Again, time is flying…
Two weeks have come and gone. They have been awesome. This little girl has blown our minds! She is really adjusting very well and just fitting right in to our family.
We did have one rough day this past week, but it was really more of her just being stubborn, and testing her boundaries. I think it was a control thing for her as well… she is just trying to figure out her new position in life. But man, those few hours that this showdown between she and I happened….. phew, I am just glad it is over. She is definitely strong willed, but so is her Mama….and I let her know I was going to win!
It is a hard balance to find, between choosing battles wisely and teaching her to obey and that Mom and Dad are in charge.
I am really glad she is strong willed though. That is a strength that can be channeled in a great way to do great things! I also think that she is confident. I was anticipating a timid meek child, but she is demanding and pushy…. Confident! Which is also a strength for her. I am glad she feels comfortable in our home to be herself and to express herself. Sometimes she needs a little work on how she expresses herself, but I could not be more thrilled with her progress thus far!
Her English also continues to progress. She is actually saying a few words on her own now. She is not making any sentences, but I think it is awesome she can identify certain objects and say the name of them. Her comprehension is still amazing to me. I can say to her, Lyla take your dirty clothes and go put them in the basket….she will do it. I can tell her to put shoes in the closet, pick up toys, go to the table… she follows the commands. She is definitely understanding a lot! That is good news.
She is bonding even more with her siblings and they with her. She and KP have definitely gotten closer in the past week. My absolute favorite thing right now is to hear KP call Lyla’s name. In fact this morning, KP woke up and called Lyla first from her crib, before she called me to come get her out. The sharing thing is still a challenge for them both, but for the most part they play well together. Today was actually the first time I have seen Lyla push KP. Katy Pierce has pushed Lyla or yanked toys from her, and Lyla has just stood back and tattled on her to me. But today, she was pushing back. 🙂
She also got to hang out with Grammy over the weekend, and that went really well too. While we were India and would Face Time with Grammy, Grammy would always make a funny face and honk her nose to Lyla, and Lyla would mimic her. When Lyla saw her this past weekend, she made those faces to Mom. The girl is smart! She remembered!
The majority of our time we spend at home right now, but she has been to church and around large groups of people. She does pretty well. I can tell sometimes it overwhelms her if she is not with us. And, she really does not like for people to come and grab her and hug her. She wants to be the initiator of that, and often she will.
This past weekend our church hosted a big indoor swim party for the community at our Rec center. It was Lyla’s first swim and she loved the pool. i figured she would, with as much as she loves baths! She had a ball!
Her health seems to be doing great. We have not taken her to a Doctor yet, but probable will make an appointment for next week. She continues to take her heart medicine, and seems fine from her procedure.
She is going to experience Halloween for the first time tomorrow, and will be going as an Indian Princess. One of the families we stayed with gave us their daughter’s sari. I tried it on Lyla the other day, and she just loved it. She sashayed all over the house with the Pallu (the piece that goes over your shoulder like a throw) held ever so elegantly by her hand and shoulder. It was so precious!
We had a fun family event yesterday in which we painted and carved pumpkins. We also had BBQ and made s’mores on a fire pit. She is a fan!
Oh, and her hair is starting to grow!!! 🙂
For those of you who don’t know, I have a family blog at www.parkisonfamily.blogspot.com in which I will post more pics of our family doing our every day stuff. So you can always find pics of Lyla there too. However, I will continue to post here about her progress and our adoption.
This week we also sent our first post adoption report to our agent…I am not really sure who it goes to, as it did not involve our social worker? But it was fun to write a little bit about Lyla’s progress and attach some of her pictures. She has come so far in five weeks!