Life just got a whole lot easier

Drew can touch, and as you can see, even ride on the the dogs now!  Of course, she still screams blood curdling screams when you least expect it at the mere sight of one of the poor beasts....but when the mood is right, she tolerates them.  Thank goodness, as the whole "are the dogs in? -Please grab the child with I feed the dogs. -Dogs, stop tearing up the door to get in" -thing was getting really old and very tiring.  And the dogs were depressed from being banished.  Whew...it is the day to day stuff that wears you out! 

  Drew can now say: "Hi", "Byebye", "Ni-ni" "Up" and as of today, "uh oh" and "mo" for more...  And she makes noise all the time now, a far (very far) cry from the silent child we first met.  Ron introduced her to the joys of belly razzberries, which she has taken to with glee.  Eating is still her first activity of choice.  Her meltdowns are far shorter (mostly) and far fewer, thank goodness.  Her joy in the little things like sitting in the swing, feeling the rain come down, or hearing Kelly roar like a lion is wonderful to see, and surprising to hear the deep belly laugh that comes out of her..who would've guessed?  Between she and the dogs, I'm not sure who's happier these days!

Blooming

  Drew continues to thrive and grow.  We are done with the dreadful medicine to cure her Giardia, she has leveled out her none-stop eating, and regular excercise is helping her gross motor skills.  She is learning some Sign Language and even has a few words now, so there is a hint of communication..which makes her very happy.  We all get regular kisses now, and she can even see the dogs (thru the glass door) without screaming!  It all sound like small steps, but to her they are mountains climbed.  Our days are quiet, limited, but very productive.  And as you can see by the picture, our beautiful flower is blooming.

better late than never

Well I've finally have gotten around to posting our Christmas pictures.  We spent the evening at my parents with Shirley and Brooke and Steve and family.  It was a great celebration (happened on New Year's Day) but by the end we were done and as you can see by the attempted family photo, Drew was DONE.  But we did get a lot of smiles from her that night and the 3 sillies were hamming it up as usual.  Still can't believe we are a family of 6!

Need I say more?

Amazing progress

Well, we survived our "Christmas" here at home.  Had  a great morning seeing what Santa brought, then went to my parents and spent the evening with lots of family.  We were concerned that Drew would be more than overwhelmed, and meltdown, but she loved it all, and only had one bad crying fit, understandable for ANY 2 year old by Christmas night.  The rest of the week has been filled with trying to get a glimpse of the "new normal" and struggling to get over jet lag.  With 6 people severely off schedule, seems someone is always awake here, but it's getting better. 

   Drew has amazed us by making great progress in bonding, adjusting and learning.  Compared to the little girl who, 18 days ago, was only either furiously angry, or completely indifferent, we now have a cuddly, giggling, curious dynamo.  She spends the day following her sister, getting into cupboards, and eating, and eating and eating.  She gleefully attacks her food and constantly asks for more.  All food, any food.  She is still very frightened of the dogs, but with all the other adjustments these last few days (one week home today) I assume that will come with time.  

  So my great husband gave me this really cute little video camera for Christmas, and I finally figured out (with his help) how to use it and upload.  Hopefully I'll remember how and will do this often!  This video is a little long, but I was so excited to have done it, and it shows how well Drew is doing, I couldn't wait, you can fast forward if you want...I will work on the editing stuff later!

Home, thankfully.

Yeah!!
Made it home. Our last two days were started early at the US Embassy in China for application for Drew's Visa, a swearing ceremony and leaving all the papers we have worked on for many months towards getting Drew to immigrate into the US as an adoptee. Once she touched US soil she became a citizen, but she couldn't touch soil until she was granted a Visa. Anyway, that was Wed. We shopped a little (big mistake, Drew wasn't into it in any way) had a last dinner with our friends the Rolfs, at "Tekila's" a local Mexican place that was actually good. The next day was spent waiting for Drew's new Chinese passport, complete with said Visa to be delivered. The littles and I went to Shamian Island to have lunch with the Rolf ladies and we played at their place and the playground there. Great fun for the older girls and good for Drew to run around and wear herself out. We barely made it back to the hotel in time to meet up with Ron, Cory and Jamie (shopped some more) threw the last of the clothes into suitcases, and grabbed the shuttle to the airport. Drew started to explore the room at the hotel more, waved bye-bye, and was really enjoying playing with Kelly, great to see.
Our trip home was really very good in the big picture. Drew had a hard time at the airport, threw one nuclear-level fit just before boarding, just to make EVERYone waiting for our plane really, really nervous about where they were sitting in realation to us, then was really very good the rest of the flight. She was restless on the plane and we all counted the hours till landing, but all in all it was a great flight considering the level of "aweful" it could've reached.
We made it home, collapsed at home, and tried to sleep through the night. Drew was up at 3:00, but fell back asleep later. Saturday went better than hoped, she loved the freedom of the house and all the toys. Was playing and moving all over and exploring like a normal 2 year old: wonderful!!! Only fly in the ointment is the poor dogs. She is TERRIFIED of them, screams bloody murder if they come within 6 feet, so poor things have been banished from the house if she's up. They are so sad and pathatic, but with all the other adjustments going on, they'll just have to tough it out for a bit.
Tomorrow night will be our Christmas Eve and Kelly is excited. Can't wait to do all that, should be a kick.
Lastly for tonight, I want to rave about my family. First off: Cory spent the whole trip being my personal "Sherpa". She carried, fetched, found, whatever I needed. The most common words out of her mouth were "I'm here to help, what do you need Mom?" Amazing huh? And boy did she help. Jamie was our trip photographer. She also lugged the pack full (and I mean full) of the electronics all over China, along with lifting, carrying and taking care of the luggage. Both girls took over the duties of minding, and entertaing Kelly, who loved the big girl time. Kelly was "big sister extrodinare" to Drew and was a great traveler. All three girls had hardly any entertainment available, and the two olders were spending their precious, short, break with us, not their friends, and we really appreciate it. Not only were they a huge help, but it was special to spend time with them and the only way for them to really bond with Drew. I also want to sing my husband's praises. How many men would answer their wife's question of: "what would you think about adopting again?" when they are 50, working like crazy to put 3 girls through college and still retire, with "I was wondering when you'd ask. Sure."? Amazing.
Anyway, we are thrilled to be home. It's a tough 14 days, very tough, but as we have found, very well worth it.
I'll post some pictures tomorrow, promise.

Day at the Zoo

Today we ventured to the Zoo. The same Safari Zoo we hit 2 1/2 years ago when we were here for Kelly. We knew it was a risk, all of us just feeling better, and Drew making it for a few hours at a time without meltdowns, but we had already arranged it and the "bigs" wanted to go again and the "littles" seemed ok for the moment. We went and had a ball. The "zoo" was as amazing as last time: more white tigers than you could count, scary animals so close you could touch them, and lots and lots of baby animals. All features you wouldn't find in a zoo in the U.S. Cory and Jamie fed giraffes, lions, tigers, and elephants. We saw the tiger show and lived to tell the tale (both times I've done this, I spent the whole show thinking how easy it'd be for all those really big tigers to push down the measley wire fence they are in for the show and eat my kids...ok, I'm crazy, but you should see this place...ripe for lawsuits and mayhem.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day, hardly any people for the first few hours, Drew had only one meltdown, and Kelly came back to the hotel now a tiger instead of a Lion King. And for those of you who know Kelly, Lion King is the best of the best, so these tigers must've been pretty cool! The other great part of the day was that Drew continued to open up, smile, laugh, feed me and Ron, and actually enjoyed being kissed!!! She now loves her bath with Kelly, loves to put on her shoes, and loves to be naked. She knows a few signs, has shaken her head "no" and pretended to make food. Amazing. She is as cute as a button when smiling, and can tease too. Whew, while she still has no language at all, as least we can see that she understands and is interacting, all great things. Now off to bed early, as tomorrow is an early day at the Consulate for some final stages of paperwork, maybe a little shopping then the next day pack and leave...yippee!!! We are ALL really done here, really really done. Want to be home and with our family and friends. Soon.