New words and other stuff

It's so hard to believe that on Sat it will mark Anna being with us for 2 months! She has come so far and learned so much. Little brains amaze me and what they can all process and learn. She still speaks a lot of Madarin but is slowly learning to use more English words. She understands pretty much all we say though, which is amazing! Some words she can say now are: 

No more

One more

Out

Hungry

God

Pray

Amen

Please

Thank you (she just replaced this with Shayshay, Mandarin thank you) 

Milk (sounds like mo)

Book

Good Morning

Good Night

Strong

Baby

iPad (gasp!!!) 

Upstairs (sounds like apple)

Kay 

Hello

Goodbye

Church

Go

Cry

Owie

Tears

Sad

She repeats a lot now, so I'm sure it won't be long till the English will replace all the Mandarin. Though it is extremely cute to hear her go on and on in Mandarin. 

Maybe we need to take her to the eye Dr next?? Ha! 

Don't worry, they are educational games. One is a language learning one. First says the word in Mandarin, then in English. 

Some things about Anna: 

 

We are so thankful she has attached so well, however she has become somewhat possessive of me. She doesn't like anyone to sit too close beside me. She starts to get upset if I show any affection to anyone else. Once after dinner I put Dylan on my lap and oh how she cried! She didn't stop till he was off and she was on my lap. I'm the one that has to buckle/unbuckle her, put her shoes on, put her to bed, pick her up in the morning. Well....you get the idea. We are working on it. I tell her that I love everyone, that I'm the boys Mama too. She shakes her head and says No! Anna (as she pats her chest) Mama. She has to learn what a family is. 

She is still a great sleeper! Though, two nights ago, we woke up to the softest, saddest cry you've ever heard. It was so heartbreaking. 

She listens well to no touch. Kay, she'll say. 

She wants whatever someone else is eating. The boys pack their lunches in the morning and while I'm making their sandwiches she says Anna! She also wants all the snacks she sees them packing. I have to tell her, Later Anna, over and over. She likes to try everything (except veggies) but likes only some of it. If someone comes to the table with cereal and shes having a yogurt, she won't eat any more yogurt because now she wants Cheerios. Same thing when the boys come home, they all grab different things to eat, she wants it all. Only to not like it. Haha!! She loves noodles!! She will inhale a whole bowl full and then ask for more. She wakes up and says "hungry" while rubbing her tummy. I'll get her breakfast, she'll eat 2 bites and then she's all done. She hardly drinks at all. She'll tell me she's thirsty, I'll pour her half a cup of what she wants, she'll take one sip and then she's "all done" she's not had one accident since we've gotten her! 

She loves to go for a walk in the stroller but just like her car seat will fall asleep pretty quick. 

She's a loud sleeper! If you've sat near in church when she's fallen asleep you know what I'm talking about. 

Now for some random fun pictures: 

Dylan showing Anna how to do a puzzle 

Joel's amazing drawing that is almost finished. All free hand with pen

Book character day. Dylan is Superman and Tyler is The Hobbit. 

Anna had to dress up too, though it's on backwards. 

All ready for church 

Anna loved the lighted parade in Lynden 

Did I mention she's a bed hog?? When I put her to bed she was lying straight and under the covers. Crazy girl! 

Baking is fun

Eating it is even better! 

Photo bombed. 

Be sure to check out the other posts I did. 

Thanksgiving 2015

We got to enjoy Anna's first Thanksgiving  home. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Cason and Helena's. They even managed to set up tables and chairs to make a very long table! 

It seems every year we get to add a new seat. Love it!! 

Though the picture is blurry, it's the only picture I have of these 2 handsome nephews. 

On the weekend we also took the boys umm I mean kids (gotta get used to not saying boys) to a new park in Bellingham. It was so sweet to watch the boys take care of their sister on the playground. 

Joel holding her hand. 

Dylan enjoyed it! 

Not sure whose child that is. Ha! 

Not too fond of the swing...

We then went for a little walk, Joel and Ryan carrying the tired ones. 

This is what I give thanks to God for! 

Tyler's turn to carry her

I think Anna will have some good bodyguards as she gets older. 

 

Backtracking.....Nov. 22/15-Baptism

Well it's hard to put into words to describe what an emotional special day the baptism of Anna was. We really didn't expect we would be able to do it so soon,it was hard to guess how well she would be doing. We felt she was ready, and she did really well. Walked up the stairs with us and didn't blink an eye with the sprinkling of the water. We had a beautiful message as well! And to be able to celebrate with so many friends and family! 

No, no, no! Anna says to Dylan while wagging her finger. 

Unfortunately Ryan has way more pics on his phone.  In the end, pictures and words cannot express what a special day it was. 

Seattle

I know I'm behind in blogging......I know I should blog about other things first and keep it all in order but I'm not going to.  I'll just have to backtrack later. I want to get today down now. 

This morning I dropped the boys off at school and headed over to Trivan with Anna to pick Ryan up. She was content and happy till we got there. Normally she's very excited to see Ryan and squeals out a loud "da da!" But not today. The last little while I have been playing Doctor with her, using her doll as the patient or sometimes she's the Dr and I'm the patient. It seemed to be going well.....so well that I thought on Sunday night I would prepare her a little more. I told her that we (me and Ryan) were going to take HER to the nice! Doctor. She right started shaking her head and saying no! And then clung herself to me tight. Maybe telling her was a bad idea. I try....

Well she is a smart cookie and put 2 and 2 together pretty quickly. She knew where we were going and she clearly was not happy about it. She shut down and then started to cry softly. We tried to reassure her but it wasn't working. She then proceeded to throw up all over herself and car seat. Poor girl! I was looking fast and furious for something to use, found some wipes and tried my best to help from the front seat. At this point we were already on the I-5. We pulled over at the next exit and tried to clean her up as best as we could. Of course the time when you need extra clothes you don't bring any. We didn't want to be late so we kept going. She looked so sad and defeated. Shortly after,  she did fall asleep and slept the rest of the way there. 

We got to Children's Hospital nicely on time. We checked in and went straight to the gift shop and bought Anna a new shirt since the one she was wearing was all wet and really stinky! So now she owns a little "Seattle Children's Hospital " t-shirt. 

We were called back  right away and Anna started to withdraw again. And then as she sees the exam room she starts crying. So what's a good mom to do?? Take out the iPad ASAP! I just downloaded some fun games for her that she really likes. I told her we had to first put on the pretty "dress" and then she could play. 

Nice dress, isn't it?? We think it looked pretty cute on her! So all I can say is that the iPad was a lifesaver! Made the visit so much nicer. She sat on my lap playing while the nurses and Dr examined her skin. 

So our dear Anna's skin has not been healing as it should. She has what the Dr called "exuberant skin scarring". She has developed keloids which is skin that is raised and hard and the scarring spreads beyond the border of the graft as well. Apparently there is nothing to be done about it. She said that some people just don't scar well and she is one of them. The scars on her legs are also not scarring as well as they should be. She also advised that if we were thinking of doing more removal to keep this in mind and she wouldn't recommend it. We were hoping to hear the opposite of course. That perhaps it was our inexperience with skin grafting that we thought it didn't look good. Sigh! The Dr was also baffled as to where the skin came from since its standard to take the skin from the patient but Anna doesn't have a donor site scar. Something we will probably never know. 

Some good news.....she will not need a MRI, she is not symptomatic (meaning she is not showing any symptoms of having spots on her brain) so it's really not necessary. Her Nevus skin looks good, nothing that would raise concern. She has some raised nodules but since they are soft it's nothing to worry about. We go back to see the Dermatologist in 3 months for a follow up. We will also be seeing a plastic surgeon who deals with skin grafting more than a Dermatologist would. 

So all in all it was a good appointment. We had some questions answered and we also got a prescription to help her with the itching of the skin graft. Hopefully that will help relieve her of her discomfort. They also measured all her "spots" and took pictures so we can keep track of any changes. We were very happy with the Dr and look forward to seeing her again. 

After the visit we had to get Anna's bloodwork done. We waited almost an hour before we got called back. Anna was so happy when we left the office. She was all smiles and laughing, playing with her baby......not knowing the worst was yet to come. 

Poor girl kicked and screamed and cried the whole time we were back there. There was about 8 vials they had to fill, it took a long time. She also threw up again , this time on her and me.  And just when I told Anna it was all done I was told no sorry we have to try the other arm now, this one isn't safe anymore. (Not sure what that means but okay) Anyway, we got through it and survived. She fell asleep soon after we got in the van and slept pretty much the whole way back. 

We figure that she doesn't get car sickness like we originally thought in China. She gets sick from being anxious or upset. It makes total sense to when she did throw up in China and now. We are still learning and trying to figure things out. She has separation anxiety as well. It is sometimes okay to leave a room and come back, and sometimes it's not. And when it's not, you know it! Even after reassuring her, she just won't be comforted. She is beside herself. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. She went from an orphanage to a foster home to the hospital to us. In her mind, for all she knows we are going to drop her off somewhere and leave her too. The fear is real. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. We also can be so very thankful how well she is doing despite what she's been through. God has been with her when we couldn't and He still is now that she's home. We have so much to be thankful for! Anna is such a huge blessing to us.