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Monday, August 15, 2005

As usual, Isabelle continues to amaze and astound us with her new abilities. Everyone, including all the boys, are fascinated by her and can't seem to get enough of her. Asher loves to just watch her and says his favorite funny face of hers is when "her eyes go flat and her mouth goes in a circle" (see picture to the right). When she wakes up from her nap everyone asks if they can be the one to retrieve her from her crib. On Saturday she started her own game in which she stood at the side of the bed and then squatted down, out of our view until we asked "Where is Isabelle?" Then she'd pop up and we'd all say "there she is!" She has also learned the traditional "so big" response to our "How big is Isabelle?" question. We are so grateful to be able to share all these unforgettable moments with her. On August 5th Isabelle had her first visit with a developmental therapist. I (Stefanie) had contacted Early Intervention in July to have her evaluated; I want to be able to help her "make up" for the stimulation and activity she missed while at the orphanage. The DT felt like Isabelle had made incredibly huge strides in such a short time, and was only significantly delayed in her receptive and expressive language. Of course this makes sense because she heard only Mandarin for the first 11 months of her life. The DT explained that right now she is processing all these new sounds, in effect regressing, before she bursts out with her first English word. And don't I hope that word is "mama"! She has really started to enjoy playing with her siblings. When the boys are in the basement and she hears all the commotion, she crawls over to the baby gate at the top of the stairs, pulls to stand, and yells from there like a prisoner trying to get out of a cell! Although her room is completely pink and she has a plethora of dolls from which to choose, her favorite toys seem to all belong to her big brothers! Her top picks right now are Hot Wheels, skateboard "guys" and balls of all sorts. It's interesting that just a week or so ago she didn't really pay attention to where her brothers were and now she can't stand to be away from them. She has always had a soft spot for her big sis, Tori. I don't know if it was the time they spent together in China but those two sisters have a special bond. Tori sure had to wait a long time to get a little sister, which I think makes their relationship that much sweeter. We celebrated Tori's 16th birthday a few days early because Chris had to go out of town. It was such fun to celebrate with our newly enlarged family and it was an opportunity to take pause and realize how truly blessed our family is. We had another visit from an occupational therapist on the 11th and she was a wealth of information. She confirmed what the DT had said and added her experiences with "cardiac babies" (i.e. children that have heart defects). She explained how children with heart defects very often show very little muscle tone and are weaker than their healthy counterparts. It was somewhere in the middle of our conversation about Isabelle's weaknesses that the weight of her health hit me like a ton of bricks. I just started crying right in the middle of it all! I was able to gain my composure but have since been left with an anxious anticipation of the time that we will be able to have Isabelle's heart repaired. The OT explained that once these children have their hearts fixed, their recovery is absolutely incredible. Of course, on the other hand I am not looking forward to potential open heart surgery, but that is a concern for a later date! For now I am looking forward to helping Isabelle "work out" more effectively with her crawling and reaching. Our goal is to help her become stronger and better prepared for recovery from any heart procedure she might have to undergo. We are trying to gear up for the new school year which begins August 23rd. Tori will be a junior this year, Zach will be in 5th and Asher begins kindergarten. We have purchased school supplies and backpacks and now it's down to just one more week of summer. It will seem so quiet around here with only Isabelle and Dalton, but I am hopeful that it will allow me to spend more one on one time with Isabelle. She is really warming up to this whole "hugging and kissing" thing. At first it was obvious that it made her uncomfortable and even frightened her a little. But slowly she has been coming around and now she is turning into a regular love machine! She loves to be tickled; just last night Tori was blowing raspberries on her tummy and she was giggling uncontrollably. She would roll over to get away and then, after a few seconds, roll back over for more. She has also started to pat and rub my face so sweetly, she'll also pat my back when I hold her close. Today was the very first time she purposely gave me a kiss...how blessed I am to be her mommy! We thank God daily for inspiring Chris to add to our family in this amazing and awesome way. We have a cardiology appointment on August 30 for another echocardiogram so be sure to check back for much prayed for good news! Isabelle making Asher's favorite funny face Celebrating Tori's 16th birthday Father and daughter Isabelle watching for the thunderstorm Soooooo big

Tori is so funny!

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