I have been asked to update our blog and honestly, I don't even know where to begin. How do you write about the most amazing person you've ever met and do them justice? It's probably not possible to describe how amazing our daughter is, without sounding like I'm bragging. I would brag, if I could, but we all know that her genes are not mine, and that we are only a small piece to the puzzle. With all that said, I'll attempt to describe our little miracle.
When we came home on June 2, I was able to stay home from work until the end of July. At that time, I worked part-time for a few weeks, and went back full swing by mid-August. During the time I was home, we read books daily, played games, went to the beach, took swim lessons, went to the doctor, went to the zoo, met up with friends, went to baseball games, went camping, rode bikes, went to my parent's cottage in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, shopped, went to the park, and basically tried to give her as many experiences and introduce her to as many things as we possibly could. This was the advice of her soon-to-be kindergarten teacher. Give her experiences and exposure to things, so she will learn names of objects and connect all those experiences together.
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| Summer fun |
By the time school started, Malia knew all of her colors, could count to 10 (and recognizes most of her numbers due to games of "Go Fish"), knew her alphabet (and could recognize about half of the letters), and could write her name. Many people have asked me how her English is. We understand nearly everything she says and I have been told by many people that she is easy to understand. We know that she spoke Mandarin very clearly and was well-spoken for her age, which probably gives her an edge when it comes to learning English.
We went to the Orthopedic surgeon in August, to find out more about her congenital high scapula. X-rays were done and they concluded that she does have a congenital high scapula (shoulder blade), an omno-vertebral bone (a small bone that extends from the scapula to the spine), and a couple of cervical vertebrae that are fused. Because of the cervical vertebrae being fused, the doctor discouraged any type of gymnastics or tumbling that would cause a jarring of her spinal cord. Basically, she is at an increased risk of a spinal cord injury. She was given the green light for basketball, soccer, and dance, so she still has a lot she can participate in. We were saddened and a bit frightened by the news of the fusion, but she is a healthy, intelligent girl, and over time, she will come to understand why she shouldn't do a somersault.
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| John Ball Park Zoo, 2 weeks home |
Malia loves to wear dresses and she LOVES pretty shoes. She likes to dance around like a ballerina. I think she has a dance class in her future. :) She also likes basketball, so I think she'll be playing through our church league this winter. She loves to watch her brothers play sports. She enjoyed the end of baseball season and cheered them on. She likes football too. Joe took the kids to see some snowmobile races in August. Well, she now is looking forward to snow and riding the snowmobile. She saw a girl riding a pink one and thinks that would be good for her! She understands that Halloween is a time to dress up, but I haven't told her about the candy yet! This girl LOVES candy! (and ice cream)
Malia is social and a little bossy, so she seems to make friends easily. She can list all of her friends at school and tells me each day, who she played with on the playground, who she swung on the swings with, and what she did in class. She comes home from school, singing new songs and saying new poems. She knows all of the sounds that go with each letter. Her song..."A, A, apple, aah, aah, aah, B, B, bus, buh, buh, buh, buh, buh......" -you get the idea.
I've said it before, but communication has never been an issue for us. Not from the very first day. Now, she just told me, "I'm trying to find my Barbie movie, it's not here". In four months, she has gone from speaking no English to fluent. Occasionally, she will be at a loss as to what something is (not have a name for an object or animal), but that doesn't happen very often. She is a sponge. A sponge with 2 older brothers who take it upon themselves to correct her when she pronounces something wrong, give her words, and generally boss her around. They are good boys and they love their sister. Most of the time, they are just trying to help her. Nolan took to Malia right away, but Blaise, being younger, has taken a bit longer to come around. He has, though, come around to loving her, and does a great job being a big brother. Like any siblings, they all have their moments. When they argue, I know we've done something right, and it sounds like normal sibling stuff.
Malia loves getting hugs and she'll say, "I love you, I miss you", every time I drop her off to school, or put her on the bus. As far as I can tell, she has no attachment issues. She has no interest in strangers and shys away from people she doesn't know, talking to her. She has learned who her cousins, friends, grandparents, and family are, and those are the people she will give her hugs and attention to. We still work on attachment and bonding, but in subtle ways.
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| Fun with cousins, Emerson, Malia, Nolan, Carter, and Blaise |
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| Blaise, age 8 |
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| Nolan, age 11 |
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| Malia, age 5 |
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| Malia, Nolan, Blaise, and Bailey the dog |
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| Silly kids |
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| First Day of school |
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| Water park in Mackinac City |
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| Aunt Jennie's wedding, Mackinac Island |
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| Nolan, October 2011 |
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| Blaise |
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| Malia |
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| Walk in the woods, behind the house |
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| Who can resist those dimples? |
I will post some pics from the summer, as well as some recent ones. Malia has gained a couple pounds and grown nearly an inch. She is still very short. On a Chinese growth chart, she is around the 5th percentile for height. She is not on the US growth chart, but on her own curve. She likes to eat hard-boiled eggs or cereal for breakfast. Grape nuts and cheerios are her favorites. She is getting used to milk. I tell her it will help her grow big and she'll get long hair. She REALLY wants her hair to be long, so that gets her drinking her milk! :) She likes yogurt, but not cheese. She loves broccoli and apples. She likes most meats and pastas, but likes to eat her hot dog separate from the bun. She dips the bun in ketchup! Whatever works!
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| Love that face! |
