Another Way to Get Wet!

If you follow my blog you know that the Little Princesses are part fish.  They are all for any means of getting wet!  I'd spotted a water activity table on the Facebook posts of a couple of different friends and knew that we HAD to have one for our yard.

My original thought was it would give the water cravings a "fix" without a total body soaking.  Hmmmm... some day when I am a more experienced mother I will know better than to think that!  In the meantime (with some explaining to Miss A that it isn't acceptable to pour water on heads) we are wet primarily from the chest down.

I love that it came with a water wheel!  There were also two little sailboats, but the Princesses don't seem much into sailing.  As you can see, Abigail very quickly turned the sailboat into a vessel for dumping water into the wheel.  Why sail when you can dump water?  Indeed.

A Rainy Fourth of July!

Here are our little girls on the 4th of July.  We went to an adult daughter's house intending to watch some of our grandchildren in a parade and then have a cookout.  It has been raining, and raining and raining for days here in Ohio, so we had to come up with alternative plans.

Fortunately, I remembered that I had bought a finger painting set and stuck it away for ... well, a RAINY DAY!  Even the "big kids" had fun!

I find myself wondering if the Little Princesses had ever experienced finger paint before.  They didn't seem surprised or grossed out by it, so I'm thinking they may have done it before.

Jennifer's creation

There is such a contrast to rainy days while we were in China as compared to here.  Even though it rained nearly every day that we were there, the people seemed to get all excited about it and insist that we get an umbrella.  In our family a rainy day (if it is warm with no lightning) often means yet one more excuse to play in the water!  You've already seen evidence on my blog that our little girls are part fish.  They loved it!

It was so, so fun to see Abigail running with her sisters, niece and nephews and enjoying the rain!  If you look closely you will see that she still has a blue hand from finger painting, so it was a fun way to clean up too!

 I'm guessing that they had NOT played in the rain before!

Grocery Grabbers

When I returned from grocery shopping I took a load in the house then went back to the van to get some more bags.

One of our older daughters came out grinning and said, "Mom, you need to see what your youngest daughters are doing!" 

Me:  Are they freaking out over all the food?

She:  More than that, just come see!

They were very gleefully unpacking the bags and exclaiming over all of their finds.  They were pretty good ones too as it appears that they discovered the junk food bags.  (I assure you I bought meat, fruit and vegetables also.)  I'm guessing they never had an experience like this in the orphanage!

Another Success! Zac Morgan Concert

We have been attending church in the foyer and/or nursing baby room since our return from China because Abigail has some sort of a fear of theater type seating.  We don't have a clue what the issue is, but she is afraid.  I took advantage of a concert at our local library hoping, hoping, hoping for a successful experience.  

At first Abigail was unsure and hid in my lap.  Pretty soon however, she saw that the other children were having fun, and that the guy singing was really pretty fun too!  Zac Morgan is a children's singer/songwriter and a local celebrity.  Apparently his music appeals to Chinese children with only a small grasp of the language also!

They also appreciated his props!

By the time the concert was over Abigail was doing the motions with Zac and giggling!  Yay!   Both princesses also enjoy books, so the afternoon ended in a pleasant way.

 

Oh oh! Vaccination Day

 What do you get when you go for lab results and vaccinations?  Two UNhappy Little Princesses.  Still, they did GREAT!  The nurse even remarked that she could hardly believe they were the same children!

Jennifer cried a little bit, but Abigail took it all in stride.  If you remember, she was the one who screamed for like five hours when they had their initial evaluations, so this was tremendous progress!

There were no real surprises in their lab results or their diagnosis and plan for treatment.  We are glad for that.  The bad news was that after testing for immunities, Abigail needed four shots and Jennifer needed three.  With as much worrying as they did about them they surely were cooperative!  Again, Jen cried a little bit, but Abigail didn't even flinch.  Wow.

We thought this was going to be a short appointment, and perhaps in the world of international adoption it was, but it still took two hours.  Most of that time was spent actually WITH a medical person, not just waiting, so I continue to be impressed at the time and attention these folks take with our children.

At one point the nurse practitioner was asking about their diet and we were discussing options for calcium since neither girl likes milk.  She mentioned ice cream and Abigail ran with it!  Ice cream is one of the signs we've learned in our Signing Time movies, and she made sure we didn't forget that she wanted some. 

I think I had an "AH HA" moment.  We have found that when we tell Abigail she may have something but she needs to wait for it (wait is another of our signs and she knows the meaning) she is very, very persistent to NAG us until it happens.  If our bio children had done this we would think they were being a little naughty, and honestly it gets tiring.  But what if,  just consider - WHAT IF she has been told lies in the past to get her to cooperate?  She has no way of knowing that if Mama tells her, "Yes, we are going to get ice cream," that I really WILL make every effort to do what I have promised.  I'm choosing to give her the benefit of the doubt and have even a little more patience with the pestering.  In time she will learn that I can be trusted.

After the long morning and being human pin cushions we figured they were due for a treat.  Lunch at Chick-fil-a followed by the requested ice cream was in order! 

We think this may have been the first time the Little Princesses have had an ice cream cone.  They seemed quite amazed when we told them they could actually EAT the cone part!

Jennifer is so, so funny when she eats.  If it is something she really likes she will nod her head over and over and say, "yummy, yummy."  The cone was worthy of this reaction.  This little munchkin ate the ENTIRE THING! 

The Royalty Visits the Dentist

 I was dreading today.  Our pediatric dentist (whom we've seen for many years) is over two hours away now that we've moved to Ohio.  But, I think he is worth it, so I went on a road trip this morning with my three little ladies to get their teeth cleaned.

Jen began crying about an hour into the trip.  I don't know what types of things she imagines is going to happen to her, but she is frightened of something.  She doesn't understand English well enough to reason with her, and doesn't have a whole lot of reason to trust me anyway since she has only known me for a couple of months.  We opted for distractions and stopped at a McDonald's to use the restroom and get a snack.

We also took the opportunity to tell them that we were going to get our TEETH BRUSHED.  Abigail cheered out loudly at this announcement!  They were both cheerful for the rest of the trip.

Abigail gets her picture taken.

Big sister Tikvah led the way and the other two went back with her to see just what was going to happen.  They watched her get her x rays and then her teeth cleaned.  Abigail was fascinated, though Jen fussed a little bit and was unsure if she wanted to cooperate.

I was surprised that Abigail then volunteered to go first and have her "picture taken" with the really big camera.  The technician had to hold the x ray films in place and have someone else press the button, but she got the pictures! Next up,  Jennifer just fussed a little bit then went to have her teeth brushed. 

Jennifer's tooth pictures.

This office is GOOD and they are FAST.  I was running about attempting to talk to the dentist as he looked at each mouth and totally missed the cleanings.  I was just lucky to have gotten these couple of photos!

Tikvah was happy to have no cavities and a report of "perfection" for her brushing technique.  The Little Princesses didn't fare as well.  Both have infected teeth and got a prescription for an antibiotic as well as plans to go under general anesthesia at the hospital to address some cavity issues. 

After the appointment we met up with a couple of my adult daughters and their children for lunch and a play date at the park.  Perfect!  They didn't even seem to mind the long ride home that much.






As for Mama, well ... I am TIRED but feeling positive about the successful experience today.  Here's hoping they learned to trust more and that Wednesday's appointment for lab results and (GULP) shots won't undue all the trust I've earned. Here are the royal sisters with their clean teeth and their new toothbrushes.  Happy!

Jennifer's Awesome Gift

Jennifer had a walker in the orphanage.  When she received it (autumn of 2011) it opened a whole new world for her - one with a little bit of independence.  Until then she was so much more limited because of her lack of mobility.  Also, our Jen is a pretty determined little gal and she loves to do things for herself.  Alas, she came to us in her wheelchair (which was a blessing to us since we had to walk so much in China) but she really dislikes the thing.

The Little Princesses arrived home on May 4, and I began working on getting Jen a new walker that following week never imagining it was going to be a problem.  I've spent literally hours on the telephone calling pharmacies and home health care places, doctors, even SEEING numerous physicians and specialists since we've been home.  It appears that no one is willing to prescribe a walker to enable us to GET a walker without a physical therapy evaluation.  Even with begging and pleading and finally getting an appointment (that became open only due to a cancellation) it was going to be August before this evaluation!

There is more to the story than a little girl who desperately wanted some independence back in her life.  She NEEDS the walker.  She has fallen numerous times around the house, and the top side of her little feet are actually bruised from the way she walks.  New tennis shoes have helped a little, but the situation is so severe that she has actually worn holes through the toes of these shoes after wearing them for only a week and a half!

So it was after spending yet another hour on the phone today that I expressed my frustration (ok, so maybe I whined...) on Facebook.  About an hour later a friend from our homeschool co-op called to say she had something that I might be interested in.  AND HOW!!!!

This beautiful piece of equipment had been hiding out in her garage for about three years, and my Facebook whine post made her think of it!  Jennifer was one very, very happy little girl when she saw it!

I bought her a bike basket and handlebar tassels so the walker looks more worthy of this little princess.  She LOVES being able to take things from one room to the next in her basket.  Up to this point that has just not been possible as her concentration has had to be totally on keeping her balance.

After dinner we took all three of the girls to cut flowers.  Jennifer literally RAN through the (empty) parking lot squealing and laughing like she was having the best day of her life.  Abigail joined in the fun, and while Tikvah cut flowers the Two Little Princesses RAN through the parking lot giggling their little heads off.  Yeah.  Good day!  Isn't it just like our God to orchestrate such a wonderful gift?