Long time No write

I know it has been a very long time since I last posted, but has been a very busy time, both at work and at home!

For those of you who aren't friends with me on Facebook, I bet you're wondering how Ginny is doing! Well, I can tell you that she is doing great! There is barely a trace of that shy little girl that we knew in China. She is out of her shell and now we trying to tame her (only as much as Connor and Zoe!)She is, in fact, a very funny little girl. She is constantly goofing around, making funny facing and laughing hysterically! It is hard to get her to calm down sometimes! She still cries pitifully when she doesn't get what she wants and can't eat the same thing two days in a row (particularly for breakfast), but she has gotten much better and doesn't do it as often.

She is a very sweet and affectionate little girl. She likes to be carried and to sit on our laps. She loves going to Tae Kwon Do watch the rest of us and even makes up her own moves and routines. We'll definitely have to start her in it next summer!

We have had a number of visits with different doctors and services regarding her ears and hearing. We found out that she hears almost nothing at a normal conversational level. We can communicate with her because we always get her attention and I think she reads lips and body/hand signals. (She is also picking up the sign language I have taught her very well.)

Her coclears are normal, but she hears through the bone, so we are currently seeking approval through my health insurance for a BAHA device. BAHA used to stand for Bone Attached Hearing Aid, but because insurances won't cover hearing aids, they just call it the BAHA now and considerate it a prosthetic. For now she will wear it as a headband and the devices with sit on the bones behind where her ears should be. When she is old enough, they will implant part of the device in the actual skull so she can snap them in and out.

We have also spoken to a plastic surgeon who said they typically wait until children are 6 or 7 to reconstruct the ears, which will be covered under my cosmetic rider on my health insurance (assuming we still have it in a few years!) Unfortunately, to fix these kinds of birth defects on children is considered "cosmetic" so most insurances don't cover it. There is legislation that doctors are trying to pass to change that. I'll probably write more about that as I learn more.

I am really glad we waiting a bit before doing a lot of this because Ginny is much more open and responsive now. I think as she becomes more comfortable and attached to us, she is much more open to new things, too. She knows that she's coming home with us, so it's okay if she has fun in new places!

All in all, everything is going well. We caved in and bought a van to better suit our needs. I don't really like vehicles that big, but I have to admit that it's nice when Connor & Zoe are bickering it's not right in my ears like in the car! We're also going to Disney World the week of July 4th and looking really forward to that. We can't wait to see Ginny's face as she takes in all of the new things she will see there!

Back to work :(

Well, I'm back to work tomorrow. I'm not really sure how I feel about that, as most days I have thoroughly enjoyed staying home with Ginny. Plus I'm going back just in time for testing! Oh well, only 8 weeks left! I think I'll manage!

We had our first post-placement observation on Wednesday, which went very well! Only 5 more to go over the next 5 years! For those of you who don't know the process, adoptive families work with a social worker before the adoption for the home study. Then the social worker comes to the house after the adoption and send reports back to china on the child's development, bonding and everything. Our next visit should be in September.

We also received Ginny's proof of citizenship, which means we can apply for her birth certificate and social security number!

Ginny has also earned a new nickname in the past few days: Hufflepuff because of how she huffs and puffs when she doesn't get her way!!! It has really been amazing spending these last 8 weeks with her. She is such a happy, lively and silly girl. She is communicating very well and using the potty! I'm looking forward to this summer and spending more time with all three kids!

Potty girl & temper tantrums

Ginny is now officially potty girl! A day or two after my last post she just started going on her own! She sometimes tells us when she has to go, but usually she just goes and lets us know afterward. I've even been putting her down for her nap with in her underwear and she's been waking up dry! She still wears a pull-up to bed and when we go out. She sometimes will let me know if she has to go potty while we're out but usually not. I'm going to try her in underwear when we go to tkd this afternoon. We'll see how she does!

Just as a clarification, Ginny is not TAKING Tae Kwon Do. She just comes with and either watches or plays in their playroom! If she wants to, I will put her in it next summer.

I'm trying to limit her naps. She wakes up at around 6am every morning and if she naps too long during the day she's up in the middle of the night, too!

For the past week she has been throwing temper tantrums every morning when I tell her she can't have candy for breakfast... At least two or three times. She also throws one when I tell her she can't get a new glass for water because she already has three! (I swear, she's like the little girl from Signs! I wonder if that means aliens are on the way?) Her temper also flares at nap and bed time, sometimes when I ask her to pick up, when I won't give her something new to eat because she didn't eat the last thing I got for her, and when the mood strikes her! This morning has been good though, so I'm keeping my fingers that she's finally "getting it"!

I've finally found a tv show that she'll actually sit and watch! Lazy Town! It's the only show that she'll just sit and watch most of the way through! I generally keep the tv off most of the day, but she sometimes asks to turn it on even though she won't watch it. Now I can just put on a Lazy Town I've recorded and she'll sit and watch for 20 minutes!

I've had a few people ask if we'll put her in Chinese classes. As of right now, we're hoping to, but it won't be for awhile. If anyone speaks Cantonese and wants to help us out, let me or Brian know! I'd like to find someone who could come over and hang out to let her get used to them and then try to talk to her.

Ginny is a really awesome kid. She is smart, funny, silly, affectionate, and absolutely gorgeous. We are do lucky to have her in our lives!

Destruction 5000 strikes again! And again! And again...

So I started this blog post about a week and a half ago and it mysteriously disappeared! That's why it has taken so long for me to post again, although I have loads to write about!

Destructor 5000 has proven an appropriate nickname for Ginny a few times over the past couple weeks! While she was supposed to be napping once, she emptied out Zoe's sock drawer onto the floor and then filled it with clothes from her T-shirt drawer! She starts almost every morning by pulling out all her favorite toys and peppering them throughout the downstairs. She takes everything apart. Any toy that is battery operated she has figured out how to take off the backing and remove the batteries!

Potty training is.... Going... She does best in the evening, but even then she cries and fights for 5-10 minutes before she goes. Half the time she wiggles so much half her pee ends up on the floor!! I'm been getting very frustrated, as it's obvious when she has to go, but she refuses to sit down and just go! She cries and wiggles and fights it until she can't hold it any longer!

One thing that Brian and I have discussed is how fast she goes from screaming bloody murder to a complete goofball! She still has anxiety about people leaving, but she's easily distracted. The thing is her crying usually comes on in stages, starting with dirty looks, a few tears, maybe a howl, and grows to hyperventilating balling within a few minutes. Then in the middle of a scream, she'll stop and do something goofy. I think some of it might be frustration at not being able to communicate fully...

Speaking of communication, it's really going pretty well! She understands most of what is said to her, either verbally or in signs or hand signals. She can say some words and is constantly trying to "explain" herself by babbling and using her hands in a very serious way. I've tried to get a video of it, but she turns either goofy or shy whenever a camera is pointed at her. I can't tell if she's speaking some approximation of Chinese or if it is really just babble.

Well, I think that's enough for now. I will try to post again soon!

3 Ss: Siblings, Sleeping and SPOILED!

I would like to start this post by talking about Zoe and Connor. The first thing I thought when I saw them waiting outside security last week was "Geez! How did they grow so much in two weeks?!?!?!" Over the last week and half, I've come to realize that it isn't so much that they had grown, but that spending two weeks with only a three year old made them seem that much older! It also made me realize how fast they really do change! Connor is getting so tall and thin! And Zoe is getting a major attitude! They are fighting constantly, which started before we left for China and is driving us CRAZY! But they both adore Ginny and are kind and sweet to her, so I guess we'll have to work on the fighting and attitude...

We already knew that Ginny was a roller while sleeping. Brian and I each got kicked and punched multiple times while sleeping with her between us in China. Yesterday Brian ran into our room asking "Is Ginny in here with you?" I said "no" and he went back and found her all balled up in the top corner of her bed. This morning, Brian did the same thing, except this time there was a hint of panick in his voice. Ginny was NOT in her bed. She was not on the floor. She was not with me or Connor or anywhere else! Her pillow and some of her toys were on the floor next to her bed. I came in and asked Brian if she had rolled under the bed. Sure enough, there she was! She had rolled off and under the bed in her sleep and never woke up! It's a REALLY low bed, too! She smacked her head coming out, but thought the whole thing was pretty amusing! I think we're putting Zoe's old bed rails on Ginny's bed so she doesn't scare us like that anymore!

Lastly, Ginny is starting to grow a little spoiled. She still cries when Brian leaves and/or the kids leave for school. Here are a few other things that she has cried about over the past week:
1. I gave Connor his dinner before I gave it to her.
2. I said no when she reached for a cookie at church on Sunday.
3. I said no to chocolate the other morning.
She apparantly doesn't like the word no, as she gives me a dirty look everytime I use it with her!!! Well, she'll get used to it!

Overall, her transition has gone very well! She is a very easy-going kid, only shy around strangers. She is running around Tae Kwon Do like she owns the place! She's happy and enjoys exploring all the toys in our house. Potty training isn't going so well, but we have five or six months before that becomes dire! She is trying to imitate words. She is doing well with her signs. I hope all the other families are having as good a time as we are with their new little ones!

More pics from this week

It's super easy posting pics from my phone, but I can only post 4 at a time and no videos! I have some videos posted on Facebook so check them out there!

Week one

Sorry for not posting this week! Jet lag has been hard to get through, plus getting back into a kind of groove without going to work has been interesting!

Ginny has been absolutely amazing this week. She warmed up to the kids on Sunday and actually cried when we came back in the house Monday morning without them after putting them on the bus! She's still not so sure about my mom, but she's starting to used to her. She's also doing great at Tae Kwon Do. We've taken her 3 times to watch and has been shy but fine. She even gave Master Chong a highs five!

She has more favorite toys now. She hoards them on the couch all day and takes turns playing with each. She especially likes cars. She may be my tomboy and I already told Brian I think she's going to be his sports fan!

I've been working with her on speaking and signing. The only word she can clearly say is 'mama'. Most of her speech is more like baby babbles. She can't repeat words clearly and most are completely intelligible. She is picking up the signs pretty well, though. We've got more, please, all done, mama, daddy, thank you and potty down pretty well. We're gonna start to work on stop, grandma, brother, sister, and sleep next!

She is a very affectionate child. Every time Brian or I walk in the room after being away from her for any length of time she gets this big smile, starts telling happily, and runs up to hug us! She is constantly asking me for hugs or kisses. She also enjoys sharing her snacks with me. We started a game a few days ago where I put food in her mouth and then she puts some in mine. I say please and thank you and she mimics me.

I downloaded a few apps for toddlers and she's doing pretty well on them. One involves stacking blocks and circles by size and the others are different matching games. She is good at the matching. This stacking is hit or miss. I'm not sure if she doesn't get it or is just being silly. She does not seem to know how to count, so we'll be working on that also.

I know there's more that I want to write about but I can't think of it right now. I'm going to try to keep posting at least once or twice a week as long as people want to keep reading about it. I'm sure it's going to be a very interesting journey for me over the next few weeks/months/years!

Home

Yesterday was a bit traumatic... Jet lag is a bitch! First of all, they kept delaying and almost completely cancelled our flight! Then I got a migraine as we were boarding the plane. Luckily it wasn't terrible, but Brian let me sit by myself anyways.

Ginny was great on the flight and through the terminal. My mom, Brian's parents, Zoe and Connor were waiting for us outside security. As soon as we got to them, Ginny clamped up tight. She started crying when I put her I the car seat, which I expected as she's never sat in one before.

We pretty much spent the whole day sleeping yesterday. Brian woke Ginny up after a while and let me sleep, but when I got up at 7pm, they were both asleep on the couch.

One thing is for sure- she does NOT like the animals! Anytime one of them gets too close she starts screaming like we haven't heard her scream yet! Hopefully, she'll figure out that they're good doggies and kitty and she'll get used to them.

I for her to sleep till about 4:30am and she's been pretty good. She ate breakfast, played with books and is watching Wonder Pets. She's been happy and inquisitive and even let me leave the room a couple times without crying. Hopefully she'll stay happy when everyone else wakes up and the day starts!

Chicago part two

Well, all flights into Buffalo were canceled last night, so we got stuck in Chicago. They gave us a half off voucher for a local hotel, so we're stranded at the Crown Plaza, unable to sleep because it's the middle of the afternoon in China!

Ginny is being super goofy and we're just trying to keep her quiet! She is rolling around and giggling like crazy. She even started hitting us and laughing! I think we have a normal 3 year old on our hands! Uh oh!!!

We'll probably get going early and have breakfast at the airport.Let's how the fog disperses by 10am when we're supposed to land.

Chicago

Ginny was an absolute doll on the long flight. She fell asleep after dinner and except for rolling off the seat once and kicking me a few times.

We almost freaked out before boarding... I went to change her diaper and they weren't in the diaper bag! I must have left them back in the bathroom in the domestic terminal! I raced around while plane was boarding and finally found a shop that had some. Whew!

Everything has gone fairly smoothly here in Chicago. Immigration and customs was a breeze. We even had to go through new citizen immigration and had no problems. Ginny has been goofy all the way through the airport! She only started crying when we sat her in a cart, but that lasted about 30 seconds. She's been playing on the poles while waiting in line, asking to be picked up, and I think she said mommy a little while ago!

Oh well, boarding is about to begin! I think I'll continue to blog over the next few weeks, so keep checking back to see how Ginny is doing?

Shanghai

We hopped our plane and after about a half hour delay, we were flying through thick fog and clouds on our way to Shanghai.

Over the past few days we have given Ginny a few nicknames, two of which she definitely reinforced on this first flight. Destructor 5000 is one nickname because she likes taking things apart and ripping them up. She kept taking the headphones apart and then handing them to me to fix so she could take the apart again.

The second nickname is Ginny McWiggles. She never stopped wiggling on the plane! She'd take out the magazine and look through it for a few minutes, then put it back and take out the information card to look at, then switch again. Then she found the buttons on the side on the armrest. Then she tried to get into my phone for about 20 minutes or so! She did figure out how to take pictures of herself without unlocking the phone!

We're at the Shanghai Pudong airport and she's sleeping. We can check in to our flight in about an hour, then we're going to grab something to eat before heading through security to our gate. Hopefully our long flight goes as smoothly as our first one!!

Last day!

I can't believe it's almost over! These past few weeks have been incredible and we have made some (hopefully) lifelong friends!

Ginny is absolutely blossoming! She has been so goofy today, both in and out of the room! She has barely stopped laughing the whole day! Hopefully she doesn't regress too much with the travel and meeting Connor and Zoe, etc!

I'm going to keep this short as we have a LONG day tomorrow! We have to wake up at 5am Guangzhou time (which is 5pm Thursday evening Buffalo time) and we don't get in to Buffalo until 11:30pm Friday night! We have a 7 hour layover in Shanghai!!! Everybody pray that all our flights are on time and everything goes smoothly!

Oath taking and Round three

The oath taking ceremony was very uneventful today. We had to get up wicked early so we could shower, eat breakfast and be in the lobby by 7:50. We took a bus to the consulate and the line to get through security was longer than the rest of the process. We had to go through one security that checked our passports, then another with metal detectors. We had to check our phones there and when we set the metal detectors off they said "go through, it's just your shoes".

There were about thirty families with us. When we were all there, a woman came to the window and told us what was going to happen. We all had to stand, raise our right hands and swear that all the information we have provided is "the truth to the best of our knowledge". Then they called each family up separately. We were the first in our group to be called and as soon as we got up there she started crying. They checked our passports and then let me take Ginny away while Brian stayed and they checked the paperwork. That was it! Tomorrow we get Ginny's visa so we can bring her home with us!!!

We went back to Shamian island to finish up our shopping and Ginny figured out that she can swing her body from side to side in the backpack to see around me. She'd whip over to one side then back over to another! She also started kicking things while we were walking through stores!!! I kept grabbing her feet and pulling them forward around me saying "my feet"!

We brought board books, crayons, coloring books and sticker books to keep her busy. I think I've already mentioned what she does with the board books in a past blog. She's just as funny with crayons and sticker books! She mainly just organizes and reorganized the crayons in the box. She has also figured out how to take the crayons apart and tries to put them back together (they're the "twistable" kind)! You can see a pick of that below. She can spend hours doing that! It's so cute!

She is definitely a silly girl and is going to fit in perfectly with Connor and Zoe! One more day here and then a wicked long day flying home!

Shamian Island round 2 and River Cruise

We went back to Shamian Island today and did a lot of shopping. We bought nothing for Zoe and Connor! (I know they are going to read this so I have to say that!) We're working on getting "Gotcha Day" gifts. One of the other mothers said that they were looking for small gifts to give their daughter every year on her "Gotcha Day". So we were looking around for small-ish things to give her every year.

We went on a river cruise tonight, which was really nice, but through the middle of the city. First of all, we got Papa John's pizza to take with us. Funny being in Southern China and eating Papa John's delivery... Don't think I've every even had it at home! The bridges on the river were beautiful and the boat was gorgeous. There was this huge screen that lit up like fireworks on the side of the river. It had to be about as long as a football field and a third as wide! No where else but in China...

Ginny did well today. She cried twice randomly. We think the first was from hunger and maybe the second was thirst? We are starting to doubt her ability to talk. She hasn't said a word and her crying, laughing and even the murmuring we were hearing aren't very vocal. They are more nasal and guttural. I keep moving her mouth to say "mama" and she thinks it's really funny, but doesn't say anything. Hopefully she'll come around, but it's definitely something we'll be working on and talking to the doctor about when we get home!

We have our Oath Taking Ceremony tomorrow. Only 2 more days in Guangzhou and then a long long long way back home on Friday! Can't wait!!!

Safari!

What a great day! We got the TB tests checked first, which went fine except she started balling again. (I can't wait to take her to the doctor at home...) then we headed off to the Zoo/Safari.

What a place! It was like a Chinese Disney's Animal Kingdom! One thing that was commented on over and over was how close the animals were. Many of the animals were only a few feet away! Another thing was how many of each animal there was. There must have been at least 30 giraffe, a dozen lions, half a dozen hippos, the same for tigers, both Bengal and white. And most of the animals seemed very healthy!

One of the funniest points was when a group of teenage girls spotted Ben, the 7 year old son of another family. His blond hair and blue eyes caught their attention and they wanted pictures with him... All ten of them! Poor thing!

Ginny was great through the whole thing. I kept her in the back pack for most of it, but she always seemed interested and kept craning around me to see things. She fell asleep during the safari part of it, but by that time, it was way past her nap and to be expected.

We went to a "western" restaurant for dinner and Ginny definitely likes steak. She also liked the cheese cake and chocolate desserts we got from a bakery in the hotel. It's so hard to put into words exactly how she is opening up little by little, day by day. It's amazing to watch and fills my heart with joy every time she smiles!

Not much

Not too much to report on today. Ginny keeps opening up little by little. She's smiling more, like when we pick her up and sometimes just when we look at her. She hasn't shown any jealousy, yet. We went back to the park today with two other families and one had a three year old girl who was very out-going. She kept asking to be picked up be whoever was closest to her. Ginny seemed amused by her.

I have to say that it's really nice having other people going through this at the same time we are. We've really bonded with two of the families and will hopefully continue to make connections. We get to go on some kind of a safari tomorrow. It should be fun!

There's just some silly pics at the bottom for your enjoyment. I'll post a video on Facebook so check it out!

Parks and restaurants

Well, we found something that Ginny likes (now that she's comfortable with us). There's a huge park across the street from our hotel. It's pretty amazing actually. There's a bonsai garden and a ballroom dancing hall, a workout station, a small theme park with kids rides and a playground... At least that's all we saw, but we only got about a quarter of the way around the lake!

We spent most of the time at the playground. Ginny seemed right at home! She was climbing all over, going down slides, LOVED the swings and had a general good time! Later after her nap, I tried to teach her some sign language. We worked on 'more', 'please', 'thank you' and 'I love you'. I also got Ginny to kiss me!!! We've been working on that one ever since!

I want to tell you about some of the things I've noticed about restaurants here in China. Going out to eat is a very interesting experience. First there is always someone at the door to greet you, and then another person who points you to yet another person who seats you. There are about a million servers, some in suits, others in uniforms. I'm not quite sure what the difference is in their actual jobs but they seem to do pretty much the same thing... Stand around a lot!

The menus you get are more like books! And they only give you one or two depending on the size of the party. Luckily there are pictures, because the names aren't always in English and there's almost never a description. Unlike in the US, nothing comes with rice and some restaurant don't even offer white rice! Lastly and most confounding is the way dishes are brought out... In no particular order. The meat dish may come first, followed by the spring rolls ten minutes later, with the fried rice showing up at the end! Very strange!!!