Two Month Update

I missed the two month update that I intended to do, and she's already changed since then! Here's a two month/two month-9 day update. Ari is amazing!

Michael said, "She seems to like her abductors." The biggest change is that she has become very affectionate. For example, instead of sitting up straight on me to have her bottle, she cuddles back closely and strokes my face. She gives kisses and hugs to everyone in the family and has learned to enjoy the physical way we interact with each other. She still will push you away if you are too close to her face, and she hasn't initiated it. (Really hard for space-invader Cameron.) Tickle/nibble games make her a little uneasy still. Overall, though, she has become so loving. She holds onto my hand with both hands when she is falling asleep and kisses all over it. How can I not melt at that?

Her vocabulary is growing by at least one new word every day. I was going to list the words she used at "two months of hearing English," and 9 days later, it is outdated! :) She has a large enough vocabulary I won't be able to get them all, but I'll try: Mama, Dada, Ge Ge, more, all-done, wash, bite, candy, bottle, diaper, shoe, baby, doggie, help, up, off, back, hi, bye-bye, please, thanks, ball, no, yes, this, bonk, ear, eye, nose, mouth, hair, foot, five (as in "give me five"), & "Ana-ana." Some of those are signs, and some only Mom & Dad would understand without her pointing and nodding vigorously. Rarely, she puts a couple of words together, like "More candy" or "Mama up." If I were to evaluate her, using standardized assessments for English-speaking children, she would come out in the low average range. Not bad for a child who heard her first English words two months ago! Oh yeah, and she has a hearing impairment. I keep forgetting she has a "special need."

On 3/28, she had her first trial of independent daycare. We have visited together many times, but she hadn't been left. I took her at 8:00 and picked her up on my way to work at 10:00 (she goes to work with me since I went back on St. Patrick's Day -- thank goodness I work in pediatrics!). They tell me she did great at daycare, played happily, ate a lot. Gabrian and Ariana are in the same class, but he was going outside to play when I came to get Ari. I took care not to let him see me so as not to upset him. No such luck. They told me it took more than an hour to calm him down when he couldn't find Ari; he wanted his sister! They also tell me that they took lots of pictures for me to see later of Gabrian showing Ariana the toys and helping her out around the room. Funny -- they don't get along like that at home.

On 4/1, I left her at daycare all day for the first (and only, so far) time. It's spring break - not that you could tell by the snow falling today - so she had Conor, Cameron, and Gabrian for support and comfort during the day. The daycare is so nice about letting the older siblings visit the toddler room. I'm told she did well.

On the two-month anniversary of the day we met, I was demonstrating to my co-workers how she responds to her different names. When I would call, "Ari," or "Ariana," she would turn and look expectantly. But if I called, "Jing Jing," she would turn with a huge smile, nodding vigorously. It's very cute and yet sad. Six days later, I tried the same demonstration for my mom. This time, when I called, "Jing Jing," she unexpectedly answered me with, "Ana." Stunned, I waited a few minutes and tried again, and again, she told me, "Ana." I guess Jing Jing is gone. Bittersweet.