Hello!
We’re alive! Things are going very well so far. The initial testing
Milanija started while we were still in-country has subsided for the most part,
for now. She’s learning her boundaries pretty quickly; the progress is
obvious. Praise God! She is terrified of the dogs and cat though. At first it
was clear she was fearful, but with the progress we’ve made so far and the
overreacting behavior we see now, I’m wondering if she’s milking it a bit. (I’m
nearly sure that she is.) There is also the beginning of a little competition between JP and Milanija over my lap. It's mild now but with JP's uninhibited show of whatever it is he's feeling, it could get ugly if we're not careful and are intentional with shared attention. We understand that the “going very well” could
change anytime so we’re just being thankful for each day.
She’s very affectionate, always kissing and hugging all of us. I'm learning what her love languages are quickly and it's not gifts. (Which is a bummer because gift giving my favorite way to show love... Verbal affirmation and physical touch is her language.
Bedtimes are good; JP goes down at 7:30 and Milanija shortly thereafter. They both sleep all
night but JP wakes up very early and starts making all kinds of noise and this
morning I heard Milanija saying. “SHHHHH!”. I laughed and thought, “Welcome to
our world!” JP and Milanija get along very well most of the time. JP,
unfortunately, has a hair fetish and Miss Milanija May has long beautiful hair. He pulls her hair any chance he gets. In
his defense though, she tackles him frequently and pretty much tempts him beyond
his limited self-control. The term, “Don’t start what you can’t
finish.” gets said often. She’ll get it eventually. She’s also acting a little
bossy with JP, we correct her as needed and say, “Tik Mamyta and Tevalis”...
only mommy and daddy. Also, with each person she meets (like all of her brothers) boundaries have to be set right away as each allowance is setting a precedence that she promptly capitalizes on. Example: Handing her your phone to show her a picture or video. She then thinks she can help herself to your phone. She's learning very quickly. Again, she’ll get it eventually. This is a marathon, not a
sprint.
The language barrier... It’s going ok. I’m pretty sure we’re learning
more Lithuanian than she is learning English. But, she is learning,
more and more everyday. We say, “En Angishtay, Prashom” (spelled phonetically)
its “In English, please”. We have great sign language flashcards that have
helped for not only teaching her signs but also for learning the word in
Lithuanian so that we can recognize words she’s using. That was an unexpected
blessing! Now, I don’t know how much she got away with at the Babies Home but
she’s saying “Ne”, (no) to me often. I’m currently putting a stop to that. She
knows “stop” in English and the sign for it, so I’ve been saying “, “Stop ‘Ne’,
prashom.” There’s been good progress there and I’m so glad. Some of you know
me as a parent and know that I just don’t tolerate that from any of my kids and I’m
not starting now.
Jetlag took forever to go away but thankfully I’m feeling human again.
We’re getting back to some version of our routine so that I can incorporate JP’s
school starting April 4th. We have also started the doctor appt. process. I
made an appt. for our Pediatrician on the 7th for her to meet him, that’s it... just an introduction. April 18th was the soonest we could get her into our great eye
doctor, Dr. Afflect. (AMAZING with special needs children!) Milanija started
refusing, vehemently, to put her glasses on. Since unpacking everything and not
finding them, I’m now wondering if she slipped them in the trash. I couldn't find
them anywhere. But, I dug a little deeper in our backpack and found them. They were in bad shape so I tried to tighten the screws and one side broke off completely. UGH.
Anyway, we’ll get it resolved soon and
with dang cute frames too!
Thank you all for being faithful friends and pray-ers. We appreciate
you so much!
Love Meg
