Then:
Now:
John has gone through a lot of emotional upheaval with the big changes in his life, then just when he was getting comfortable, he had to have surgery. The surgery was very upsetting to him, and even after he got home, got over the nausea, and got his equilibrium sorted out, he just wasn't himself. He spent a lot of time just sitting around not wanting to play. Fortunately, he is finally back to his normal self. The sparkle is back in his eyes and he is entertaining everyone with his goofy dance moves. This boy loves music and he improvises some pretty funny dances. Since John had a happy childhood at Eagle's Wings and was in good shape when we got him, he hasn't changed drastically like Therese has. Except for his medical issues he is just a really normal little boy. The biggest change is that he is speaking English very well. He was the best of the two verbally in Chinese and he also speaks English much better than she does. We are hoping that the fluid in his spinal cord will go down now that he has a new shunt, so he doesn't have to have any more surgery in the next year or so.
Therese has changed so much, and developed so much, that sometimes it feels like watching a miracle unfold. When I think back to what her official adoption file said about her, and then what bad shape she was in when I got her, I am amazed at the little girl we see now. When I got her she could barely scribble on paper, and now she can use crayons and can write several letters. She hadn't ever put together a puzzle or used scissors. (She can definitely operate scissors now, and has added decorative touches to the sleeves of several of her dresses.) She was filthy and dehydrated and her hair was dull and lifeless. She has a plumpness to her cheeks now and her hair is smooth and shiny. We haven't been able to weigh or measure her very well because of her feet, so it will be interesting to get her casts off and see how tall she really is. She has gone up two sizes of clothes since I met her in China.
She chatters all the time in English, but some things are hard to understand when she tries to talk too fast. I miss the punchline of her jokes sometimes because I'm trying to process her accent. She does have a cute little voice and is doing better all the time. A bad thing she has mastered is whining. I would say she has a virtuoso level whiny voice when she wants to. She has bonded very well with us and is a very happy girl most of the time. She does have some nightmares and will cling to me like a life preserver and cry and cry when I get her out of bed to hold her and comfort her. She had told me recently that there was a monster under her bed in China, and due to her recent nightmares I have speculated on whether she thinks there is one here. She tells me wild stories about her life in China as a joke, but she was very serious when she told me about the monster. When she tells tall tales, her eyes twinkle and scrunch almost shut as she can't stop chuckling while she watches my reaction.
In spite of what her file said, she seems quite bright. She has excellent hand-eye coordination and she is very quick to learn things. She knows her colors and can count in English, and she is learning letters. She knows what letters Therese starts with, and anything that has a word on it that starts T-H, she will ask if it is for her. We haven't had her evaluated by a developmental pediatrician yet but I have every hope that she will live a normal life, and she will be helped by her happy and charming personality. That will be an excellent outcome for a little girl who had so many labels and who was so chronically malnourished during her early years. Whatever she does accomplish, she has a family to cheer her on.
