The 4-Month Mark

No worries...I won't be counting the months until she's 18 years old. I just feel the first few months home are so critical for attachment, new learning, language development, etc. that I feel compelled to keep track and document where Kristina is in all aspects of our lives together.

I may have mentioned before that I'm not a scrap-booker. No time, no creativity! This blog is, in essence, Kristina's scrapbook. At some point (probably at the 1-year anniversary of being home), I'll close down the blog and turn it into a book for Kristina. All the comments left by dear friends and family and virtual friends will be documented for Kristina to read. For this reason, I thank every single person who has left a message here on the blog!

OK --- on with some updates in various aspects of our life with an angel...

Health
After having a fever a few weeks ago, Kristina now has a cold/cough and has been generous enough to share it with us. But how could we not get it from her? She feeds us our food using her utensils, gives lots of loving kisses, coughs on me in the middle of the night after waking up (usually between 2-4am), stumbling into our room and crawling into our bed along with her baby doll and blanket... We were doomed ~ but you know what? I'm so fine with it! She's a smart cookie and won't take any medicine for her cold symptoms but she hasn't figured out yet that I've been doctoring up her "ice pops" with cherry-flavored medicine. YUMMY!!

Nothing like a good ice pop before going to bed...and a dose of "Kipper the Dog" (yes, that's Kipper's reflection that can be seen in the glass sliding door!)

School
Kristina is doing great at school. Since the 2nd week, there have been no more tears when dropping her off. I guess she now realizes that, yes -- we will be coming back to get her. This week, she started full-time Tuesday through Friday (previously she was going 3 days a week in the am only). When I arrive at 5pm to pick her up, she's usually running around on the playground and driving cars -- owning the playground with her signature "strut". The funniest part is when she then yells "Bye" to everyone and then "Bye School" accompanied by her version of the "Queen's wave" as we walk out. The hugs she dishes out to me are priceless...

Our little dear Kristina loves to pet the fake deers that "guard" the school.

Eating
Up until 2 weeks ago, this has been a HUGE struggle with us. Kristina's diet since coming home consisted primarily of oatmeal, yogurt, milk, peaches, turkey meat, cherrios and then the occasional "treat" such as chips, cookies, chocolate chip morsels. When we saw the International Adoption Pediatrician (IA Ped) 2 weeks ago, he told us that if we want her to eat chicken, for instance, place the chicken on a plate in front of her with something she LOVES just beyond the plate which she can eat only after she eats what's on the plate in front of her. OMG....I'm sure every parent out there knew this trick except for us....it really works! This past week, she has expanded her diet to steak, chicken, cheese, spaghetti with olive oil, macaroni and cheese...just to name a few. Maybe now she'll put on a little weight!

Sleeping
This was a challenge up until a month ago but now Kristina falls asleep within 1o minutes of putting her down. I'm still in there on the floor (ignoring her pleas for "milk," "PT [bathroom]," etc.) as she'll cry if I leave but I'm starting to work my way slowly towards the door little by little. As for coming into our room between 2 and 4am, we have no problem with this at all --- at this time. She's not too bad of a wiggle worm but she certainly loves to cuddle. I usually end up on the very edge of the bed hanging on for dear life but hey --- it's worth it to watch her sleep!

This is my usual view of Kristina as she goes down for a nap or night-night. I lay down on the floor next to her bed...at times holding her hand at her request.

Language
Every day, Kristina increases her vocabulary which leaves us in awe. Guess we really have to be careful with our word choices! Even though the IA Ped recommended a Speech Therapy evaluation, I haven't called them yet. Maybe this next week - just to see what they say. Tonight on the phone, she started singing Happy Birthday to my mom. I got it on video but haven't been able to upload it yet. (Yes, mom -- I'll be sending it to you asap!!!) It's the 3rd time she's heard us sing this song since we came home and it floored us that she picked up on it.

Current phrases heard daily:
* Mama work
* Papa work
* No school (oh, yes --- even on days there IS school!)
* Where'd it go?
* Turtle night-night
* Tee-Tee Eat
* More Cookie/More Milk
* Mama's car/Papa's car/Tee-Tee's car
Plus a whole lot more.......

Attachment
We have been blessed. No other way of looking at it. JD is on his last week of Family Leave and will be returning to work next week. The last 6 weeks that JD has been with Kristina has been invaluable. They are buds. She now reaches out for JD, sits with him at dinner, and is very generous with kisses and hugs -- whereas a few months ago, all of her attention was soley towards Mama and she would, at times, push JD away. It was hurtful to him and hard for me to see. I know we're not out of the woods yet, but I think we've made some really good headway as a close-knit family. As for the house...it's Kristina's and it looks like a hurricane has been through it daily. I think JD has a greater understanding why I didn't get a ton of things done when I was on Family Leave. Difficult to do with a 2 year old attached at the hip!

Papa and his Princess.

So this is our snapshot at 4 months. She is our angel but we don't want to candy coat anything - she is definitely a 2 year old with determination to get her way as much as possible, manipulate her parents with love to get what she wants, fake cry for attention in a very dramatic manner (yes, Joy - just like Anna!), and throw things when she doesn't get her way. As for "Time outs?" She sits on a little bench that faces our fireplace for 2 minutes. Although she attempts to get up at times, this is a work in process. It appears to us that she actually "likes" Time-Out! Funny thing: after the 2 minutes, she gets up, turns the bench around so it's facing the correct direction and replaces the stuffed animals that usually sit on the bench. Hugs and kisses are followed by doing whatever we told her to do in the first place. Hmmmm, wonder how long this will last????