ONE YEAR post adoption update

Gotcha Day January 10, 2016 and one year later January 10, 2017

I seriously can not believe it has been one year since Hope was placed in my arms. I liken this past year to having an infant. The first year with an infant is always physically and emotionally exhausting but there is also so much growth and change that happens within that first year as that infant becomes a baby with personality and starts walking and talking. And that's exactly how this past year has been with Hope. It has been incredibly hard with lots of challenges but now that we can look back we can see so much growth, and it's amazing to compare the child she was a year ago with the child she is now. So here's a little update on Hope after one crazy year home!

Christmas Eve 2016

1. Language-This is probably the number one thing we are still working on. At her 9 month update she was taking speech 2 days a week and now she is at 3 days. She is able to put two and sometimes three words together now but generally she will try and get away with just one word if she can. For instance if she wants juice, she'll come up to me and just say, "Juice". I have to push her to say, "I want juice". And she can do it, it's just that it takes concentration for her to get the words out. So again this is slow but she is making progress so that is good! And look here, she is starting to write her name!! Her teachers are truly amazing!

2. Physical Development-Since starting the enzymes a few months back Hope has finally put on some height and weight. She's still super small for her age but at least she has grown out of the 18mo sizes and we are finally in 2T and even some 3's!!! She also has the tiniest feet, still in a size 5 at almost 4 years old! The enzymes have really helped her overall health improve though, she's finally now absorbing the nutrients she needs. Her skin is better, her coloring is better, her hair is growing more and so she is just overall much healthier than she was a year ago. She's currently undergoing some genetic testing and we don't have results back yet from that but I'm praying that the pancreatic issue she has will eventually resolve itself and that she will just continue to grow, gain weight and be healthy.

Our little gymnast today!

3. Sleep-Bedtime is one of my favorite times with the kids. I love reading to them and tucking them in and Hope and I have our own little bedtime routine. I love how she cuddles in my lap while we read a few books, sing some songs and say our prayers. It's definitely a bonding time for both of us. One thing we are working on right now is trying to get her to stay in her room until I turn the hall light on in the morning. For a while she was waking up really early and would then get up and wake everyone else up so I instituted the "wait for the light" rule. She doesn't really like this rule and so sometimes we start our day kind of cranky because she wants to get up when she wants to get up! So that's a work in progress:) One thing we have made progress on, that I didn't mention in her 9 month update, is how Hope used to rock her head back and forth to put herself to sleep. This is a self soothing habit a lot of babies in institutions will acquire because they don't have someone to rock them to sleep or comfort them when they're upset. Hope would not only do this at night when she was going to sleep but also anytime she was really upset or tired she'd start rocking her head back and forth. I used to have to roll up towels to put in her car seat to keep her from rocking so much. A year later I can say that it is very rare for me to see her do this anymore and I'm hoping that by next year I'll be able to say that she's completely dropped this habit!

Jan. 10, 2016-Our first night together, she fell asleep in my lap and slept all night. 

Bed time snuggles

4. Food-Did I say before that she's a slow eater? Well, Hope is a REALLY slow eater. I will generally sit her down to start eating before everyone else just because I know she's going to be sitting at the table long after everyone else is done. She's still not too picky and will try most anything but her favorites right now are eggs, mac & cheese, yogurt, applesauce and my personal favorite, chocolate! I can usually encourage her to finish up her dinner a little more quickly if I just put a hershey's kiss in front of her plate:)

And let's just relive this moment here above, her first Chick-fil-A experience:) Didn't take long before she was begging for those waffle fries!

5. Attachment-In our eyes Hope has attached really well to all of us this past year. I notice little things like when we are in a store how she will stick close to me and how she comes running to me for help or if she's hurt. These are good signs of attachment but then I also notice how I can leave her with anyone, anywhere and she really doesn't seem to think twice about it. For example, our home church was closed because of snow this past weekend so we went to another local church that she had never been to before and she walked right in to the classroom like it was no big deal. Now maybe that's just her personality but it's just something that none of my boys would ever have done that easily at her age so it just makes me wonder wether she would just go to anyone and attach to them as easily as she attached to us? I really don't know the answer to that question but am just grateful to be able to love her and feel loved by her in return.

6. The Dogs-Since the last update we actually lost our 16 year old Jack Russell 'Gaby' so now we just have our Zoe:( I will say though that Hope has really grown to love dogs. It's almost a little too much because she doesn't really have any fear of them and not all dogs are as tolerant of little kids being in their face as our Zoe is. It's just so funny to me to think of how terrified she was of the dogs when she first came home and now to see how crazy she is about dogs!
7. Going Out-She still loves being on the go. She is my favorite one of all the kids to take shopping with me because she loves to go and does not complain:) I foresee lots of fun mother daughter shopping trips in the future!
8. Playing-Hope and Noah are best buddies right now. These two are constant companions so there is lots of playing and then of course lots of fighting. Noah has really been such a great teacher for Hope and he really watches out for her. I'll miss the two of them being together so much when he goes to school in the fall. Right now her favorite things to do are making forts, playing in the backyard, going on walks and as we found out this weekend playing in the snow and sledding! This girl has no fear and loved going as fast she could go down the hills. Once she hit the bottom she would hop off and start pulling her sled back up the hill and don't even think about trying to help her back up because she was going to do it herself! She really puts 100% of herself into everything she does and this is where I see the positive side of her strong willed nature coming through:)

9.Her Skin-I can't believe I'm even saying this considering how bad her skin was 6 months ago but her skin is almost a non issue at this point. We still use the steroid on her dry spots occasionally and she still scratches from time to time but it is nothing compared to what we were dealing with over the summer. I'm hoping that this trend continues to just get better and better.
10.Favorites-Hope's favorites right now are her baby dolls, chapstick (which she really enjoys rubbing all over her face), all the toys Noah got for Christmas, going to all of her speech and gymnastics classes and watching Frozen sing alongs on You Tube.

When I think about where we were a year ago with so many fears and uncertainties, I'm so glad we're on this side now! We've had highs and we've had lows this year but Hope is the one who has had to overcome so much and has had to adjust to a completely different way of life. Her resilience truly amazes me. When I say she puts 100% into everything she does, I really mean that. She loves hard and she crashes hard. She makes her presence known wherever she goes and she may still have a long way to go in the speech department but that doesn't stop her from getting her point across. I still have moments when I look at her and can't believe that this little girl from the middle of China ended up on the other side of the world eating fried okra with her family in NC. Only God could do this and I'm so grateful. She's truly a dream come true and I look forward to having this front row seat to watch God's beautiful plan for Hope's life unfold over the years. The best is yet to come!