Maggie is TWO today! Our sweet girl has been with us for 8 months and we are so excited to celebrate her birthday with her.
While Maggie's story is her own, and we will let her share the details herself, we are very lucky to know that April 26th is her actual birthday. This is not common in international adoptions and we are so glad that we get to celebrate her on the exact day, and not estimated.
While we will celebrate together as a family, a day filled with presents, balloons, cake and decorations, it is a day that will hold much more than that for me. It is my prayer that her birth family knows that she is loved, that they know that she is safe and healthy. I think about her momma so much. I think about her birth family and if they have some of her traits, some of her sass and humor. I do not know if we will ever meet here on earth, but I am so thankful for them. I know that they made the hardest decision in the world for their child and that they did it out of love. Maggie will always know that her birth family loved her so much that they made the hardest decision. So, today, on the day of my girl's birth, I pray for her momma, her momma heart and I pray that the Lord will whisper words of peace and love to her, that she may know her girl is loved and happy and healthy.
Attachment:
We keep making great progress with attachment and I feel confident that Maggie knows we are her family and she is our daughter. She will let people hold her, but definitely prefers her family. If we are in her sight and we tell her it is ok, she will let people hold her and play with her. So, we are pleased with her sense of security with us. She has even chosen me over Ryan a few times, which had not happened since we have been home. Ryan was not such a fan of that, but this momma sure was!
Food and Growth:
We have her 2 year wellness appointment coming up next week, so it will be interesting to see how she has grown. We are going to look into her eyes, teeth and hopefully no blood work!
Food and using utensils is still a slow upwards battle and something we will probably work on for some time.
Physical development:
She is moving around well and tries to run. Wobbly toddler runs are just the best. She has started to climb up on some furniture, another development milestone. She has also taken some tumbles with this new found freedom, but nothing to dramatic. It hasn't seemed to stop her at all.
She is doing well with her fine motor skills when it comes to writing and drawing. We have found quite a few places where she has "practiced" on our walls...so pens and markers are more carefully monitored these days! She has also gotten a hold of the boys' homework a few times and they quickly learned to keep things out of her reach.
Verbal Development:
Maggie has added a few more words, but is still very far behind for her age. She is using around 5-10 words and she should be at 50. Her receptive language (understanding English) is amazing. She understands everything we say, will get things that we ask and will obey simple commands. It is amazing to think that she has only heard English for 8 months and she comprehends all of it. Her speech will come, but we are applying to start speech therapy so that we can help give her extra tools for her to use to communicate with us. Her latest word is "Guys!" which she will yell to groups of kids to get their attention...whether they are waiting for the bus or in the middle of a soccer practice.
Goals:
We are starting to wean her off her bottle. It was used more for fluid intake than calories and nutrients, so we are hoping to start using cups more for her fluids and hopefully have her eat more solid foods.
Now that it is finally starting to warm up here, we are trying to get Maggie outside more and help build more of her muscle tone. While she is walking well, she still seems weaker than she should be and the uneven outdoor grounds will help build up that muscle tone that she is lacking in.
Words! Lots more words! We are hoping to add more vocabulary to her arsenal in the coming months.
Happiest Birthday, dear daughter. We are so happy that you are ours and that we get to celebrate you every day for the rest of your life. We pray that you know that you are deeply loved and we can not wait to watch you grow. You will do great things, my dear. Great and mighty things.
Happy 2nd Birthday, Margaret Li Ya!
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