One of our travel mates found a person that lives in China that helps adoptive parents locate their child's foster mom. I thought it would be a good idea to get the information for Halle for when she is older.
The person that was written on the information we received from the SWI was incorrect. Bruce, through the help of his friend at the SWI, was able to find the correct person. I was a little leary but they did provide a picture of the foster mom holding Halle when she was about 9 months old.
The biggest question that we had was why Halle went back to the orphanage so much earlier than the other babies (April). The news that we got from the FM was that she didn't go back that early, she didn't go back until November. While I would like to believe that is true my instincts tell me it isn't. Halle is way too possessive of toys (she likes to sit on them when other kids are around). She also showed almost no emotion after being hurt. She could have a hard fall and jump right up like nothing happened. Now she has to have it kissed, medicine put on (usually pretend) and then she kisses it herself:)
We also received several pictures of the foster mom, her house and some of the city she lived in. Most of the answers we received were somewhat generic but I'm hopeful that all of this will be helpful to Halle when she gets older. One thing that was included was Halle's nickname. It is Zhi-Zhi. I'm probably pronouncing it wrong but when I say it to Halle she totally responds to it. She just started calling herself "Halla". But when I say Zhi-Zhi she immediately turns around and points to herself like she does when we say Halle. I'm reading an adoption book now that says it is very important to not wait until the children are older but to talk to them about their lives prior to the adoption as much as possible. I usually do it when I am rocking her with her bottle. She hasn't shown much interest in anything else I say but she definitely recognizes her name. The book also recommends having a group of 3 pictures (referral picture, first meeting and later at home) to use to talk to the kids about. I'm still working on that part - of course :)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
6 months today!
I'm not sure what happened to month 5 or how I've let 2 months slip by since last posting!
But, today is our 6 month anniversary of receiving Halle. I know I must sound like a broken record but I must say she is an amazing little girl. Other than a few bad dreams and of course a few 2 year old temper tantrums she has transitioned, dare I say, perfectly. Her language skills continue to astound me. She is still having trouble pronouncing the whole word she knows which words to use and when. And she continues to pick up new words every day. It has been so fun to watch her little personality come to life.
One of our travel mates from our China trip recently found a person who was able to look up their child's foster mother. He was able to get a whole bunch of questions answered from the foster mom - first words, first teeth, favorite foods, other family members, as well as pictures of the family, their house and their village. I just contacted that person myself and he said that he has located Halle's foster mom. I'm very excited to be able to help find a few of the missing puzzle pieces that I'm sure will be quite important to Halle as she gets older.
We had our 6 month check up with our social worker this week. It went well. She thought that Halle was doing very well. Of course, I already knew that but it was nice to get it confirmed :) We are required by China to do a 6 month check up and a one year check up. The social worker asked a bunch of questions about Halle's transition and health. We also had to supply her with 4 pictures of Halle and one of the whole family.
Halle continues having a very strong bond with Sami. They still take a "tubtub" together almost every night. Their new activity is bouncing on the big trampoline in the backyard. You can hear them giggling a few houses away. Jacob is also developing a much stronger bond with Halle. It took awhile but it is definitely there. She gets upset when Jacob isn't around in the evening to give her a kiss goodnight. She has a ritual of kissing everyone goodnight while I make her bottle. She definitely notices if someone isn't there.
We just got back from Sami's friend's house. We were taking pictures of them for prom. She looked so grown up! Sami is continuing with her college search. She has 2 coaches that seem very interested in her. Unfortunately they are both smaller D3 schools so they are quite expensive. She is looking at Ohio Northern and Capital. Her first choice was Ohio Northern until we visited Capital. She thinks that her favorite will continue to be the one that she has visited last so Paul is looking for a cheap school to send her to for her last visit! While I would like her to go a little farther than Capital it sure would be nice to have her so close so I can watch her soccer games. She went to a tournament last weekend and it was very hard sending her off with a friend. As of now it looks like Sami will pursue nursing in college. She went on a field trip this week to a hospital and really enjoyed it.
Jacob is anxious to finish off this school year! Classes seem to be going a little better but this hasn't been his best year. Jacob is excelling in his sporting activities. He is currently playing 3 sports, more times that not 2 on the same day. He is playing volleyball for his school, club soccer and also subbing for a basketball team. Needless to say he doesn't have much downtime.
Paul's school kids took the OAT last week so hopefully the rest of the school year will be a little easier. They put so much pressure on the teachers to teach to that stupid test. He is held accountable for kids who don't care about it as well as their parents. There was a great analogy in the paper a year or so ago that I wish I would have kept. It likened it to a dentist being responsible for his patients cavities. He kept saying that he can't control the amount of sugar the kids eat or how often they brush their teeth. Same principles in my opinion.
My work is starting to pick up. It has been pretty slim pickings for many months. It's been nice having so much spare time with Halle but with our new "used" van payment and college looming in the not too distant future it has definitely been on my mind. Luckily one of the fringe benefits of getting Halle is that we're getting a HUGE income tax refund. We are using a majority of it to fund my IRA but hopefully we can finally get our kitchen finished with the rest of it. We haven't had any tile on our walls since before our China trip and the floor is starting to peel up. It is definitely time for a remodel.
I'm hoping to publish new pictures soon. We just bought a new camera that Sami took to prom tonight. I'll wait for those pictures.
But, today is our 6 month anniversary of receiving Halle. I know I must sound like a broken record but I must say she is an amazing little girl. Other than a few bad dreams and of course a few 2 year old temper tantrums she has transitioned, dare I say, perfectly. Her language skills continue to astound me. She is still having trouble pronouncing the whole word she knows which words to use and when. And she continues to pick up new words every day. It has been so fun to watch her little personality come to life.
One of our travel mates from our China trip recently found a person who was able to look up their child's foster mother. He was able to get a whole bunch of questions answered from the foster mom - first words, first teeth, favorite foods, other family members, as well as pictures of the family, their house and their village. I just contacted that person myself and he said that he has located Halle's foster mom. I'm very excited to be able to help find a few of the missing puzzle pieces that I'm sure will be quite important to Halle as she gets older.
We had our 6 month check up with our social worker this week. It went well. She thought that Halle was doing very well. Of course, I already knew that but it was nice to get it confirmed :) We are required by China to do a 6 month check up and a one year check up. The social worker asked a bunch of questions about Halle's transition and health. We also had to supply her with 4 pictures of Halle and one of the whole family.
Halle continues having a very strong bond with Sami. They still take a "tubtub" together almost every night. Their new activity is bouncing on the big trampoline in the backyard. You can hear them giggling a few houses away. Jacob is also developing a much stronger bond with Halle. It took awhile but it is definitely there. She gets upset when Jacob isn't around in the evening to give her a kiss goodnight. She has a ritual of kissing everyone goodnight while I make her bottle. She definitely notices if someone isn't there.
We just got back from Sami's friend's house. We were taking pictures of them for prom. She looked so grown up! Sami is continuing with her college search. She has 2 coaches that seem very interested in her. Unfortunately they are both smaller D3 schools so they are quite expensive. She is looking at Ohio Northern and Capital. Her first choice was Ohio Northern until we visited Capital. She thinks that her favorite will continue to be the one that she has visited last so Paul is looking for a cheap school to send her to for her last visit! While I would like her to go a little farther than Capital it sure would be nice to have her so close so I can watch her soccer games. She went to a tournament last weekend and it was very hard sending her off with a friend. As of now it looks like Sami will pursue nursing in college. She went on a field trip this week to a hospital and really enjoyed it.
Jacob is anxious to finish off this school year! Classes seem to be going a little better but this hasn't been his best year. Jacob is excelling in his sporting activities. He is currently playing 3 sports, more times that not 2 on the same day. He is playing volleyball for his school, club soccer and also subbing for a basketball team. Needless to say he doesn't have much downtime.
Paul's school kids took the OAT last week so hopefully the rest of the school year will be a little easier. They put so much pressure on the teachers to teach to that stupid test. He is held accountable for kids who don't care about it as well as their parents. There was a great analogy in the paper a year or so ago that I wish I would have kept. It likened it to a dentist being responsible for his patients cavities. He kept saying that he can't control the amount of sugar the kids eat or how often they brush their teeth. Same principles in my opinion.
My work is starting to pick up. It has been pretty slim pickings for many months. It's been nice having so much spare time with Halle but with our new "used" van payment and college looming in the not too distant future it has definitely been on my mind. Luckily one of the fringe benefits of getting Halle is that we're getting a HUGE income tax refund. We are using a majority of it to fund my IRA but hopefully we can finally get our kitchen finished with the rest of it. We haven't had any tile on our walls since before our China trip and the floor is starting to peel up. It is definitely time for a remodel.
I'm hoping to publish new pictures soon. We just bought a new camera that Sami took to prom tonight. I'll wait for those pictures.
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