Guaranteed By Thanksgiving

This week my wise Uncle Lawrence's words had reason to be ringing in my ears. You see, when we brought Little Addie Ting Ting home just two months ago, and she could just barely sit up, and she could really not hold much weight on her legs, it was Uncle Lawrence who kept remarking how she really was quite strong, while the rest of us shook our heads at how weak she seemed. When we commented how sad it was that she was delayed and didn't know how to communicate or give good loves, Uncle Lawrence claimed she was one of the smartest babies he had met. I just rolled my eyes and said, "Sure she is." One day after we had been home just a week, he said, "I guarantee she'll be walking by Thanksgiving!" Considering that head control and sitting were just emerging, I replied "Yeah right." Well, Addie Mei Ting decided to prove me wrong and her Uncle Lawrence right. Just a few nights ago she was playing with some of Jo-Jo's handcuffs, and I remarked how they were dangerous toys, and I would be taking them away. Just as I said this, she stood up in the middle of the floor and took several wobbly steps. From then on those wobbly few steps have turned into more and more steps, though she is very cautious and still trying to figure out the balance thing. She has a wonderful bruise on her nose from her first major fall, and her physical therapist said I could keep trying to promote crawling, but it looked like Addie was going to do things her way.

Here is a short video Ron made to document how thankful we are to have Addie in our lives and home at last with her brothers and sister where she belongs.

And the answer is "NO"

Most often when I think of November, I think of cool days and cold nights, turkeys and pies, and of course giving thanks for family and friends. This November something else also comes to mind, because November is National Adoption Month.


Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grow under my heart,
But in it.

anonymous



Another week has flown by, and Addie Mei Ting continues to surprise us with all she is learning. She has developed a great love of shoes. Several weeks ago, she started just by playing with laces, but this week she loves putting her own feet in anyone's shoes that are available. On Saturday, Addie enjoyed visiting with many, many people at a baby shower for her soon to be cousin Natalie. The way she enjoyed playing with the presents and pulling on the bows and ribbons, lets us know that her first Christmas at home will be a magical one. In the eating department, Ting Ting has decided that she likes to use a spoon by herself. Now, she cannot quite get the spoon into the dish and get food on it, but once someone gets the food on the spoon, she snatches the utensil, and in the mouth it goes. This is quite an accomplishment considering just several weeks ago, she freaked out whenever a spoon came near her mouth. Mobility-wise, we are getting faster scoots across the room, some pretty good balance while standing, and a few steps here and there. She is also showing improvements with her fine motor skills as she plays with toys and especially blocks. And of course we cannot forget to mention Ting Ting's new fascination with shaking her head "No" at EVERYTHING. The kids get quite a kick out of it when we ask her "Do you love Mama?" or "Are you a good girl?" and she vigorously shakes her head "NO."

Smiles, Some Standing, and a Very Slimy Nose

Addie Ting Ting continues to grow and change each and every day. Indeed she is still a mighty serious girl, and we are still bombarded with the question by both strangers and acquaintances, "Does she ever smile?" The answer is "yes" but only in the very safest surroundings and with familiar faces. To be sure, it is a most precious smile. Addie is also making big changes in the amount of time she is willing to spend on her stomach. This week she is doing a tiny bit of a scoot on her bottom and then into a crawl position and then a forward flop on her belly. It is extremely awkward looking, but the important thing is - it is movement, and we think she rather likes the idea of being able to independently move, even if it is just a bit.






Addie is doing better in the eating department as well. She has decided on two favorite foods this week. Banana is number one. Number two we discovered quite by accident when dining out with Nannie (Ting Ting's great grandmother). Nannie ordered graham cracker pie with lots of real whip cream. Little Miss Addie quickly moved into attack mode, grabbing both the spoon and plate from Nannie. Her smacking lips and pig-like noises were quite entertaining.



Addie is doing more and more standing now. It seems that her muscle strength has improved a great deal, but now what really is the stumbling block is balance and slow reflexes when falling. We have great hopes that piece by piece the walking puzzle will eventually fit together. Oh and certainly another first for Addie has been her first American cold. It has lasted and lasted, and every day she wakes in the morning with a slimy nose, and despite boxes and boxes of tissues, she still usually has that same slimy look at bedtime.






Jo-Jo and Addie are truly becoming best friends. Bayley and Addie are already fashion sisters in their matching pajamas, and brother Thomas continues to touch our hearts with comments about the adoption. Just tonight he added, "It is so wonderful that God gave us this perfect child so filled with curiosity."

A Little Ladybug

Happy Halloween- Bayley and Tommy picked out this little ladybug costume for Addie months before she ever came home. At the rate she has been growing it was a tight fit, but a definite must for her costume considering that ladybugs are a good luck symbol to those who are or have adopted from China. Trick or Treating was quite a challenge with our crew. Addie decided she wouldn't ride in her stroller, and Jo-Jo decided he wouldn't walk, and so we pushed a heavy stroller with a 4 and a half year old bat, and carried a pretty hefty ladybug, all while trying to keep up with Bayley , the corpse bride, Tommy, explorer Samuel Champlain, Myah, the vampire, Brynn, a real spooky creature, and frightful looking but friendly witch, Anna.





Addie is making some very positive steps forward, but her many therapies require lots of time. Sadly she did have a few scary medical issues with her bowels that needed immediate attention, and perhaps we are now on our way to some less scary days with her not passing out when it comes time for having a poopy. Last week she visited the daycare she will soon be attending and really seemed to enjoy watching all the kids. She even gave a few kisses to some children. Super exciting, is the way she now enjoys looking at herself in the mirror. It sure is cute to watch her kiss herself in the mirror. We now have a toddler sized medical walker from Addie's physical therapist. Clearly Addie Ting wants to walk and hopefully her muscles will cooperate soon. She is so proud after she walks across the kitchen using her walker, and she is very impressed when Jo-Jo does wheelies with her walker.





Bath time is becoming much more fun for Addie with all the splashing, and since she bathes in the sink, Jo-Jo has changed his pattern of tub or shower bathing to sink bathing.



At last she stole her Mama's diet coke. Coke was one of Jo-Jo's first words. Will it be one of Ting-Ting's too? She is now looking around and glancing toward the floor when asked "where's the kitty-cat?", so it seems there is some receptive language starting to emerge. Also when we are snuggling in bed, and I ask if she wants her bottle, she sits right up, and looks toward the door as if to say-"Yes-go get it please."



Oh and if trying to drink diet coke wasn't unhealthy enough, she ended the week by having her first Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. After a doctor's appointment in Bangor, she went to meet her Aunt Becky and Timmy at their store. While there I tried to feed her a healthy lunch, but she opted to raid the shelves of candy. Auntie didn't say "no."

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.