Eliana: My God has answered

Hello everyone! Cailin has done an awesome job of organizing and recording information for Eliana's blog. For this entry, we thought it best to record a different perspective. This time, the information will be from mom.

Wow! This past week marks the 3 month anniversary of Gotcha Day!

Eliana has grown in so many ways. She was so small on Gotcha Day, April 8 2013. At the age of 4 years 2 months, she was only 36 inches tall and 26 pounds dressed with shoes! I know this for certain because our hotel room had a scale in the bathroom. My weight was correct, so I am sure that her weight was correct as well. She is now 34 pounds and 39 inches tall! She has a fantastic appetite. It doesn't matter if the meal served is all vegetables, rice noodles or pizza. She will always finish everything on her plate! This doesn't sound difficult but it can be at times.   The adoption agency says she will eventually self regulate. I guess we will see!

Eliana was quiet in China. The only time we heard her speak was in her cries driving back to the hotel after "gotcha". We were given a few words of information from the social worker who brought her to us. According to her foster grandpa, Eliana was a "chatterbox" and liked to "push buttons on the stove and television remote control".   We were also told that Eliana was "very thin when she came to live with foster grandpa". He would cut chicken from a chicken leg and feed it to her.

She didn't say anything except our names (in Chinese) until we were back in the states. Her foster grandpa had taught her all of them! Additional first words were "thank you" and "eat"! Now Eliana is a "chatterbox"! Her favorite saying is "What's that?", I hear it at least several dozen times a day.

I did notice Eliana's desire to push buttons on the plane ride home from China. On our first flight, she entertained herself by pushing the television buttons. She didn't watch any cartoons. She couldn't. Once the commercial was over, she became impatient and would push the button again. Commercials couldn't be skipped. We watched the same commercials over and over for about 4 hours until she finally slept! Eliana still loves to touch and push buttons. It is a temptation that is just too much for her to resist!

Since arriving home, Eliana has made wonderful progress! She has learned to kick a ball; ride a tricycle and a 3-wheeled scooter; use a fork; separate by colors; run; complete 3 piece puzzles; lace; draw circles and squares; stack blocks; blow bubbles; and draw a face with arms and legs!

Eliana came to us after living in an orphanage until age 12 months, then being placed in 2 separate foster placements. The first placement was a single mom with 2 older children. After about a 2 year period of time, Eliana was removed from the home because the foster mom was "unable to care for her". No further explanation is given in the foster reports we received while in China. I can only speculate because the reports show that her weight did not change for the last year of placement. Eliana was then placed with foster grandpa. She spent just over a year in the care of foster grandpa. We were given a photobook of Eliana and her life with foster grandpa. I believe he truly cared for her. The pictures are a wonderful look into her life during the time before us. I am sure she has had many life experiences that have shaped her personality which we will never know or understand.

What is Eliana's personality? Several words would describe Eliana: loving, fun, playful, strong, and determined. Contradictions? Maybe.

In preparing for Eliana, we completed the mandatory Hague education. In addition, I read and watched every bit of information on parenting an internationally adopted child I could find. I was prepared for rejection and a distant child. I was prepared to play games that encouraged eye contact; I was prepared to reward eye contact and physical touch with a sweet carmel treat (as suggested by the agency); I was prepared for a very delayed child; I was prepared for a child who could not handle her emotions and would act out physically. It all sounds a bit scary but true. After all, international adoption is a journey of faith. Faith that God has prepared the way and the faith to follow His lead.

Did I receive all I was prepared for? Some yes and some no. Eliana always looked into my eyes. She has always been ready to receive love and be held. She is somewhat delayed but that is to be expected. She has made amazing progress. Can she handle her emotions? Improvement is noted there as well. I can honestly say the time of hitting, kicking,and an emotional outburst of crying seems to be behind us. I am so thankful for that! I do hope it stays that way but I expect some backsliding on our journey. This would be true of any child.

Some of Eliana's favorite play times have been with baby dolls, dress-up, kitchen/mudpies and riding her tricycle. Eliana also enjoys singing. She sings all the time. I think most songs are made-up by her but they always sound rhythmic. I did email one of the songs to our guide from Gotcha Week. The guide confirmed it was not a traditional Chinese song but one she had made up.

We have done all of the typical new baby type of things. We have smiled as we watch her sleep, we have counted fingers and toes, we have carried her more than we have allowed her to walk, we hug and kiss her and pray over her.

I believe she is happy. She frequently tells us so. She is speaking more and more English. When she gets excited, her speech is often mixed with Chinese. She does gesture and this helps a lot. We do talk about ye ye (her foster grandpa). We look at his pictures. She always smiles.   We are thankful for him and his part in her life. Ye ye prepared Eliana for us. We sent her a photo book of us and listed several things about us. That book came with Eliana on Gotcha Day. The book was worn. Eliana was happy to show us the book and say our names the first night with us.

Another question people often have is, "How are you adjusting?". I find this interesting.

Since Gotcha Day, we have had several life changes. Eliana coming into our lives was just the first. We have also had an out of state move. Major adjusting! None the less, I think we are doing fantastic! Eliana is definitely flexible. Routines are suppose to be comforting to the internationally adopted child. She does have routines but I'm sure we could do better.

I would like to mention how well Lauren is doing with Eliana. The adoption process took 17 months! I had a lot of time to prepare Lauren for being a big sister. I'm sure that God prepared her heart for Eliana because I have had some great appreciation for her character these past 3 months. I will post some of my favorite pictures. A pictures says a thousand words!

I would like to mention that this past week, I asked Eliana if she could tell me her name. Her response was Mei Mei Eliana Ting Ting! Mei Mei is little sister in Chinese. Eliana is obvious. Ting Ting was her nickname given to her by foster grandpa. I was very please with her response!

In conclusion, Eliana is a blessing to our family. We are very happy to have listened to God calling when he placed the thought of adoption into our hearts.