Lily Update

Today was an absolutely wonderful day! I say that because I got a(VERY much needed!) three-hour break from my role as "Mama." I absoluely love being a mom, and I love home-schooling my kids, and I wouldn't trade either, but those roles require a great deal of sacrifice. With five kids, the house is seldom quiet, and often it is noisy with a cacophony of kids calling, "MAMA!" When we began home-schooling, I gave up a lot of time that I could have been alone. Today, I took off for 3 hours and enjoyed a leisurely shopping trip to one of my favorite stores, TJ Maxx, swung by Marble Slab and indulged, and then went to my parents' house where it was really quiet and read my Bible. The afternoon was such a treat! (THANK YOU TIM!)

Enough about me right?!

Lily is doing great! She's learned the days of the week, working on the months of the year, the 7 continents, #'s 1-30 and counting by 10's, and trying to write her name. She's also learning phonograms (phonics cards) along with Molly Kate and Annie. She understands a good deal of English now, and we just wing it if there's something new. She still doesn't speak in sentences regularly, but she is putting more and more together as each week passes. Last night she said, "I can't see it," while trying to put her seat belt on in the dark. That might seem trivial, but 4 word sentences are a huge accomplishment in a foreign language!

Common phrases right now:

Mama, baf. (she LOVES the bath)
Mama, egg. (the child eats boiled eggs like they're M&M's- in a normal day, I limit her to 2-3)
Mama, schwimmin. (swimming:))
Mama, ANNIE (have I mentioned that Annie pesters Lily, and Lily is WAY too sensitive when it comes to Annie - However, this is getting better! YAY!)
What's that?
Mama, look.

I wish you could hear her say yes ma'am. It comes out, "Yesh mom." Too cute!

Lily usually wakes up around 7:15, and usually, I'm either just getting up, or just getting in from jogging about this time. Then, she often shadows me throughout the day - like a toddler would his/her mother - following her around the house no matter where she goes or what she's doing. I think this is probably a good thing, because it has to be good concerning the bonding thing. However, I'm thankful for the times she occupies herself playing with Annie and our next door neighbor, or even playing by herself too. She plays well, eats well, and sleeps well too! What a blessing!

Thankfully, Lily has taken to the American diet pretty well, and the ways I have adjusted our diet to satisfy her, have really been to our benefit. Lily would consume fruit from sun-up til sun-down if I let her. The reason I cannot let this happen all day is b/c it was causing wet beds at night, and I like my sleep too much to deal with wet beds when there is a solution. So, we are big fruit consumers until say 4-5 p.m., and then we switch to foods with less fluid content. On Wednesday I went to SAM'S and purchased 16 lbs of fruit, almost all of which is gone now. Today I purchased another 14 lbs. That's a lot of fruit! The other big item is eggs. I purchased 4 dozen today. Thank goodness they say it's the good cholesterol.

We took Lily to the University of Alabama International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham about 3 weeks after we arrived home. There we saw a pediatrician, a speech pathologist, a physical therapist, and a counselor. One of the things they told us to do, was to have Lily tested for parasites. We got a call Friday from the pediatrician that she tested positive for 2 parasites. Although this is pretty gross to me, I must admit I'm pleased to learn she has them for 2 reasons: 1. Parasites make the bathroom smell pretty wicked... 2. maybe Lily will put on some height and weight as she gets to keep all the nutrients she's eating for herself! (Lily is in the 3rd percentile in height and weight for her age. She hasn't gained any weight since being home, and she eats lots of food.

I'll try to get Tim to post a new picture or two tomorrow....