Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Another day of discovery with Taylor

Well I think Taylor's nick name will be peanut. She is just that - cute and so so small.

She is very precious and a mix of things. She in some things is just like a three year old. She actually does pretty well in dressing herself and doing the potty thing with one hand. She usually starts tugging at her pants so we know she wants to go. But can just find it fun to go, when anyone else is going. This is more like a two year old. Then her speech is very primative - more like that of a one year old. Saying Mamma and maybe a few other words - so we have a lot of ground to cover here.

She is easily entertained like a 1-2 year old and is very much into toys with sound. She so badly wants to copy the other two - but with her medical issues only adds to her delays. But she is willing to try and falling is a minor detail to her and she has a strong determination, so we believe in time she will succeed.

I know I had prepared myself for almost anything knowing she had been mostly orphange raised - but those affects definitely show and the poor thing is so delayed. We found a baby bottle with formula in it last night when going through her things. So have no clue to what she was really fed. She is more a rice girl like Reagan was. So think it was leaning towards baby foods. It most likely will remain a mystery and her first three years of life will probably remain mostly a secret to us.

Today i struggled a little in just realizing the work ahead of us. We have mostly a baby on our hands and even with the mental preparation, I know i was still leaning towards an older child with mild delays that would just follow along with Reagan and Kaitlyn. It will happen, but just not right now. I don't think we have any mental issues - but have not totally ruled this out. I am sure we will be taking advantage of options when we get home to help her move along in speech....

She is very attached to me and must come with me. It is so funny, as soon as i look like i am going somewhere she goes to her shoes and puts them on, ready to join me. We put her in a stroller today and it appears she is familiar with this and had a wonderful time in it.

Dinner tonight was definitely a challenge and we were thankful we went before the rush and so had more attention. This is another area Taylor acts more like Reagan did at 18m.

I think I am getting a better understanding in the reasons God put a stop to us adopting Ian. He knew better and what we really could handle. With having the kids along we are maxed out and am very glad we have a larger room and are not participating in tours with other families. This would have been way too difficult for us. We pretty much do little, since Taylor is a lot of work.

We took the kids to the local park playground for a short while. There is another family here that we met at breakfast from GA. They have 4 kids from China along and 2 older teen/pre-teen and then two younger girls, they have an older child at home from S Am. We met them also at the park and it was nice to connect wth another larger family. Taylor tried the slide and by the third time was having a blast on it.
I don't think she was doing this before. So will try and utilize our free time there.

Tomorrow we leave in the morning for an hour and a half drive to Dongguan. We will do a tour of the orphange, do lunch with staff and meet Taylors Foster Parents. Plan to ask lots of q's. We did get a response to our long list of q's which our wonderful guide David is translating for us. We will stay the night and hope to meet Lisa's sister in law there as well. We will come back on Friday. We hope to meet with Mark and Melinda and their family on Sat? They moved here only three weeks ago.

Today we got Taylor's passport done and her photo. We got our offical red adoption booklet and this time made sure there were no errors so we would not have to pay to have it corrected in the US like with Kaitlyn's.

So as the title notes... each day we learn a little more about this precious gift we have been given. She is such a sweetie and so precious. She is easily pleased most of the time. She loves music and tonight tried to sing along with the kids at bedtime. She has started to give kisses and each day is one more step in the process of getting to know this little girl who now officially by China's laws is our daughter.... Taylor Eleanor Guan Dideon

Will try and post a couple of photo's and will do my best to update in a day or two.
Lavonne

4 comments:

Sue and Robert Stark said...

Hi! So good to hear everything going on with you all...thanks for sharing your journey with us...It keeps me connected to you.

We are praying for you all and your precious blessing!!

Love, Sue, Robert, & Lily :)

Red Hen said...

Lavonne,

I've been following along with you all daily. Taylor sounds wonderful and you are a blessed Mama. She's beautiful, too.

I am still praying for y'all and looking forward to hearing about the rest of your time in China.

Sonia

Shannon and Boyd Bringolf said...

You are doing a fabulous job figuring Taylor out. YOu are right on abut the different age equivalents. Kole at 4 was like an8 month old in some ways and a 2 year old in others and then in like large motor skills all boy.
Now at five he is just a year behind in language and a few other life issues. Taylor will catch up. With all the nurturing and with siblings she will come a long way fast!

Shannon

Jill K. said...

It is nice to hear about your China experiences. I read your blog every day. You are a great Mommy, Lavonne. You and your family are in my prayers.
Jill :)