I was inspired by the blog, Mix and Match Mama, to put together an update on Hope after 9 months as a Weber! So I've taken the categories she used to give updates on her daughter and written some things about Hope. I wish I had kept better updates along the way but my intentions are always better than reality. I remember reading a post from Jen Hatmaker after just getting home and she said that it would take 4-5 months for life to start to feel like normal again and I think she was completely right. Those first few months were really hard just trying to figure out who this child was that we had brought into our family, and at the same time she was trying to figure us out and testing lots of waters:) We are still a work in progress over here but really we're a work in progress with each of our kids, they are all constantly keeping us on our toes!
1. Language- Hope completely understands English at this point you just might not understand her:) She amazed us right from the start with how quickly she picked up English and other than a word here or there she comprehends everything she hears. So her receptive language is great however her expressive language has been much slower to come. She's currently in speech two days a week and she's making progress but it's a very, very slow progress. She can say a ton of words by themselves it's just when it comes to putting two words together that she struggles, so we are working on that.
2. Physical Development-We like to say Hope is small but mighty! She really is super petite and even though she eats really well she hasn't put on any weight since being home. A lot of people would tell me their child went through a stage where they just plateaued for a while and that she would eventually catch up, but you know when you just have that mama's intuition that something wasn't right? Well, that's how I felt, and after tons of testing they did find that Hope has something called Pancreatic Insufficiency. Most kids who have pancreatic insufficiency have cystic fibrosis but she has tested negative for that so at this point we're still working to figure out why she has this. Her GI doctor is consulting with a geneticist and a pulmonologist to see what our next steps might be in figuring this out. What this means for now in her day to day life is that she has to take a pill, an enzyme to help her digest and absorb the nutrients in her food, before she eats anything and I mean anything. If she wants a pack of fruit snacks, pill first. Cup of milk, pill first. Goldfish at church, pill first. While it's definitely not convenient we're glad we've figured out what she needs to help her start growing.
3. Sleep-Hope is a great sleeper, thank goodness!!!! All my kids are pretty good sleepers so I'm glad she's continued the trend. She's slept in her own room, in a big girl bed from day 1 with no issues. I did sleep with her for the first few weeks but it was an easy transition back to my own bed.
4. Food-I think she's completely Americanized in her tastes now! The girl loves a hot dog, fries and pizza. She also likes lots of good for her things like avocado, eggs, nuts and fruit. She still loves her noodles but she's not as crazy about rice anymore and although she initially disliked any kind of candy or sweets, she quickly overcame that and now loves her dessert as much as the next kid. She will try anything once and there's not much she doesn't like so we are happy about that.
5. Attachment-This has been really easy for us. Hope is very affectionate towards us and the boys and even though she is also really trusting and affectionate with other people as well I think she's finally realized we are her people. I'm thankful for how easily she has allowed us to love her and has loved us in return.
6. The dogs-Well it took a really long time but I think I can finally say she "likes" the dogs now, and on a bad day she at least tolerates them. She completely freaked out the first time she saw the dogs and we had to keep them away from her for a long time but now she loves to feed them her snacks and will even pet them as long as it's on her terms. She doesn't like them approaching her though she still wants to be the one initiating the contact:) But if she sees a dog when we're out and about she always gets excited and wants to go see it, she just generally likes to keep them at arm's length!
7. Going Out- Hope loves being on the go! She is great in the car and easy to take out and about as long as I can keep her in a stroller or buggy. Once the girl gets on her own two feet she gets a little wild so our outings are typically places like Chick fil a and the park where kids running wild is an okay thing:)
8. Playing-She is great playing by herself or with other kids. The sharing part is still difficult at times but then other times she will really surprise me and share a toy with someone. She and Noah have become really good buddies over the past couple months and play really well together. I had initially had them both signed up for preschool but decided our schedules needed a little less going on so I pulled them both out and it has been the best decision for us. We have plenty to do between Hope's appointments, activities and just running around that we don't miss having to get up and out the door for school too.
9. Her Skin- It is SO much better!!! She has head to toe severe eczema and this was such a daily stress and battle for us really up until about a month and a half ago when we got it under control. We're seeing an amazing pediatric dermatologist at Duke who said he did not think her eczema was allergy related and even though I was resistant to using topical steroids on her it is truly the only thing that works for her. We tried the gluten free, dairy free diets, essential oils, wet wraps, lotions, allergy testing and finally just decided that she needed relief from the constant itching. She would scratch all night long and would just cry some days because it was so bad. She is really like a different child now that she feels better and we don't have to keep her covered all the time either. We are told that she will grow out of this so we will just continue to manage it until that time comes.
10. Favorites-Some of Hope's favorite things right now are going to gymnastics, going to church, going to the gym (she likes going anywhere she can play in a group with other kids!), loves the swings, balls, balloons, bubbles, reading books, playing with her brothers and being outside.
This little firecracker has truly changed our lives for the better. We thought we had some spice in our life before she showed up but she has taken it to a whole other level:) She is super strong willed, very opinionated, extremely social and absolutely nothing like her brothers. We are just having so much fun with this little ball of personality, she has really come such a long way in a short amount of time and we are so blessed to call her ours!!! Hope you've enjoyed the update!
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