We have been beyond blessed by Gracie being a part of our family for just four months now. I just cannot put into words the amazing transformation that has happened right in front of our eyes. I cannot put into words the amount of joy this little one has brought to ALL of our family.
I will try to put into words the life of Gracie at four months home.
- She is so happy. Playing with a solo cup brings as much joy as playing with a baby doll. She loves life.
- She is so happy. Playing with a solo cup brings as much joy as playing with a baby doll. She loves life.
- She screams with excitement when she sees a deer in our yard. When the deer runs away she throws herself to the ground and cries.
- She likes to do most everything by herself and she knows what she likes.
- To go along with that....she has an ear piercing scream...when she doesn't get what she wants.
- What does she love to eat? Yogurt, eggs, fried squash, dumplings, strawberries, watermelon, pretzels, rice, and she now understands the word cookie and loves those too.
- She will smell something before she tries eating it.
- She likes to do most everything by herself and she knows what she likes.
- To go along with that....she has an ear piercing scream...when she doesn't get what she wants.
- What does she love to eat? Yogurt, eggs, fried squash, dumplings, strawberries, watermelon, pretzels, rice, and she now understands the word cookie and loves those too.
- She will smell something before she tries eating it.
- When we first met her I could put my hands around her waist and my fingers would touch. Now, she finally has a little belly and my fingers don’t touch anymore!
- As soon as we drive home and we get to the mailbox, she starts yelling, “Home! Home!” Four months ago she lived in an institutional building more than 6,000 miles away. It blows my mind how God has instantly made us "home" for her and that she is calling me "her mama" and she screams with joy when her da da comes home. I am in awe about this every. single. day.
- She has her favorite spot on the couch and if you take it she’ll get you to move.
- As soon as we drive home and we get to the mailbox, she starts yelling, “Home! Home!” Four months ago she lived in an institutional building more than 6,000 miles away. It blows my mind how God has instantly made us "home" for her and that she is calling me "her mama" and she screams with joy when her da da comes home. I am in awe about this every. single. day.
- She has her favorite spot on the couch and if you take it she’ll get you to move.
- She loves all her siblings and has a very special bond with William...he just lights up when he’s with her.
- She loves to do the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
- She’s had her first babysitter! And how fitting…it was Tori…I used to babysit her when she was little (more like a day out with a friend but whatever) She’s even had a second babysitter!...the Brandenburgs, and apparently she didn’t even notice we were gone.
- She’s had her first babysitter! And how fitting…it was Tori…I used to babysit her when she was little (more like a day out with a friend but whatever) She’s even had a second babysitter!...the Brandenburgs, and apparently she didn’t even notice we were gone.
- She still doesn’t cry or call out when she wakes up. In the orphanage, she spent most of her time in her crib…asleep and awake. This will be a hard habit for her to break.
- She likes to shake the clothes out while I’m folding laundry.
- At bedtime she comes into Emma’s room while I’m putting Emma to bed. It usually turns into Emma and I lying in her bed and just laughing and watching Gracie play around the room. Emma says, “Don’t put her to bed yet, I just want to stare at her.”
- She now loves riding the zipline. The first two times she had a serious,
not-so-sure-about-this kinda face. Now she’s all smiles as she flies through the air.
- She is the best cleaner upper! As soon as we walk in the door she takes her little shoes off and puts them in her box. As soon as she’s finished eating, she will hand her plate to you.
- She's pretty easy at bedtime! She drinks her bottle while we rock. She had to learn how to be rocked. She prefers for mommy to put her to bed. After she drinks her milk she would very easily just go to sleep but I tend to drag her bedtime out a bit. And now she knows it. I know this is starting a bad habit but I just can’t help it. She has missed too many nights of being rocked and cuddled. The hardest part is putting her in her bed. She’s fine with it…but I want to cuddle and play with her just a little bit longer.
- Her first English word was boo.
- Some of the words she’s saying: STOP (normally when Jonathan is hugging/choking her), popcorn, dog, cat, deer, turtle, cow, no, yogurt, bite bite, please, mama, dada, Max, Rachel, Stephen, Emma, William (num num), Jonathan, shoes, milk, book, nose, eat, egg, cup, spider, home, car, sit ….and more every day.
-Her first sentence just last week was, "Thank you daddy."
- She likes to shake the clothes out while I’m folding laundry.
- At bedtime she comes into Emma’s room while I’m putting Emma to bed. It usually turns into Emma and I lying in her bed and just laughing and watching Gracie play around the room. Emma says, “Don’t put her to bed yet, I just want to stare at her.”
- She now loves riding the zipline. The first two times she had a serious,
not-so-sure-about-this kinda face. Now she’s all smiles as she flies through the air.
- She is the best cleaner upper! As soon as we walk in the door she takes her little shoes off and puts them in her box. As soon as she’s finished eating, she will hand her plate to you.
- She's pretty easy at bedtime! She drinks her bottle while we rock. She had to learn how to be rocked. She prefers for mommy to put her to bed. After she drinks her milk she would very easily just go to sleep but I tend to drag her bedtime out a bit. And now she knows it. I know this is starting a bad habit but I just can’t help it. She has missed too many nights of being rocked and cuddled. The hardest part is putting her in her bed. She’s fine with it…but I want to cuddle and play with her just a little bit longer.
- Her first English word was boo.
- Some of the words she’s saying: STOP (normally when Jonathan is hugging/choking her), popcorn, dog, cat, deer, turtle, cow, no, yogurt, bite bite, please, mama, dada, Max, Rachel, Stephen, Emma, William (num num), Jonathan, shoes, milk, book, nose, eat, egg, cup, spider, home, car, sit ….and more every day.
-Her first sentence just last week was, "Thank you daddy."
- At dinnertime, once we are all seated, she will reach for the hands of the people sitting on each side of her, lower her head and starts mumbling. She started leading meal time prayer about a month after we were home, all by herself.
She is one amazing Gracie!!
She is one amazing Gracie!!