Today marks three months that Gracie Joy has been home. What a crazy 3 months it has been!! She is doing amazing! Both Gracie and Wesleigh seem to have adjusted to their new life. They have become the best of friends and true sisters. I am so proud of them both.
Life has settled alot and Gracie has calmed down some. Don't get me wrong, she is still full of energy, she just doesn't seem to be so "crazy". Her decibel level has decreased a good bit too, which is a great relief. There have been a number of fits that were proof that all she had to do was scream and her China mom would give her what she wanted. In fact, the first time she tried it, she looked me in the face as if to warn me, "I'm going to scream...you'd better give me what I want". Her reaction was pretty funny when she started screaming and got no response from me. Overall, I have not found myself saying "Caaallllmmmmm doooowwwwnnn" near as much. That is a good thing!
Overall, she is just a hoot to have around. She is totally speaking English now. I have to say that I really miss hearing her Chinese :( She still says her name in Chinese and "bing swey" for cold water sometimes. She will also say "shi shi" sometimes for thank you. Honestly, with Wesleigh's articulation not being great, I can pretty much understand about the same amount from each. I have a feeling that it won't be long and Gracie will be translating what Wesleigh is saying to me!! I am having a little trouble with Gracie pronouncing words like Wesleigh, but I seem to have been able to correct a good bit of it.
She is also eating much better. She will eat at least some version of what we eat. She loves frozen waffles and healthy choice chicken and rice soup...YAY!! She still loves her Chinese food best, but we are able to find things she can eat here besides Raman noodles. She will not touch foods like pizza, hot dogs, and burgers. She's a pretty smart cookie :)
Gracie is doing great in school! She absolutely loves it! Everyday when I drop them off, she leaps out of the car and hardly looks back. Everyone there is so impressed at how well adjusted she is and how she just fell right into place. She still gets super excited when she sees my car in the afternoon. The teachers have to make sure they have an extra tight grip on her hand because she always wants to run to me and tell me what she did that day. I'm so proud of her! They skate at school every Wednesday. The reports from other moms who have been there is that she is quite the skater. I'm not surprised. She is very coordinated and confident. I'm going to try to see them skate this week.
Gracie and I leave in a week to go to a colo-rectal specialist. We will have to spend 2 weeks there, but I hope that we will come home with some answers and solutions to the issues she has. We also are going to be able to visit with some super special friends, so I'm looking forward to that.
There's a book that I read to the girls that reminds me so much of Gracie. It is called "There's a Princess in Me". It talks about how God loves you even when you're a mess and that there's a princess in "me". There's even a mirror on the front of the book so they see themselves. If you have the book, you'll have a good idea of my life with Miss Gracie Joy :) If you don't have it and want to take a look, you can find it here.
Overall, it's been an amazing 3 months, that in some ways seems like a lifetime. China seems like such a distant memory. I know one thing, for sure. God has a huge plan for Gracie Joy. I can't wait to see it unfold!!
**These pics were taken during our Christmas Card photo shoot. I love them! Their outfits are from Georgia Grace which might be my favorite line these days! They are amazing and made in the US!!
