After a very long month of May, I have come to the decision that I need to find the fun in mommy-ness again. It was beginning to feel like the only interactions I had with my kiddos was meeting basic needs and home schooling. What had happened to spontaneous trips to the park or running in the rain?
Sigh...
I didn't want to leave the house because it took too much energy to get all five kiddos out of the house and loaded up. Grocery shopping was never happening so our meals were costing more and were getting progressively less healthy. My house was mounding with laundry and mess and I just didn't have the energy to deal with any of it.
Prayers....
Fortunately, I am surrounded with a wonderful group of friends who, while I didn't specifically say "Pray for me to be less overwhelmed and more fun", they were praying for me anyway. I felt it. I knew it. It helped.
So, as is my 'all in or nothing' mentality, I set an ambitious goal for myself. A summer of adventure - which means something fun or spontaneous just about every day - something where we play together and I get to just have fun with my kiddos. Know what? It is working :)
On Monday, when I got my brilliant idea, I thought I would take the clan to the playground. Yes, it was raining, but I figured that would make it more of an adventure and we would have the place to ourselves. Unfortunately, timing didn't work (why do kiddos take forever to pick up when you have something fun planned to bless them????), but I did manage to get us all to the store for an ingredient for our dinner, and we got to run through a downpour to get back to the van. That counts as an adventure, right?
Tuesday, we had a wonderful play date with a dear friend and her three girls. Oh yes, and their four grown chickens and four baby chicks. We had a blast, playing, hanging out, chatting, and letting the kiddos enjoy themselves. They all played together wonderfully, the weather was perfect, and we enjoyed a picnic lunch afterwards. The kids got to play with the chickens, bake up all kinds of grass and dirt concoctions, and do some arts and crafts too. It was fun and refreshing. Off to a good start.
On Wednesday, we loaded on the sunscreen and headed to the playground. Other than a few minutes at the Sandy Cove playground when we went down to Lydia's graduation, this was the first time I had taken the kiddos to the playground since Liliana's arrival. The Sandy Cove playground was empty except for us, but this playground had lots of kiddos running around, so I was curious how Liliana would handle it. There were definitely a lot of other mommies to sidle up to there, but she did great! She stuck with me for the most part and when she did wander a bit, she stayed nearby and kept checking in. I was really encouraged by the progress. To finish off, I gathered up the kiddos and we had a race in the soccer field. Definitely out of the ordinary for me and we had lots of fun.
On Thursday, we had a normal play date scheduled, so we went to it, but I decided to throw in the girls' bikes to they could practice their balance bikes on a nice long driveway with their friends. They all played and rode their bikes and had lunch together, but I hadn't really gotten to play with them. So once we got home and the tots were napping, I got out paints and q-tips and the girls and I painted. When Simeon woke up, he joined us and then once everyone was up, we made popcorn and watched Little House on the Prairie. Yeah, TV doesn't really count but it was very unusual for us, so I'll count it.
I have no idea what I have planned for tomorrow... maybe we'll go play in the rain. Who knows? All I know is that I am starting to enjoy my kids again and I am also seeing some good signs of improved relationships - on my end and theirs, so we'll keep going with it as much as we can. Hopefully, I'll remember my camera one of these times and get some pictures to go along with the adventures...
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Thursday, June 6, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
And the Winner Is....
Thank you to all my friends for helping me with this giveaway and spreading the word :) If you are one of the winners, please PM me on Facebook with your email address so I can let The National Center for Biblical Parenting know what prize to send you :)
Friday, May 3, 2013
If you are still waiting to buy OR if you ordered from Amazon and it isn't shipping for a while...
Ordering Update
So, launch week has been a big success as far as I can tell and they are sold out of just about every online retailer. Amazon still lets you buy it, but it is back ordered so it won't count towards their big launch week goals. If you would like to purchase the book and still get the $400 in free resources, you will need to buy it from the National Center for Biblical Parenting's website. Otherwise, it looks like the purchase won't qualify for the $400 in free resources deal. Just be sure to email gift@biblicalparenting.org with your purchase confirmation.
You can click through this link to purchase. Hope that helps and thanks for spreading the word!
Stay tuned for the drawing on Sunday night (sometime before 8pm probably :) I will post the winners here on Sunday night, hopefully :)
You can click through this link to purchase. Hope that helps and thanks for spreading the word!
Stay tuned for the drawing on Sunday night (sometime before 8pm probably :) I will post the winners here on Sunday night, hopefully :)
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Parenting Help...
If you have hung around me or my blog for any length of time you know that I am a big fan of the National Center for Biblical Parenting. I own several of their books and refer to them over and over again. So when they offered bloggers a chance to preview their newest book, The Christian Parenting Handbook, I naturally jumped at the chance.
I have been devouring the book at every chance I have had (and even some I haven't had...). It has 50 chapters which are fortunately fairly short. So I have been able to tackle them in the bits of time that I have.
The purpose of the book is to help equip parents to develop a Biblical parenting philosophy, but they go way beyond theory. The book is full of ideas you can use right away. So you're able to read a chapter, get up and implement the ideas right away. One of the things I love about their approach is that it focuses on relationship and their main focus then is heart change rather than behavioral change. Behavior modification can work in that it can get your kids doing what you want them to do, but it doesn't address the heart issues behind the behaviors. So you end up with kids that don't internalize the lessons and values you are trying to teach. As the authors put it:
Heart change is a lot harder, but it works because it addresses the underlying source of behavior. This book helps teach you how to do just that. For those of you who have read the other books that they have published, I will say that I have learned a LOT from this new book. It might be that I needed a refresher (always a good thing) but I think it is because there seems to be plenty of real life examples of how to implement the changes you are working towards.
This book covers the full spectrum of parenting and applies to all ages too - from dealing with bad attitudes to the value of grandparents and everything in between. They talk about how to parent when mom and dad are on different discipline pages. There are lots of ideas for dealing with kids who argue, identifying the real issue you are dealing with rather than the argument itself, how to diffuse the intensity in conflict, and how to teach kids to add to family life rather than just take from it all the time.
For me, one of the most helpful reminders came when the book spoke about how sometimes parents struggle with anger when their children misbehave. Yes, I may be right and my child may be wrong, but being right is not as important as being wise in how I respond to my child's misbehavior. Just because one of my wonderful children is doing something that is wrong, it doesn't justify me reacting in a way that vents anger at him/her. It can be easy to fall into a trap of getting angry at our kids and then justifying that anger and blaming their behavior. Ultimately, my child can then use my poor response to justify his/her poor behavior. Responding wisely though means recognizing my child's misbehavior and directly addressing the heart issue(s) that need to be dealt with.. Good reminder!
I love how the authors filled this book with practical, real-life solutions to common parenting problems. I love that it is more than just another book harping on the need to be consistent (the first chapter is actually called "Consistency is Overrated"). They talk about the fact that consequences aren't the only answer - which is a great chapter because as parents it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling the need to come up with bigger, badder consequences to deal with bad behavior. The authors go beyond just 'here's how to get your kids to behave' to addressing how to help your children learn to serve and honor and go above and beyond without you having to tell them (yes, that is possible)
I already highly recommend all of the resources from the National Center for Biblical Parenting, and The Christian Parenting Handbook has just become my newest favorite recommendation! Whether you are new to their resources or you have every book, DVD, conference CD, and download available, you will get a TON out of this book!
Now, here is the really fun part :) I get to GIVE AWAY some stuff. The National Center for Biblical Parenting is doing some giveaways (see below) and they also are giving bonus gifts worth $400 for everyone who purchases a copy of their book during launch week April 29 through May 5 (see below for more details).
The giveaways are listed below:
The Honor Multi-Media Package ($59.95 value)
Set of 5 Parenting Shifts eBooks ($49.95)
One free Biblical Parenting University Online Parenting Course ($99.95 value)
Disciplemaking at Home eBook ($16.99 value)
The Christian Parenting Companion Guide – Includes print copy of The Christian Parenting Handbook. ($49.95)
Since I have such fun giveaways, I get to come up with a fabulous way to give these things away. So, if you want to be entered in a chance to win one of the giveaways listed above here is what you get to do (you can do as many or as few as you like):
1. Click this link to the Christian Parenting Handbook on Amazon. Look inside at the list of chapters and comment here on what chapter you are most looking forward to reading. (two entries)
2. (This one is mandatory) Comment on this blog what prize you would want to win (one entry)
3. Share this blog on Facebook (one entry for each day you share this giveaway) - be sure to tag me in the post or comment back here that you shared it again.
Each thing you do, gets you one extra chance to win (i.e. if you answer the question in a comment on this blog post, you get one entry. If you share this blog post on Facebook, you get another entry for each time you share about it). On Saturday evening, May 4, all the entries will be put in a bowl and Elianna will get to pick a winner for each of the five prizes. The first winner will get his/her choice, the second too and so on. If what you wanted is already won by someone else, you will get the next available prize. These are some awesome prizes, so I hope you win!
Just so you know and the lawyers can be happy... This giveaway is open to Residents of the U.S. only. Void where prohibited. Must be at least 18 years of age.
Now that we're past that part, even if you don't win one of the giveaways above, you can still score some great free gifts if you purchase a copy of the Christian Parenting Handbook between April 29 and May 5. Click here to purchase your own copy. (yes, it is an affiliate link, if I did it correctly... but please be sure to do that before May 5!)
If you purchase the book during launch week, you will get a package of free resources valued at more than $400.00. You can learn more on their website about the 8 items contained in the Bonus Parenting Package. In addition, you can get The Christian Parenting Handbook Companion Guide (This is a workbook with audio clips that will help you apply the material in The Christian Parenting Handbook.) for free if you purchase 5 copies or more of the book. Simply make your purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BAM (Books A Million), CBD or Parable.
To claim your premium, simply forward your purchase confirmation to Gift@biblicalparenting.org and they will email you your special product code for the $400.00 package. If you purchased 5 or more copies of the book, they'll send you the PDF version of the Companion Guide as well as the audio package.
I am really excited about this book, the launch, and the giveaways. This is going to be a fun week.
If you want to know more about the book and the launch week, below is a video to help :)
I have been devouring the book at every chance I have had (and even some I haven't had...). It has 50 chapters which are fortunately fairly short. So I have been able to tackle them in the bits of time that I have.
The purpose of the book is to help equip parents to develop a Biblical parenting philosophy, but they go way beyond theory. The book is full of ideas you can use right away. So you're able to read a chapter, get up and implement the ideas right away. One of the things I love about their approach is that it focuses on relationship and their main focus then is heart change rather than behavioral change. Behavior modification can work in that it can get your kids doing what you want them to do, but it doesn't address the heart issues behind the behaviors. So you end up with kids that don't internalize the lessons and values you are trying to teach. As the authors put it:
"We're not saying behavior modification is wrong. We're just suggesting it's just incomplete ... Parents who simply use behavior modification often end up with kids who look good on the outside while having significant problems on the inside ... Instead you want children to change their hearts. You want them to ask, 'What's the right thing to do here?' That shift in thinking is heart work."
Heart change is a lot harder, but it works because it addresses the underlying source of behavior. This book helps teach you how to do just that. For those of you who have read the other books that they have published, I will say that I have learned a LOT from this new book. It might be that I needed a refresher (always a good thing) but I think it is because there seems to be plenty of real life examples of how to implement the changes you are working towards.
This book covers the full spectrum of parenting and applies to all ages too - from dealing with bad attitudes to the value of grandparents and everything in between. They talk about how to parent when mom and dad are on different discipline pages. There are lots of ideas for dealing with kids who argue, identifying the real issue you are dealing with rather than the argument itself, how to diffuse the intensity in conflict, and how to teach kids to add to family life rather than just take from it all the time.
For me, one of the most helpful reminders came when the book spoke about how sometimes parents struggle with anger when their children misbehave. Yes, I may be right and my child may be wrong, but being right is not as important as being wise in how I respond to my child's misbehavior. Just because one of my wonderful children is doing something that is wrong, it doesn't justify me reacting in a way that vents anger at him/her. It can be easy to fall into a trap of getting angry at our kids and then justifying that anger and blaming their behavior. Ultimately, my child can then use my poor response to justify his/her poor behavior. Responding wisely though means recognizing my child's misbehavior and directly addressing the heart issue(s) that need to be dealt with.. Good reminder!
I love how the authors filled this book with practical, real-life solutions to common parenting problems. I love that it is more than just another book harping on the need to be consistent (the first chapter is actually called "Consistency is Overrated"). They talk about the fact that consequences aren't the only answer - which is a great chapter because as parents it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling the need to come up with bigger, badder consequences to deal with bad behavior. The authors go beyond just 'here's how to get your kids to behave' to addressing how to help your children learn to serve and honor and go above and beyond without you having to tell them (yes, that is possible)
I already highly recommend all of the resources from the National Center for Biblical Parenting, and The Christian Parenting Handbook has just become my newest favorite recommendation! Whether you are new to their resources or you have every book, DVD, conference CD, and download available, you will get a TON out of this book!
Now, here is the really fun part :) I get to GIVE AWAY some stuff. The National Center for Biblical Parenting is doing some giveaways (see below) and they also are giving bonus gifts worth $400 for everyone who purchases a copy of their book during launch week April 29 through May 5 (see below for more details).
The giveaways are listed below:
The Honor Multi-Media Package ($59.95 value)
Set of 5 Parenting Shifts eBooks ($49.95)
One free Biblical Parenting University Online Parenting Course ($99.95 value)
Disciplemaking at Home eBook ($16.99 value)
The Christian Parenting Companion Guide – Includes print copy of The Christian Parenting Handbook. ($49.95)
Since I have such fun giveaways, I get to come up with a fabulous way to give these things away. So, if you want to be entered in a chance to win one of the giveaways listed above here is what you get to do (you can do as many or as few as you like):
1. Click this link to the Christian Parenting Handbook on Amazon. Look inside at the list of chapters and comment here on what chapter you are most looking forward to reading. (two entries)
2. (This one is mandatory) Comment on this blog what prize you would want to win (one entry)
3. Share this blog on Facebook (one entry for each day you share this giveaway) - be sure to tag me in the post or comment back here that you shared it again.
Each thing you do, gets you one extra chance to win (i.e. if you answer the question in a comment on this blog post, you get one entry. If you share this blog post on Facebook, you get another entry for each time you share about it). On Saturday evening, May 4, all the entries will be put in a bowl and Elianna will get to pick a winner for each of the five prizes. The first winner will get his/her choice, the second too and so on. If what you wanted is already won by someone else, you will get the next available prize. These are some awesome prizes, so I hope you win!
Just so you know and the lawyers can be happy... This giveaway is open to Residents of the U.S. only. Void where prohibited. Must be at least 18 years of age.
Now that we're past that part, even if you don't win one of the giveaways above, you can still score some great free gifts if you purchase a copy of the Christian Parenting Handbook between April 29 and May 5. Click here to purchase your own copy. (yes, it is an affiliate link, if I did it correctly... but please be sure to do that before May 5!)
If you purchase the book during launch week, you will get a package of free resources valued at more than $400.00. You can learn more on their website about the 8 items contained in the Bonus Parenting Package. In addition, you can get The Christian Parenting Handbook Companion Guide (This is a workbook with audio clips that will help you apply the material in The Christian Parenting Handbook.) for free if you purchase 5 copies or more of the book. Simply make your purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BAM (Books A Million), CBD or Parable.
To claim your premium, simply forward your purchase confirmation to Gift@biblicalparenting.org and they will email you your special product code for the $400.00 package. If you purchased 5 or more copies of the book, they'll send you the PDF version of the Companion Guide as well as the audio package.
I am really excited about this book, the launch, and the giveaways. This is going to be a fun week.
If you want to know more about the book and the launch week, below is a video to help :)
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Coming Soon....The Christian Parenting Handbook
Starting next week, I will be doing a give away to help launch the newest book from the National Center for Biblical Parenting. I received a free copy of the book to read and review and I am loving all of the practical advice I am getting from it and I can't wait to post my full review soon.
The Christian Parenting Handbook is available for purchase now but don't run out and get it yet! You will want to wait for launch week. The National Center for Biblical Parenting is going to have lots of giveaways and over $400 worth of bonus freebies if you purchase the book between April 29 and May 5.
I will be posting my review of the book this weekend as well. We are wanting to help get this book on the New York Times best-seller list - wouldn't that be awesome? A biblical parenting book on the NY Times bestseller list? So hang on a few more days and watch for some really fun stuff soon!
The Christian Parenting Handbook is available for purchase now but don't run out and get it yet! You will want to wait for launch week. The National Center for Biblical Parenting is going to have lots of giveaways and over $400 worth of bonus freebies if you purchase the book between April 29 and May 5.
Friday, March 22, 2013
One Month Home
Or almost 7 weeks, but whose counting? In all honesty, I have been working on this post for two weeks straight now. Things are a bit busy...
How is it going? Hmm, that is a loaded question. We are adjusting for the most part. It has been a rather rocky start, but we are seeing glimmers of hope and progress, so we'll take it. Honestly, this adoption has probably been the hardest thing I have ever done.
When we were going through the process, we kept hearing that adoption is 'hard'. Okay. How hard can it be? I'll tell you: H.A.R.D. - and we haven't even had a particularly difficult child.
I started to get inklings that I was going to struggle while B.J. was still in China. I enjoyed my routines and my four kiddos. We have a general rhythm to life and I enjoy when I feel like I've 'hit my stride' so to speak. I like when I feel like I have a handle on things and can manage just fine. And I had that most of the time B.J. was in China. It felt great! But at the same time, I started to worry just a bit about how my mother heart would respond to a virtual stranger coming in and messing with my neat life. Of course, when things are going well, I tend to start to get a bit confident and self-reliant. Not my best place and it usually isn't long until I crash and am reminded that what I do is not from my own abilities and skills. I am nothing apart from Christ and his power in me.
Yes, I have loved Liliana since we first got her file and I have fought like crazy to bring her home. Yet once she came home, I struggled. A lot. I was resentful and annoyed that this little girl had come and 'messed up' my nice, pretty life. Life was crazy and hard and it seemed like everything fell apart once she came home. I yearned for my nice, simple life with my four kids. I wanted to go back and change something. Anything. I felt like I was rolling in a crashing wave and was trying to find my footing and I couldn't.
Yup, that was my honest experience. It seems awful to even admit it, but that is what happened. My sin came oozing out and the more squeezed I felt the more my sin showed. I knew what I needed to do. I knew what God wanted me to do but I was fighting it. I didn't want to obey. Kind of like a two year old.
It was during the second week, I was complaining to God and questioning for the upteenth time about what on earth he was thinking to give me a baby and a new adopted kiddo at the same time and He decided to answer. Clear as day. Unmistakable. He reminded me that I had asked him to use me. To work through me. To use me to make a difference for the kingdom. Ouch. All of my talk about wanting to be used by God and here I was fighting him when he took me up on my offer. The truth stung, but it was true. I had invited God to use me and he had chosen this way to do it. It was time to stop fighting God and wishing for a do-over and to allow Him to work through me to bless and love Liliana.
Once I stopped fighting God and protesting this plan of his, I started to notice something. My interactions with Liliana weren't all forced. I wasn't having to just go through the motions. I started to notice that I found certain things she did funny (like making silly faces in the mirror and changing them each time she slid in front of the mirror - my description doesn't do it justice). I noticed how much she loves when I kiss her boo-boos - real or imaginary. I watched how gentle she is with Myla. She loves to play hand games and sing songs. She loves to eat. She loves to be held and loved and she eats it up. She loves having cream rubbed on her arms and then rubbing some cream on my arm.
There are still days where I am irritated by things, but for the most part, we are well on our way to bonding. It is a process and it takes a lot of time, but we'll get there.
Here are a few things that are purely Liliana or areas we have seen lots of change in 6 short weeks:
When Liliana first came home, she could barely walk around our house. Now she wanders everywhere and rarely falls. Her legs don't even shake when she stands now.
Liliana can walk across the back yard and only fall a couple of times now. We are working on being willing to put hands down to grass to stand back up, but when she first came home, she couldn't stand for even one step.
Liliana has learned how to feed herself most foods - as long as they are cut to a reasonable size. She has also learned to keep her food on the table rather than throwing it on the floor.
Liliana has started to get picky with food. This is great :) She knows that food is plentiful and she won't go hungry.
Liliana has learned to keep her blankets and such in the crib during nap time rather than throw them in protest.
Liliana has learned to say "no no" and shake her finger and head when she doesn't like something instead of screaming about anything she didn't want
Liliana now signs when she is hungry and says "Eee" for eat.
Liliana is learning to cry when she is hurt (she didn't cry at all for genuine injuries when she first came home)
She has the cutest "cheese" face for pictures now
She has gained almost four pounds since coming home. She has also outgrown her 18 month tops....
She is starting to show her sense of humor
She is sleeping upstairs with the girls and now sleeps till the delightfully late hour of 6:30 in the morning. That was a long five weeks coming
She and Simeon are great buddies
She now can say (without prompting most of the time) up, down, please, eat, side for outside, yay, no no, pray, keem for cream, apple, car, yum, again, and more
She is starting to look to us for help
She is much more willing to accept hugs from and give hugs to her siblings
She is starting to hang with us a bit in large groups rather than running up to every stranger...it is a work in progress on this one...
Below are some pictures from most recent to just after she came home. I can see such a difference and it is really rewarding and encouraging :)
How is it going? Hmm, that is a loaded question. We are adjusting for the most part. It has been a rather rocky start, but we are seeing glimmers of hope and progress, so we'll take it. Honestly, this adoption has probably been the hardest thing I have ever done.
When we were going through the process, we kept hearing that adoption is 'hard'. Okay. How hard can it be? I'll tell you: H.A.R.D. - and we haven't even had a particularly difficult child.
I started to get inklings that I was going to struggle while B.J. was still in China. I enjoyed my routines and my four kiddos. We have a general rhythm to life and I enjoy when I feel like I've 'hit my stride' so to speak. I like when I feel like I have a handle on things and can manage just fine. And I had that most of the time B.J. was in China. It felt great! But at the same time, I started to worry just a bit about how my mother heart would respond to a virtual stranger coming in and messing with my neat life. Of course, when things are going well, I tend to start to get a bit confident and self-reliant. Not my best place and it usually isn't long until I crash and am reminded that what I do is not from my own abilities and skills. I am nothing apart from Christ and his power in me.
Yes, I have loved Liliana since we first got her file and I have fought like crazy to bring her home. Yet once she came home, I struggled. A lot. I was resentful and annoyed that this little girl had come and 'messed up' my nice, pretty life. Life was crazy and hard and it seemed like everything fell apart once she came home. I yearned for my nice, simple life with my four kids. I wanted to go back and change something. Anything. I felt like I was rolling in a crashing wave and was trying to find my footing and I couldn't.
Yup, that was my honest experience. It seems awful to even admit it, but that is what happened. My sin came oozing out and the more squeezed I felt the more my sin showed. I knew what I needed to do. I knew what God wanted me to do but I was fighting it. I didn't want to obey. Kind of like a two year old.
It was during the second week, I was complaining to God and questioning for the upteenth time about what on earth he was thinking to give me a baby and a new adopted kiddo at the same time and He decided to answer. Clear as day. Unmistakable. He reminded me that I had asked him to use me. To work through me. To use me to make a difference for the kingdom. Ouch. All of my talk about wanting to be used by God and here I was fighting him when he took me up on my offer. The truth stung, but it was true. I had invited God to use me and he had chosen this way to do it. It was time to stop fighting God and wishing for a do-over and to allow Him to work through me to bless and love Liliana.
Once I stopped fighting God and protesting this plan of his, I started to notice something. My interactions with Liliana weren't all forced. I wasn't having to just go through the motions. I started to notice that I found certain things she did funny (like making silly faces in the mirror and changing them each time she slid in front of the mirror - my description doesn't do it justice). I noticed how much she loves when I kiss her boo-boos - real or imaginary. I watched how gentle she is with Myla. She loves to play hand games and sing songs. She loves to eat. She loves to be held and loved and she eats it up. She loves having cream rubbed on her arms and then rubbing some cream on my arm.
There are still days where I am irritated by things, but for the most part, we are well on our way to bonding. It is a process and it takes a lot of time, but we'll get there.
Here are a few things that are purely Liliana or areas we have seen lots of change in 6 short weeks:
When Liliana first came home, she could barely walk around our house. Now she wanders everywhere and rarely falls. Her legs don't even shake when she stands now.
Liliana can walk across the back yard and only fall a couple of times now. We are working on being willing to put hands down to grass to stand back up, but when she first came home, she couldn't stand for even one step.
Liliana has learned how to feed herself most foods - as long as they are cut to a reasonable size. She has also learned to keep her food on the table rather than throwing it on the floor.
Liliana has started to get picky with food. This is great :) She knows that food is plentiful and she won't go hungry.
Liliana has learned to keep her blankets and such in the crib during nap time rather than throw them in protest.
Liliana has learned to say "no no" and shake her finger and head when she doesn't like something instead of screaming about anything she didn't want
Liliana now signs when she is hungry and says "Eee" for eat.
Liliana is learning to cry when she is hurt (she didn't cry at all for genuine injuries when she first came home)
She has the cutest "cheese" face for pictures now
She has gained almost four pounds since coming home. She has also outgrown her 18 month tops....
She is starting to show her sense of humor
She is sleeping upstairs with the girls and now sleeps till the delightfully late hour of 6:30 in the morning. That was a long five weeks coming
She and Simeon are great buddies
She now can say (without prompting most of the time) up, down, please, eat, side for outside, yay, no no, pray, keem for cream, apple, car, yum, again, and more
She is starting to look to us for help
She is much more willing to accept hugs from and give hugs to her siblings
She is starting to hang with us a bit in large groups rather than running up to every stranger...it is a work in progress on this one...
Below are some pictures from most recent to just after she came home. I can see such a difference and it is really rewarding and encouraging :)
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