Speech Update.

It seems Maggie's speech has just exploded recently.  She is repeating so many words now - some words only Chuck and I can recognize - and many words that are very clear.  

Here's a list of some words that I can think of that she is really saying good:

purple
blue 
yellow
ball
no !!!
bye bye
Hi !!!! ( she loves to wave and say hi to anyone )
Hello ! ( Maggie  loves to talk on the "phone" and say hello)
water
cold
hot
arm
elbow
uh oh !
dog - woof
cat - meow
monkey -oooo
oh !
ma ma
pa pa
apple
butterfly 
bird
hole
hat
out
I love you !
Will
Walker
Where's  ?
Home

Bye Bye.

Maggie gets a birth certificate.

Do you hear it ? A big sigh of relief.  I finished my last adoption paperwork and I now hold in my hands an Alabama Certificate of Foreign Birth ( aka a birth certificate ).  

The mother's name is Kathy and the father's name is Chuck.  So awesome ! Now, all you adoptive parents are nodding your head ands saying "yes" !

This is what Maggie thought of it.  

She was not impressed, but I was.

 This picture has nothing to do with her beautiful birth certificate.  

She was just telling me she was cold. Cool !

More Story Book Farm

Cowboy Jack fitting Maggie with her riding helmet.

I think Maggie was saying "hi" (with her cute southern accent) 

to all her friends at the farm.

Maggie finally got to trot on her horse "Tom Sawyer" today and loved it !

One tired little girl...

Passed out !!!

Improvising.

We take Maggie's hearing aid off for her bath ( it can not get wet) and then usually leave it off  while she plays a little before bedtime.  This gives her head a rest from the elastic band she has to wear everyday and from the constant amplified noise she hears through her hearing aid.  But, this means that she can not hear one of her favorite things - music.  The girl loves music !! She even has started asking for her hearing aid so she can listen to music while she is in her crib ( she does not wear her hearing aid for naps or bedtime).

 

One day, she stumbled upon a way to listen to her music without wearing her hearing aid - the baby monitor.  The receiver is in her room and was picking up her cd player playing her favorite signing times cd.  She could hear it faintly through the baby monitor, but when she held it up to her ear she could really hear it clearly.

She played and played while she listened to her music.  Maggie was so happy to have found out this new way to hear.  I don't think she will let anything stop her from experiencing life to the fullest !  

Maggie continues to amaze us.  Sometimes we just sit and watch her and are in awe that this is the same silent baby we met in China.  Before and After pictures constantly run through my head as I hear her tell me she loves me and that she is thirsty.  This little one that is so smart and determined. A miracle right before us. 

Art.

Maggie got to do some crafty art work at speech yesterday and she loved it ! 

 I think she loved using the glue stick the most.

 ( and yes, she is posing for this picture and showing a hint of a smile- love, love, love it )

She is working on the sound "p" this week, hence the "pop corn tree". (love the fish lips !)

 Maggie is doing great with her "p" words. Her favorites to say are : papa, open, up and pop. 

(More posing and smiling for the camera)

Posing.

I was just clicking away and taking pictures of Maggie, when she stopped tilted her head and posed.  She waited until I snapped the picture and then she went running away, wrinkled her nose and smelled the flowers. 

 I don't remember reading that posing for pictures was on the two year developmental milestone checklist.  But, we certainly think posing is a big milestone for Maggie.

Her Best Friend.

 Maggie was given many gifts before we even left for China to bring her home.  Little did we know how special this one gift would be.  

Our good friends from The  Employee Pharmacy gave Maggie a stuffed Minnie Mouse and it has become her very best friend.

 She hugs and kisses her all the time.  She makes her crack up laughing and Maggie drags her around everywhere so Minnie won't be left out. 

When I lay Maggie down for her nap, she will play with Minnie for about an hour before she gives in to sleep.  We usually hear lots of loud laughing from Maggie's room during nap time because Minnie is hanging upside down or turning flips in her crib.  It is so funny !

 And, while most parents take for granted that their child has a favorite stuffed animal, we don't.  We know that Maggie went fourteen months with out a special friend, toys or much interaction.  

The only thing she could sleep with or have in her crib was a white wash cloth in which she comforted herself by rubbing her lower lip on. ( This is a fairly common practice in Chinese orphanages).

So, we love Minnie and we're so thankful Maggie has a sweet best friend that's always around to play with and comfort her.  

Disney World will be so fun to go to one day !!!

Storybook Farm

Maggie is participating in equine therapy at Storybook Farm this year. She has only been two times, but already is loving it ! ( in a cautious, but excited kind of way)

The volunteers are so sweet and really love what they do - helping and loving children.

 I am so excited that Maggie has the opportunity to learn how to ride horses, make new friends and work on building her core muscles/posture !  The weather has been so nice too.  I am sure I will post lots more pictures as she gets more accustomed to riding.  Isn't she so cute with her little, tiny riding helmet and look at her holding onto the saddle.  Adorable and Amazing !!

It's fun being two.

Are You My Mommy ?

I am a member of several adoption advocacy groups and am always seeing these beautiful children that need to be adopted.  And my heart aches so bad for them.  I want to go and adopt all of them.  Seriously. But, as of today, we are not adopting any time soon. It's killing me....

So, I plan to start advocating for waiting children on my blog.  I am not sure how I will go about it.  But, I figure that is the least I can do if I can't adopt them.  Please join me in praying for these children and advocating for them if you so feel led.

Please go here and see " Molly".  She is an adorable little girl with a complicated ( but not hopeless) heart condition.  She is bright, cheerful and developmentally on track.  Are you her Mommy ?

Sick baby, sleeping in and changes.

Maggie has been so sick with RSV.  It started out as a little cold, then she got Strep, then she tested positive for RSV.  She continued to get worse and worse and it was very scary. There is no medicine for RSV ( a virus) and breathing treatments don't really help.  Maggie's breathing was very labored and her respirations got up to  57 breaths/min - that's fast !  She had a terrible, hacking cough and a high fever. Why is it every time I start to think about how healthy my children are and how they never get sick - they get sick ?

But, she is starting to feel much better !! Her fever is gone,her breathing is back to normal and the cough is getting a little better.  I am just glad she is walking around and playing after spending three days sleeping in my arms.  We even got out and went to the park ( forgot my camera) and Maggie loved it ! She went down the slide a million times and even walked fearlessly on the swing bridge at the playground. And the weather was perfect !

We all stayed up way to late last night watching a movie ( National Treasure). So, after breakfast this morning, the boys made pallets in the kitchen and went back to sleep.  Why they didn't just go back to their bed instead of laying on the kitchen floor is what I want to know.  Today was President's Day so they didn't have school.

The boys are really trying to get all the sleeping in they can get because next year......

...they are going to school.  Yep.  This is my last year home schooling them. We have had a lot of fun these last four years, but it is time to move on.  We are all excited ( well, Walker and Will are not happy about getting up early).

 Maggie will also be starting school - Two year old preschool three days a week !  I think it will be very good for her speech development and she LOVES playing at Mother's Day out so far. So lots of changes for next year and an empty, quiet house that I will have to get used to. There are definitely seasons in a mom's life and I feel like I'm about to drastically change climates !

Speech and Signing Update.

 I love this picture of Maggie and her big, bright smile. 
 Beautiful!!! 
(Those luscious lips have no lip stick on they are el naturale!!) 

Maggie is signing "dirty" in this picture. 

She was looking at some mud under the tree in our front yard.


We use the video series Signing Time to learn American Sign Language.  Maggie learns so quickly by just watching the videos and we make sure we say what the sign is every time she signs.  


It has become evident that Maggie is a visual learner and learns best by seeing something in a book or a video. People with sensory deficits in one area usually have a heightened sense in another.  So, it is with Maggie. It is kind of funny... Maggie had a hearing problem and she really does hear quite well now.  She actually hears without the BAHA if we speak just a little louder.  Now that she knows what hearing is and that it is important, she listens better too.  I know that sounds weird but its just how it is.  So, if she got the deluxe vision package due to the hearing impairment and now is hearing great with her BAHA... well, she must be Wonder Woman!
 God has blessed her indeed!   

Our little girl loves leaves and always finds some to play with.

Ok. Now for some updates:

Maggie has had her new BAHA hearing aid for six months now and so has a "hearing age" of a six month old baby.

( Her hearing age is determined by the amount of months she has been hearing and the first day she wore her BAHA was day one.) 

With that said, Maggie is doing fantastic!
 We are still so amazed at her progress since she got her BAHA. 

Here's a list of her spoken words so far:

mama

bye bye

Wu Wu ( Walker or Will)

Where Wu Wu ( Where's Walker or Will)

"H" for house, heart,or horse

"F" for fish, fall down

Bu ( for bus)

Woof

Maggie's Signing words:

Eat,milk,water,ball,more,bird,dog,shoes,flower,mom,dad,sleep,bear,please,share,thank you,book,socks,yes,no,dirty,potty,bath,hurt,stop and home.

The many faces of Maggie.

This is her "I'm mad face" because I am trying to take her picture.  For some reason, Maggie does not like to see my camera now.

 At. All. 

 She starts crying right away when she sees the camera. ughhh !!

This is her "surprised" look when I ask her to act surprised.

 Cracks me up.  I don't think she'll win any acting awards.

 And, just in case any one is wondering why Maggie is sitting on the kitchen table playing with dry rice....

It's a speech therapy technique to try to get her to say "d" for duck and dog ( somehow the cow got in there too, oops).  

Maggie had to "d"ig for the "d"uck and the "d"og.  She loved it !!  

A girl and her hamburger.

Camping at Grayton Beach.

I have found the cure for Cabin Fever.... go camping.

 It forces you to play outside with your children and enjoy the cold air and blue sky.  

Grayton Beach is a sleepy little beach town nestled with live oaks and cottages.

We camped at Grayton Beach state park ( Florida) and this is our campsite view.

  I thought it was very old Florida - like.  Beautiful.  Natural.

Chuck and Walker cooked our traditional pancakes and sausage  breakfast.  Yum !!! 

The beach was beautiful and empty. 

This is what Maggie thought of it..... 

She was not sure of all the white stuff and cold wind, but it didn't take her long to realize the beach is pretty fun.

We went biking a lot and Maggie enjoyed riding around in her own "princess buggy".

Walker and Will dreaming of ice cream at Seaside.

Our campsite was filled with gravel, which proved to be one of the funnest parts of the trip.  

Will and Maggie loved to play in it !

Finally, Maggie starts to enjoy the beach !

We can't wait to go back !