6 months ago today, in Nanning China, we met a bundled and bewildered, but tough and determined, little darling named Jing Jing. She broke our hearts when we couldn't soothe her and charmed us with her smiles when we could win them. She was taking tiny steps on unsteady feet, didn't eat, didn't sleep. We fell in love with her while she focused on self-preservation.
6 months later, you will find her completely in charge of her surroundings, holding her own against her many brothers, and imitating everything they do. There is no guessing what she wants; she expertly informs us all. She uses nearly 100 words in English, regularly combines them in sets of two, and more and more frequently bosses us around with three-word sentences. She adores her brothers, loves our dogs, and is afraid of our cat. She eats everything, loves spicy food, and especially likes "on-on" (onions) and broccoli. She loves to rough-house, run, climb, and jump, with giggles of glee. She has two favorite songs that she will ask (demand) to have sung. One is (to the tune of "My darling Clementine") "Ariana, Ariana, Ariana Serenity." The other is "Baby Bumblebee." She also loves princess dresses and even more -- shoes!
She still doesn't sleep well, and though she will ask for night-night when she's tired, she often doesn't sleep through the night, and even when she does, she is an early riser. We haven't set an alarm clock since she came home! (The other night, she was tossing, turning, and whimpering in her sleep without really waking up. Finally, she declared, "Andrew mean!" and settled down again. Gotta wonder what she was dreaming.)
Although we have called her "Ari," she refers to herself as "Ana," or "Ana-ana." So now she answers to Ari, Ariana, Ana, or Ari Jing. She still doesn't have a name for Gabrian that she uses, though all the rest of us, including Justice and Karma (the dogs), she calls by name.
What a difference 6 months can make! None of us can imagine our family without her. Recently, we had our 6-month post-placement interview with our social worker, and when I told the boys to get ready (i.e. no watching TV in their underwear), they both responded with alarm. Conor: "You mean we haven't earned her yet?!" Cameron: "They can't take her back to China, can they?!" No, boys, and my apologies to Ari. You are stuck in our hearts and our family forever!
What a difference 6 months can make! None of us can imagine our family without her. Recently, we had our 6-month post-placement interview with our social worker, and when I told the boys to get ready (i.e. no watching TV in their underwear), they both responded with alarm. Conor: "You mean we haven't earned her yet?!" Cameron: "They can't take her back to China, can they?!" No, boys, and my apologies to Ari. You are stuck in our hearts and our family forever!
