Bella, Post Adoption: Month 2

We have had our beautiful Bella for two whole months now! And what a two months it has been! 

To say we have been busy over the last 30 days would be a drastic understatement. During that time, we have completed early intervention, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy evaluations. And we are now seeing each of those specialists in our home once a week, for one hour each. We have seen an audiologist (fist bump to our beloved Dr. Block) and had an audiological assessment. We have seen an orthotist and been fitted for orthotics. We have undergone ultrasound of the spine and sedated MRI of the brain and spine. We have our next, big appointment this week given the results of those scans. We have had five vials of blood extracted and sent off for testing and gotten those results back as well. And that's just the medical side of things!

 

We have also played and played and played some more. We have loved on our littlest lady from head to toe. We have watched sibling relationships continue to flourish. We have tried to imagine what we ever did without our Bella. 

So, yeah. It's been a lot - not to mention all the school and extracurricular activities the Big 3 are involved in. And some traveling my hub did over the last month. But. We are finding our groove and settling in well as a family of six. We are very busy but very happy. And loving it!!!

Here is where things stand, exactly two months after meeting our sweet Bella: 

Language. Receptively, we actually think Bella is doing pretty well. Despite being in an orphanage for two years, and not hearing a lick of English until we met her two months ago, she is understanding more and more by the day! We are working on teaching her the names of different objects (e.g., ball; milk; hairbow :) etc.) and she is showing recognition of them. I have also been focusing on teaching her color words as well as body parts. These are far from mastered, but we're making some progress; so, that's good!

Expressively, our girl has quite a ways to go. BUT. We started working with our awesome speech therapist and have set a specific hierarchy of goals to work on (e.g., using a straw cup instead of a sippy cup; using her tongue appropriately when sipping; mimicking more complex sounds and intonations; etc.). Bella is doing a great job of starting to make some different sounds. She has also learned to shake her head "No" when she doesn't want something, instead of just grimacing. In fact, she has picked up several new signs over the last month and is doing them well! AND....she said her first word the other day (aside from "Mama" and "Dada"). We were sitting at our kitchen table with our occupational therapist, and Harrison was talking about popping bubbles the day before. Bella suddenly said, "Bubble" clear as day! The coolest part? That was also Raleigh's first word. <3 We are so proud of how hard she's working to find, and use, her sweet voice.

Motor Functioning. Bella is working with an amazing occupational therapist, who also just so happens to be a good friend of ours (she adopted her youngest (beautiful!) daughter from China, too!). She is helping Bella improve and strength her fine motor skills, master the use of utensils, complete daily living tasks at an age-appropriate level, play more functionally, etc. She is also the first person who Bella played with independently, aside from her Dad, siblings, and myself, which is HUGE - feeling she can start to trust others.

As far as gross motor skills go, we have quite a journey ahead of us. Our recent scans revealed some answers but we aren't quite ready to share them publicly yet until we see our next specialist. That being said, we appreciate any and all prayers you can send Bella's way. I'll write more about those scans soon but not just yet. <3 ANYwho, we see our awesome physical therapist once a week and we have been focusing on strengthening Bella's core and enhancing trunk control. We are also working on having her crawl up and down stairs. Proud Momma moment - Two weeks ago, she couldn't crawl up a single stair. This week, ten!!! She has also been fitted for orthotics, as her feet are so incredibly over-pronated that it is affecting bone-to-muscle growth. So, she'll be rocking those for the next few years at least, and we'll be picking them up in a couple weeks (they are being custom made as we speak). This little lady wants to walk so badly, and we are doing all we can to help her do just that!

Cognitive Ability. Bella picks up on things SO quickly! She really is a smart cookie; she has just had the deck stacked against her for a couple years. But now, I swear she learns something new everyday! It is amazing to see her mind soaking everything in and then learning how to process and demonstrate new skills. 

Sleeping. Nothing new to report here. She is a rockstar sleeper and almost always wakes up so excited. This girl is just happy to be alive, I swear. :) She continues to take a solid nap mid-day and is getting around 10-11 hours of sleep each night. 

Eating. Bella continues to eat most things we give her. She still doesn't love fruit and prefers starches over sweets, but otherwise, she is eating and drinking well. In fact, she has now gained 2.5 pounds since the beginning of August. Atta girl!

Attaching. Bella knows we are her family. She knows she is loved and safe with us. So now, we are sloooooooowly starting to work on helping her feel comfortable around other people, specifically when I am not in the room. And we are seeing progress! I am now able to step out of the room while she is working with her therapists, and she doesn't become scared or distraught. Yay Bella! ALSO, now, even when I am in the room, she is willing to crawl up to others and play with them (she has always done this with her siblings but now she has been doing this with her therapists, despite just recently meeting them). Double yay, Bella! We will continue to focus on increasing the amount of time she is able to separate from us but also still feel safe and secure. 

Out and About/Playing. We continue to venture out and about and all over town, as you do when you have three older, active kiddos. :) And when we're home, we try to incorporate different therapeutic activities into her play. Not always - we have to give the kid a break every now and then ;), but we certainly try to help her whenever we can. Also, one of the things her orphanage told us about her is that she loves to be outside, and indeed she does! She LOVES to swing on our swingset, "jump" on our mini trampoline, color with sidewalk chalk, and go on wagon walks around the 'hood. 

 

 

Etc. If you ever want to think of a word to describe my Bella, think of the word joyful. And laid-back. And awesome. And determined. This girl is all of those and more. She is also just the sweetest little sweet pea. She is so, SO affectionate. This month, she learned how to give kisses on the cheek, and I swear she kisses my cheeks at least 10 times a day, BUT the cutest thing is that she doesn't know how to pucker and kiss. She basically just puts her sweet lips on my cheek and then sucks in slightly, for a solid 3 seconds or more. Melt. My. Heart. She also has the absolute best giggle in the world. I could listen to her laugh all.day.long. It is just the most amazing sound ever.

Each day with Bella brings even more love, more joy, more light. With each week, she is growing stronger and gaining new skills. We are so, so proud of our little warrior. This girl is going to conquer the world! Now, onto Month 3 we go...