Meet Virginia and Some Apple Cider

Can I get one of those too?




Enjoying a great Red Sox game!!



I like cows just like Jo-Jo!!

Meet Virginia -She never compromises-Loves babies and surprises- Wears high heels when she exercises-Ain't that beautiful-Meet Virginia

Lyrics by Train

All my other babies loved lullabies, but not Addie. Addie's Nana thought she should listen to some classical music, so we tried that, but she wasn't too thrilled. Quite by accident we found what she does love for music. You see Miss Addie Ting hates to be in her car seat. After a few minutes in the car she begins to scream. In an effort to distract her one day this week, I pushed in a CD and "Meet Virginia" came from the speakers, and Addie instantly quieted. When the song ended, she screamed again. I went back to "Meet Virginia," and once again there was total silence. I mentioned this to Tommy, and several days later when Tommy and Addie and I were in the car she began her routine of protests. He tried one of his favorite songs in the CD player. It didn't work, so he skipped to the "Meet Virginia" song, and the silence was instantaneous. So odd, but at least it works.



This week Addie had her Physical Therapy, and we are happy to report that our PT did see improvement in her leg strength and in her bending and hip rotation. Balance is still very challenging for Addie, as is finding strength to support herself on her arms in a crawling position. During our Speech Therapy this week, our speech therapist was very amazed with Addie's progress in terms of eye contact and interaction with others. Addie made teeny tiny steps forward in her swallowing, and we will stay patient in this area. We are working hard to find ways for Addie to use those mouth muscles, beyond bottle sucking. We also had the wonderful opportunity to meet with an infant mental health social worker to discuss attachment issues. She introduced us to an attachment massage program which is really wonderful. One very exciting step made this week was brought to our attention by Bayley. When we first met Addie one of her self soothing behaviors was a head rolling behavior that most likely provided her with stimulation in the orphanage. Bayley mentioned this week that she had not seen Addie do this in some time, and it's true. Hopefully this means Ting is finding family to be a better means of being soothed when upset or stimulated when eager to explore.


As a family of six we enjoyed our first weekend away. We met Ron after his Friday technology conference and headed to Southern Maine to stay with Jeremy and Suzanne for a few days. Friday night everyone went to Jo-Jo's favorite place- Chucky Cheese's. Jeremy and Bayley were way over the top trying to accumulate record amounts of tickets. Tommy was thrilled with the safari games. Jo-Jo went from game to game with a huge smile on his face and, yes, Addie seemed to enjoy herself as well. She actually loved the kiddie rides. Saturday we ventured to Poland Springs for our traditional visit to Pumpkin Land. With pig racing, jump houses, a giant corn maze, and hayrides there is something for everyone. Jo-Jo was a wild man, and became quite the fan of the zip-line. Tommy and Bayley enjoyed hay bale jumping and the haunted hay ride. Addie clearly loved the animals, especially the goats, so it looks like our reservation for two goats for spring was a great idea. At lunch she ripped up the french fries, turned her nose up at the Gerber puffs, but attacked me for a sip of warm apple cider. Well that one sip turned into many-she loved it!!





Clearly as we venture into the next week we know that life is good as long as Addie has apple cider and "Meet Virginia" on hand.

Grins and Goats

Looking at the calendar it is hard to believe that next week will be the one month mark for Addie joining our family. Bayley and I first met Addie on September 16, 2008. Looking at the pictures from that day and thinking of how she appeared and how she is today, really is amazing. Addie is still very closed and many, many hours of her day are spent quietly observing the world around her. When out and about, people comment about her sad little face and ask why she doesn't smile. We don't know the answer, but only know that grins are reserved for only the most special occasions, like games of "Duck, Duck, Goose" with Jo-Jo, "Hippopotamus Hunting" with Tommy, and "Pulling Hair" with Bayley. She is not enthusiastic about practicing walking, and though we hope to strengthen her muscles with floor time, she absolutely detests our tummy time sessions. Crawling looks like it just may not happen, but she sure does have a very proud expression on her face, when she grasps our hands and pulls to standing. Without a doubt she really has made remarkable progress. I am the lucky recipient of the sweetest kisses ever. This week Ting is taking some tastes of food, mainly ice cream at Nannie's, and fresh squash at Nana and Buppa's house. She is allowing some tooth brushing, but is still hesitant about having a spoon near her mouth. Most exciting, Addie is actually swallowing some tiny bits of solid food. Soft blueberry Nutrigrain bars seem to be a favorite.

She is so funny about her bottle. When I offer her juice she is really not interested, but when she sees the Vanilla Pediasure drink, she is excited and makes very assertive vocalizations. This week Addie Ting has gained over a pound. She now looks around the room with a unique expression of anticipation when she hears Bayley, Tommy, or Jo-Jo's voice. She has learned to cough whenever Ron pretends to cough. She loves having Ron kiss her neck, and though she doesn't smile, she looks at him and makes a short mmm sound, meaning do it again. Just last night she seemed interested for the first time in a game of peek-a boo. The phone is also of great interest this week. Twice today I watched as she put the phone appropriately to her ear and uttered a most definite Chinese greeting of one kind or another. Her Uncle Lawrence bought her a walker which converts to a walk behind stepper. She seems to enjoy this, and hopefully her confidence in standing will grow.

On the sadder side, Addie is very scared of patty cake, and any clapping noise. Doors slamming also produce an odd response. I cannot help but wonder what these fears stem from. The more I read about the effects of living in an orphanage the more I am able to understand Addie's behaviors. Truly her mannerisms when upset, tired, curious, and excited do have a different quality to them and leave us wondering, until I get to the next chapter in a particular book on children raised in orphanages and then the behaviors are explained.

This weekend Addie met more cousins, and really seemed interested in them. Today was Open Creamery Day at the Painted Pepper Goat Farm. We took all of our kids, and there met friends Elizabeth and David and their newly adopted daughter, Abigail, from China. Jo-Jo loved the goats, Bayley loved the horses, and Tommy was in heaven as he wandered from pen to pen sharing some rather obscure facts about goats to anyone who would listen. Addie was a bit surprised when a goat decided to nibble on her dress. She had better get used to it though, because we ordered two goats for the spring. Do you think 5 ducks, 2 cats, 1 rabbit, 2 dogs, 1 lizard, and 2 goats qualifies as a farm?

One Week At Home

Ron and I were discussing how many people commented about reading the blog. It really was wonderful to stay in touch with family and friends even though we were half way around the world. Also we cannot say enough how much we appreciate all the love and support and encouraging words shared with us by so many many people. Certainly the purpose of the blog was initially to keep everyone up to date on our progress with adoption and then to introduce everyone to our China girl. What Ron and I also discussed was keeping up to date with the blog with the purpose now to be as a memory book for Addie and for us. I remember how diligent I was keeping Bayley's baby book up to date when she was young. I was not nearly as on top of things when it came time to do Tommy's baby book. Now the question is - "Does Jo-Jo even have a baby book?" Well, yes he does but there are way more gaps in there than should be the case. I guess with more children time becomes crunched, and hours to spend documenting milestones are no longer available. Knowing this, it seems that the blog will be our way of creating a baby book for Addie.

So Addie has been home with her family for one week, and we are already seeing changes. The little girl who would just sit in silence wherever she was placed is now a girl who immediately looks to see where mom is. She is so very quick to raise those arms and turn her hands in a very clear "pick me up please" motion. Though most parents are discouraged with a child always wanting to be held, I must say that this is different. She really wants to be held, and knowing that the first 18 months of her life did not include holding, we are more than happy to oblige. The little downturned mouth that initially made no sounds, is becoming more and more vocal each and every day. The cats, her siblings, the telephone, songs on the radio, and people now evoke great vocalizations from Addie. She still does not smile much at all, but the intensity of her curiosity in the world around her grows every single day.

This week was a big one medically speaking for Addie. Several days of blood work were exhausting for us to watch and for Addie to endure. With low muscle tone, one's veins collapse easily, so getting all those vials was next to impossible. She is drinking Pediasure to combat her poor nutrition and anemia, and we are hoping for no lasting effects from the melamine formula. She began physical therapy this week, and our PT is encouraged that Addie will learn to crawl and walk with practice on her part and patience on our parts. Speech therapy will begin next week, and because she cannot swallow solid food we hope to gain knowledge of ways to help Addie make this transition to a diet that includes more than liquid. Addie is also visiting the chiropractor for cranial sacral therapy in an effort to help with the flatness of her head. We hope that with all the expertise these people can share with us, Addie will make gains in all areas of her development.

In terms of family living, we have had a great week of getting Addie familiar with those who love her. She met many cousins, and had her first play date. She is most interested in ducks and cats and dogs. She enjoyed a wonderful hike up Pigeon Hill on Saturday. She hummed and chatted as we passed the many colorful leaves on the way up the mountain. At the top when the other kids dove into PBJ sandwiches and chips, Addie sank those sharp teeth of hers into her first banana. She then had fun ripping leaves from branches within her reach. Addie had more firsts at her great -grandmother Nannie's as she devoured a Klondike bar off the fingers of her Aunt Janie. To wrap up the weekend, Addie and Daddy and Jo-Jo and Tommy planted fall bulbs. She was very inquisitive and Jo-Jo kept saying, "Ok Addie Ting Ting- we did the daffodils, now we'll plant the tunas." He meant tulips, but she never knew the difference.