Chris loves new year's resolutions (he has 24 of them for 2016); Monica hates them (why bother? will anything actually change). But both of us resolved to return to our blog, which we enjoyed in December 2014/January 2015. We hope to blog once or twice a week: on adoption, travel, books/culture, or theology. So, here we go for 2016. We begin with an update on Lydia, whom we adopted on December 23, 2014, from Guizhou, China.
Lydia has lived up the the nickname of "Spicy Peanut." A few months ago one of her brothers, who shall remain nameless, threatened to take back a stuffed animal that he had given (loaned?) to her. Her little legs raced into the room and she promptly punched him in the crotch. Keeled over in pain and anger, everything in him wanted to retaliate. But he dared not punch his cute, three-year-old sister. He resisted, that time.
To say Lydia has fully acclimated to our family is a generous understatement. It seems like she owns our family, at least in her own mind. She certainly owns our hearts. Each day is quite the adventure with our "Spicy Peanut."
Throughout each day, we are unsure which version of Lydia we will get: the happy, sweet version or the grumpy, "don't you dare touch me" version. Both versions show that our daughter feels safe and secure in our family. We try to rejoice (and often laugh) during her tantrums, knowing that she is a three-year-old with a strong personality. Her speech has improved and her frustration at not being understood has diminished. We still chuckle that her c and k sounds are pronounced as a t. She loves her stuffed "titty tat".
Lydia loves to play outside, especially riding her micro scooter. Her balance astounds us as she leans into her turns and screeches to a halt before reaching the end of our driveway. I foresee a birthday in the not-so distant future when she requests a skateboard or stunt bike.
She also loves her ABCD's (I mean, we can't leave D out, can we?). She always has the need to practice singing the ABC song while at the grocery store. "I do it myself!" she yells after I've joined her once. She does ABCD twice, then skips to QRSTUV, and finishes with a double grand finale of WXYZ. Such fun to watch her learn.
Some family adoption news is coming. . . so stay posted to our blog.
Lydia has lived up the the nickname of "Spicy Peanut." A few months ago one of her brothers, who shall remain nameless, threatened to take back a stuffed animal that he had given (loaned?) to her. Her little legs raced into the room and she promptly punched him in the crotch. Keeled over in pain and anger, everything in him wanted to retaliate. But he dared not punch his cute, three-year-old sister. He resisted, that time.
To say Lydia has fully acclimated to our family is a generous understatement. It seems like she owns our family, at least in her own mind. She certainly owns our hearts. Each day is quite the adventure with our "Spicy Peanut."
Throughout each day, we are unsure which version of Lydia we will get: the happy, sweet version or the grumpy, "don't you dare touch me" version. Both versions show that our daughter feels safe and secure in our family. We try to rejoice (and often laugh) during her tantrums, knowing that she is a three-year-old with a strong personality. Her speech has improved and her frustration at not being understood has diminished. We still chuckle that her c and k sounds are pronounced as a t. She loves her stuffed "titty tat".
Lydia loves to play outside, especially riding her micro scooter. Her balance astounds us as she leans into her turns and screeches to a halt before reaching the end of our driveway. I foresee a birthday in the not-so distant future when she requests a skateboard or stunt bike.
She also loves her ABCD's (I mean, we can't leave D out, can we?). She always has the need to practice singing the ABC song while at the grocery store. "I do it myself!" she yells after I've joined her once. She does ABCD twice, then skips to QRSTUV, and finishes with a double grand finale of WXYZ. Such fun to watch her learn.
Some family adoption news is coming. . . so stay posted to our blog.
RSS Feed