Changes

This is the picture I saw as I opened an envelope from the government....it's a picture of Lainey that was taken while we were in China, on the day that we had our medical appointment.  I seriously hardly recognize her!  I guess that much like the boys growing so much, I don't notice it as much when I see them every day, I haven't realized how much she has changed in the 3 months (almost) since we came home.  This is a picture I took last week....

Wow...shocks me every time!  It's so hard to even believe that is the same child.  I have posted before about how much progress she has made, but I still can't hardly believe it.  She's such a brave little girl!!  We took her to Sports Connection, and she wasn't too thrilled with the bounce houses, but after her awesome big brothers got her bouncing, she didn't want to leave!

She was so happy to be on that slide with her brothers!  They had so much fun, and it was so great to watch the boys really step up and be such great brothers to her, and to help her get over the fear of things.  I have told people that I know she is happy to have parents, but I think she is even more happy to have her brothers!  She loves them so much.  When she wakes up from her nap before they get home, she will watch at the window for them, and gets so giddy when she sees the bus.  It's really great.  She has come so far, and in the past few weeks has really gone from this kid with "orphanage behavior" of just always being compliant to pushing back a bit.  While it's great to have a kid who does whatever you ask, it's much better to have a kid who is starting to trust that no matter what we will still love her and be here for her, so she feels like she can be herself.  She's a pretty feisty girl, and I love that about her.  I think it probably helped her in those two years in an orphanage to get what she wants!  Just another picture to share....she's come so far, but still loves her noodles!!

10 weeks

Wow, 10 weeks home...in some ways is so hard to believe that it has been 10 weeks since we got off that plane and finally made it home.  In other ways, it seems like it's been a lifetime, because at this point I couldn't imagine Lainey not being here.  Funny how that works.  To say that she is doing well is really an understatement.  She's doing incredible.  She has learned so many new things, and it amazes me everyday to see how resilient a little person can be. 

That first night we got home, she cried and screamed like I've never heard when she saw the dogs....now they are really her best friends.  She hugs and kisses them at least 20 times a day, and every time I go up to get her out of bed, they are waiting at the door to see her!

She was scared at first when we would throw her around, and now she trusts us and absolutely loves to be thrown around and flipped upside down.  She knows that we will catch her, and that we won't let her fall.

She has been pretty smitten with the boys (and them with her) since we got home, but now she cannot go to bed without hugs and kisses every night, and makes sure that she gets at least one from each of them.

She was a little skittish around Jeremy when we first got home, and really wouldn't let him hold her, especially when I was around.  This morning I watched as she snuggled up next to him under the blanket and laid with him.

She really didn't even know what to do with all of the toys we had, and I remember her really just walking around and looking at things and just not seeming to know what to do with them.  Now, I watch her play in her kitchen, dance with her stuffed animals, and have sword fights with her brothers.

She was very compliant with everything when we first got home, aside from the screaming about the dogs, she never really cried or really let out any emotion.  Her personality is really coming out, and we get some tears when she's sad or mad about something, and we get crossed arms and a "hmpf" when you tell her no.  As much as I love a compliant kid, it's great that she is starting to trust us and trust that we love her enough that she can start to be herself.  Every day we get a little more of her personality.

She's really learned so much that it's hard to even keep up with.  Silly things like being able to take off her own pants and socks, and put on her own shoes and socks. Learning to say please when she wants something instead of pointing and whining.  Going up and down the stairs.  Playing paddycake, kissing her baby dolls, and making dinner for the dog in her kitchen.  All things that are new....and amazing.

With the cousins at Grandma's house

She has been in that kitchen so much since Christmas!!