Changing daily...

It is hard to believe that we have been home for just over a month! So much has changed since Hannah became our daughter on April 11. I am saving her "medical" update until we have a few more appointments, so this will just update about her time in our family. I will say that we are slowly piecing together the complicated parts of Hannah's body. Her records from SFCV were pretty accurate, so we are thankful for that relationship and their willingness to share so much with us before we adopted her. We go back to Cincinnati two more times in June, and then we will have a clear vision on what we need to do with her moving forward.

Hannah is changing daily and seems so happy. Her language is developing. She is just like a toddler learning to talk. Tons of babble with an English word thrown in there. She repeats everything Emma says (even in the same whiney voice...) and I have heard her use several phrases spontaneously on her own. The language is becoming less of a problem although it is still not great. She understands all of my basic commands (go get your shoes, where is your shirt, where is your baby, are you hungry, are you thirsty, go throw this away, etc.) She says these phrases frequently:

I'm hungry

That is mine

Stop it!

No, No!

I want it

That is baby

owwwwww (when I change her diaper-LOL)

It amazes me how observant she is. If I pull my hair back in a pony tail, she turns to run to the bathroom... finds her rubber bands in the drawer and brings it to me for a pony tail. She always remembers where she leaves her baby and her shoes, her memory is great! If Timmy hits her in the head, she comes to me... points to her head and says "Timmmmmmyyyyyyy." She figured out how to tell on him really fast!

I have noticed this past week that she is starting to run with more ease. When we first got her, it was like a fast walk... but she is picking up speed! When we first got home she was terrified of the swing, slide and the trampoline (as you can imagine!) Just this week she can climb into the trampoline on her own and she laughs HYSTERICALLY when her siblings bounce her all over the place! We went to the park today and she climbed to the top of the play set by herself without asking me to come with her. She hit the top of the slide and smiled, but wouldn't go down. I climbed up with her and let her sit in my lap and she LOVED it!! Every time we got to the bottom she said, "Again!" and pulled my hand to climb with her. Tonight I saw her playing k'nex with her brothers and I was shocked at her fine motor skills. She was putting these tiny little beads on a pole and was so accurate each time she did it. I realized the other day that her balance is much better... she hasn't fallen off the bench in our kitchen in several weeks. As a matter of fact, she is climbing on top of the table in the kitchen and living room. She is definitely acting like a 2 year old with her curiosity! Here is the best milestone so far- she went to sleep by herself today!!!!! Normally I have to lay down with her and it takes 45 minutes before she finally dozes off. This causes me to miss saying good-night to my other kids. I also doze off when I lay down with her, so when I wake up I am not motivated to do anything. I promised Emma that I would lay down with her first tonight. Rick put Hannah in her room and went to lay down with her, but she pointed to the door for him to leave!! She fell asleep without crying. Not sure if this will continue, but I sure hope so!

She spends most of the time smiling and laughing. She is learning how to play with her siblings but sometimes gets a little rough... as in biting and hitting. When she gets in trouble, she cries and goes to sit by herself. It makes me a little sad, because she won't come to me, but I am sure this is something that will change over time. 

I still need to update about my other 4 kids, Andrew's 8th birthday, Emma's referral day and other special memories but that is all for now. School is out so I will have more time to update. I don't want to forget everything that happened in our family!

Matthew's last day of kindergarten! I can't believe he will be in 1st grade. 

Emma wanted pig tails... so Hannah did, too. Then they crawled around the floor barking like dogs because I said they looked like puppies. Hannah loves her sister!!

You can see the smile on Hannah's face! She has a blast flopping all over the place. 

Today we had a McDonalds picnic in the park. 

My Timmy boy

Emma loves to play at the playground

Sweet Matthew

Hannah climbed up all by herself!

Andrew loves to swing. 

Hannah loved the slide and wanted to go over and over again!

An update!

Hard to believe that we have been home for 2 weeks and we have had Hannah for 1 month. She is still doing well, although we certainly have our days. She is really comfortable at home and seems to understand that we are her family. She is very chatty with us and runs around and plays, but when other people are here she is really quiet, shy and clingy. She is still sleeping great and really loves her bed! We had 2 nights in a row where she ended up in our bed because she woke up during a changing. Both of those nights were awful because she rolled around and moaned like she couldn't get comfortable. I finally got so frustrated on the second night that I took her back to her bed and she fell asleep within 5 minutes! I think she enjoys her bed and likes the comfort of being closed in a tight space. I am so thankful she loves her bed and is a good sleeper.

 

Everyone asks me how Emma is doing with Hannah- they want to know if she is jealous. Not at all!!! Emma is really patient with Hannah and is a big help with her! All of my kids understand that Hannah needs patience right now and that she does not understand a lot of things. Timmy is the only one we have to watch... Hannah was standing in the middle of the driveway the other day and Timmy rode his bike right into her and knocked her down. She had a massive melt down and Timmy acted like he didn't care. I asked him why he did it and he said, "She was in my way!" Oh, my. He plays the little brother role really well! Most of the time he is fine with her... but he is the one who won't give up a toy or give into her requests.

 

We have decided to have all of Hannah's care done at Cincinnati Children's. It just made the most sense. She requries so many different specialists, and they are used to working as a team on a treatment plan. We live just over an hour from Children's hospital and 45 minutes from our local hospital, so it really wasn't much different. The problem was that they wouldn't get us in for at least 2 months unless we could prove that she was a "critical" case! Ugh... so frustrating!! Then she said that is best case, that normally they want adopted children in a family for 4-5 months before they are seen, to see how they grow and change. The nurse told me to get bloodwork and a renal/pelvic ultrasound done and send them the results. That would give them enough information to make a decision. Well, we had the u/s done Wednesday at 2:00 pm and by 8:30 am on Thursday, I had 2 missed calls from my pediatrician and a message from Cincinnati Children's saying they want to see us in the next few weeks! There was an issue with her kidney (we knew it was bad...) that needs to be resolved quickly. They are going to do 2 full days of tests and we meet with doctors on the 3rd day. Then we will be able to schedule her surgeries! We should know a lot more about our girl in the next few weeks!

 

Our local head start preschool knows about Hannah and has taken her information. We are not sure she will qualify, but given her age, medical condition, and development, we are hoping that will be enough to get her in. Unfortunately, since Hannah is adopted... she can't be labeled as having a "disability" but rather a "lack of opportunity." She has not been given the chance to develop her language or gross motor skills, so it isn't her fault that she is behind. BUT, there is still hope... so we have faith that it will all work out!

 

I have 11 days of school left and they can't go fast enough. I love my class and I have had an amazing year, but it is time to focus all my energy on my family. We are counting down the days!

 

Timmy and Emma's new hiding place... the kitchen cabinet!

My kids with some of their cousins

Emma and cousin Olivia

Matthew and Emma are the most patient with Hannah. They were helping her get to the sandbox. She is not very coordinated and falls easily when the surface is not flat.

We need a bigger sandbox.

Hannah was having the best time taking pictures with Matthew and Emma.

I took this from the top of my driveway. Emma was helping Hannah down the hill. She was walking really slow so Hannah would not fall. It was so cute!