herself if I am sitting next to her, she will hold her hand out and want me to do it. I think she is afraid of getting in trouble. It is really frustrating at times, because I don't want her to be afraid, but I also don't want her to choke on the food. I probably overreact when she does it, out of fear of her choking and I have somehow caused her to be scared that she will do it wrong. 

She did feed herself using a spoon all on her own, for 2 days, I was so excited,  but now she won't do it. 

We just take 1 day at a time, and I know that in a year things will be completely different. 

She seems to be very attached now and is always crawling around looking for me or if I come in a room, she will try to come over to me. I was so happy a couple weeks ago, when she crawled into the bathroom on her own to find me. 

She has also become interested in toys, and tries to play with them. She still ends up hitting herself on the head with the toy though.

She has learned to climb up the stairs and climb off the couch. I was so happy when she got off the couch on her own, because we have been working on this since she came home. 

She wants to walk so bad, she will stand up by the couch and just go, of course she does a nose dive after about 5 steps, but it doesn't discourage her from trying again. I think she is so proud of herself when she does it.