internet

As you may have guessed I have very limited access to the Internet at the moment. I have been writing posts and saving them until I am up at my parents house to post them. Sorry if this makes the blog choppy. Because it is such great reading any other time. LOL

When can we go back?

When can we go back to China? My baby brother is waiting. This is what I hear every day from Baby Bug. She thinks if two is fun three is better, plus she really thinks it is unfair that we are an all female household. LOL
Baby Bug keeps talking about how much she loved China. She says it was the best trip ever, and so much fun! Was she on the same trip as me? LOL I think half of what she loved was the fact that everyone looked like her. If you had asked me before Baby Bug came home I would have said that a child wouldn’t notice racial differences until she was older, at least school age. But I think Baby Bug noticed from day one. I think one of the reasons she wants a brother so much is that she was disappointed that Mei-Mei didn’t have brown hair and eyes like her. I also would love a son. With China's new rules, my son is probably not in China. And with my finances, my son will probably not be coming home for five years or more, adoption fees take awhile to save. Unless I have a chance to adopt through a disruption. How can I wish that on any child or family? And yet, it does happen, and it is about the only way I would be able to bring home a son in the next few years. The only other option would be marriage, and I haven’t had a date in six months. At this point it is in Gods hands.

Update

An update on Mei Mei’s progress. She had yet another developmental assessment Wednesday. I told the lady Mei-Mei over stimulates easily, and doesn’t like to be touched. She kept hugging Mei-Mei and this made Mei-Mei freak out and withdraw grrrr. Mei-Mei was to freaked out to show what she could do. The gal meant well, but was young, and didn’t get attachment issues, sigh. I think she put Mei-Mei as more delayed than I think she is.
Mei-Mei has picked up so much! She is walking at least half the time and can now take 5-6 steps in a row. She has learned to play “patty cake” at least the patty part. She can say Je Je (Cantonese for big sister) Papa, and more. The bad news is she doesn’t say them in context, just repeat them. The sound she does make spontaneously and in context, when she wants to play, is a lion’s roar. :-) Baby Bug loves to play lion and Mei Mei has picked up on that. It is the cutest thing ever to see them growl at each other. They both really adore each other, this thrills me no end.

Kisses

I got my first spontaneous kiss! :-) I am so excited. I had made a milk bottle for Mei Mei, then set it down while I got Baby Bug out of the bath. When I went back to Mei Mei she had chugged half of it. She gets her bottle only for rocking and bonding before bed, so she feels it is a treat. I wanted to have the full rocking time (she doesn’t hold still without the bottle) so I took her into the kitchen to top up her Nini (bottle.) When she realized what I was doing she got the biggest grin and gave me a big smacking kiss. :-) I am one happy mama. OK it is just cupboard love, but I can build on that. Mei Mei is becoming so much more affectionate. She is getting closer to attachment each day. At this point she is not so much attached as learning to like attention and love from others, any others. This is good first step for a child who couldn’t stand to be touched anyone just a month ago. Soon she will figure out that mamas love is best.

Giggle fest

Right now my two little lady bugs are curled up together in Mei-Mei’s crib giggling. :-) That’s right Baby Bug has decided that Mei-Mei’s crib is the place to sleep and Mei-Mei thinks that is just fine and dandy. I really should go in and quiet them down, but it is so cute, plus sister bonding is a good thing. :-)

Doing great!!!

We are doing great!!! Mei Mei has settled in well and is showing progress in all areas. Baby Bug is enjoying being a big sister (most of the time) and really wants to know if we can go back to China tomorrow get a baby brother too. I am loving being home with the girls. :-) Mei Mei does still needs her time in the crib each day, but less and less. We still have work to do, but she is moving in the right direction. The Dr. puts her eye sight at about 20/800. We are hoping it will improve with vision therapy, and she will need glasses at some point. We are waiting to see where we are at the next visit (in three months) before we talk glasses. I just wish I could be a stay at home mom forever. :-)

Getting dressed

This morning I put Mei Mei in her play yard still in her Jammie's while I got my shower. When I got out of the shower I could hear Baby Bug saying "Its all right, your doing so good." in the sweetest voice. I went to check on the girls and found Baby Bug had dressed Mei Mei for the day and was now in the play yard gently playing with her. It was the most precious thing ever! I guess all her doll dressing has paid off. :-) I LOVE MY GIRLS

Steps forward

We had a good day yesterdat Mei Mei made some progress! She took three steps!!! Yes!!! She also was able to handle being out of the crib or play pen for a longer amount of time. :-) Usualy she can only handle about an hour out of her safe place before she begins to panic. Yesterday she was out for almost three hours strait at one point, also she needed only an hour in her crib to regroup. I guess when you have spent 17 months in a crib being out of it seems pretty overwhelming. She also played some with her cousin Dragon and really seemed to enjoy that.

Still alive, kind of

Just letting people know we are still alive. Mei Mei is on US time and Baby Bug is on China time, so mama gets no sleep. :-) I kind of expected that. Baby Bug thinks being a big sister is great about 90% of the time, the other 10% she really feels that life is hard. Mei Mei is struggling a great deal with adjustments. She has a lot of attachment issues. She also has developmental delays. We went to her first doctors appointment. She is very healthy other than the cold that has lingered from when we were in China. She is 25lbs. :-) She is 70Th percentile on the American white child charts. She was also assessed developmentally. She is set to receive OT, PT, ST, and vision therapy. She is not speaking, (in Chinese or English) and worse seems to have no receptive language. She doesn't walk, and has very little small motor skills. This doesn't surprise me, as her vision is minimal. Some days I feel beyond overwhelmed. I think the attachment issues are the hardest for me. Yesterday we went to the playground in the mall. Mei Mei noticed that another mother had Cheese-its. She crawled over to her and decided to stay with her. She screamed and fought me when I took her away. She was more than willing to go home with this stranger. The funny thing is this goes back and forth, some days she seems to be progressing and even likes me a little. The good news is it can only get better. :-) We are doing fine and growing together.