Three months ago we carried her out of the only place she had ever known as home. No longer was she an orphan. She was and is a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a niece, and a cousin. She belonged.
Three months ago love was put into action, and we began a journey of realizing it is far more than a feeling. It is a daily action. Sometimes is beautiful, and sometimes it fights tooth and nail to see progress.
Three months ago . . . such as short amount of time and yet, a lifetime seems to have passed.
Anna is not the same little girl we picked up. Physically, emotionally, mentally ...
Anna has gained six pounds and grown almost three inches. Yes, you read that right. She loves to eat. She doesn't mind touching her food, but she still won't eat out of her hands or mine. After a lot of evaluating and observing, the OT and I concluded that it's not sensory as much as programming. We are continuing to work on both eating with her hands and drinking liquids which is still a battle. But the upside is she feeds herself very well with a fork and spoon and eats pretty much whatever we're eating.
Anna now says, "Uh-Oh", "Yee-haw", "More", "Mama", "Dada", "No No", and "Night Night". She loves music and mimics rhythms quite well. We hear a ton of gibberish with lots of consonant sounds thrown in. She'll often rattle something off and expect us to understand which is both funny and frustrating. She understands so much now. For a child with "zero receptive language" hers has grown by leaps and bounds!
We've seen more appropriate play these past few weeks. She interacts very well with us and loves to play chase, make faces, and be silly. Oh my goodness is she silly. Anna also loves books. The child who wouldn't sit for half a second to look at a book now drags me into her room multiple times a day to sit in the rocker and read, "B-b-b-b" (Brown Bear, Brown Bear ...).
We've had an unseasonably warm winter and have spent a ton of time outside. I can't wait for swimming and water play this summer. She's going to love it.
Each week Anna has Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech. She's knocking her goals right out of the park.
Bonding and attaching, while still a work in progress, are going well. Anna had no concept of affection when she came home, and she's slowly (and sometimes stingily) learning to give hugs and kisses to Mama and Daddy. We never push. We just offer affection, and she'll often catch us off guard with a huge, slobbery kiss.
Are there still struggles? Yes! Miss Anna has quite an opinion and quite a temper. Some days are good. Some are exhausting. She still struggles with getting overwhelmed from time to time, and though we see it less and less, she has rough days where those self stimming behaviors (mostly rocking) rear their heads.
Anna is a strong, passionate, lively almost three year old, and we get all the good (and sometimes the bad) that goes along with that. Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers! Please keep them coming!
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