Friday, February 26, 2010

Father/Daughter Date Night

We have been working with LGs therapist to get her more comfortable with Jerry. She’s never had a man in her life and is really uncomfortable interacting with him. It’s been hard since Jerry gets home later then me from work, and that means he spends less time with her then I do making bonding harder. So, her therapist suggested that they have father/daughter date night. Last night was the first of their “dates”. They went to the batting cages and hit some softballs, LG had never swung a bat before, but Jerry said she did really well hitting almost all the balls. Then they went to LGs favorite place, Coldstone Creamery for ice cream. She had Cotton Candy ice cream with caramel and gummy bears. That’s her usual, and to me it sounds utterly disgusting, but she loves it.
They came home pretty cheerful and in good spirits although it took a while to get her calmed down for bed, but from my point of view it seemed to have been a complete success. I hope they can continue with “date” nights for more bonding time.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Happy Birthday GG

Jerry's grandma's birthday is today. She is the most amazing woman. She is a brilliant crafter. She can make anything from hats, scarves, cross stitch, painting, to making things with clay. She's got a green thumb and can cook anything you could imagine.
She's also got an ornery side, and says everything that comes to her mind. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, but one thing is for sure, she has an opinion about everything.
We have alot in common and when I visit her we can talk for hours. So, I would like to say Happy Birthday Neva! Hope your day is bright and cheerful, and that you are around to spend many more with our family. Love you.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Play Date

Our Darling Daughter, LG, had her first playdate at someone elses house. She was so excited that she had a tummy ache before she left and wouldn't eat dinner. Never mind that she came home famished.
So, I picked her up from school like usual, except when I walked in the door she lept into my arms, and squeeled, "I can't wait for my playdate!" On the block home drive she couldn't stop talking. Once we walked into the house we sat down to do her homework. Surprisingly we made it though with no melt downs. Then, she called her friend. They ate early so LG could spend more time there. I tried to get her to eat, but she said she was too tired. I tried again, but was rebuffed. She wouldn't even take a beloved granola bar to fend off the hunger I knew she was going to have.
We drove the few blocks to her friends house. I went to the door with her and chatted with the mom for 10ish minutes. I didn't want to bail on her before she felt comfortable. I explained to the mom about us being in the process of adoption her and how she had a few social interaction issues when it comes to sharing and playing with friends. She was cool with it and had my phone number in case she had any problems.
It was the first time I have ever left her at a home of someone I hadn't known since birth, so I had a few butterflies for myself and her, but all was for naught. She had a wonderful time and asked to go back as soon as she can.
I am so glad that she is getting friend in our neighborhood as well as at school. I know I had tons of friend in my neighborhood as a child and I would love for her to have the same experience.

On another fun note, we are meeting tonight with the Girl Scout Leader for the troop that LG is thinking of joining. I have never been in the scouts, so this will be fun for both of us. It turns out that she can't join the troop with her other friend because she's a year older because of being held back a year. A bit of a bummer, but some of the other girls in the troop she already knows, so I think she will make it fun too.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Long/Busy Weekend

This weekend was a busy one. On Friday it was decided that we would have our niece and nephew over to play with LG. So, we packed up in the car and were off to pick up the kids. By the time we got home it was almost time for bed. I was glad about that because I was tired from the long day at work.
My dog kept waking me up during the night with her whining. I think she was mad that our other dog Cody, who usually sleeps with LG, was in our bed and that left little room for her. So at 3:30 I was tired and just wanted to sleep, so I took Tullah upstairs. I figured if I slept on the couch she could sleep next to me on the floor and be happy. No such luck, but at least she didn’t keep my nephew and Jerry up anymore.
So, needless to say I was up quite early. It gave me a bit of time to check my email and browse on Facebook a bit. Then, when everyone got up I made French toast. It was super yummy. Then we were off for the day.
LG had a counseling appointment at 11:00, so we all went to that reading books in the waiting room, then to lunch at Pizza Hut. After we filled our tummies I took the kids to the indoor park at our community center. They spent 3 hours running and sliding and crawling around. It was a zoo; there were so many kids and parents there. The good news is that I got some reading in while they played. Jerry stayed home and took a nap. I wish I could have napped too.
On Saturday night we spent the night playing Wii and other visiting with our other niece Elisabeth who stopped by because she was in the neighborhood. The nephew and I fell asleep a bit early while Jerry watched the girls. I was awoken in the middle of the night hearing a thud. I quickly work up and found dear nephew had fallen out of the bed. Poor little guy. I don’t know how he did it though; he had tons of room because Jerry had slept on the couch with the dog. He wasn’t hurt, however and went right back to sleep.
Sunday we spent time baking and playing in the snow and running around the living room like maniacs. Around dinner time we gathered up all Niece’s and Nephew’s stuff and went to Perkins for dinner, then off to bring them home. We didn’t get home until 9:00 pm. LG slept all the way home. I felt so back that she was out so late. We hadn’t planned to be gone so long, but Jerry missed a turn while looking for the Olympic hockey game on the radio on our way and that added a good ½ hour to the drive.
So, needless to say, our weekend was a long and busy one.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

School

Pick up time at school is always a hard part of my day. I never know what mood LG is going to be in. Like the past few days she has been really obstinate and rude, and some days she comes running to me with a smile and huge hug.

On the days when she's moody and rude I cannot get any straight answers from her. The really weird thing is that once we get home and she's had her snack she will talk about her day while we do her homework and everything is fine. It's really frustrating. I know that she get's embarrassed about having a white mama even though that is what she requested from her worker before placement. I don't think that's the issue though because a lot of times shes just fine.

Her therapist said that she's just testing us and that when she acts rude that we are supposed to tell her how we feel. I don't think that helps because isn't that affect that she wants us to feel. It's reafirming that she's doing what she wants to do, but that assumes that she knows she's trying to test us. I dunno what to think about that.

We'll see how things go today at pickup...

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Cody


Cody, originally uploaded by gemjlo.

I long for the summer days on the boat with my puppies and my family.

Valentines Party

Today is the Valentines Party at LG's school. I am excited for her. She's got all her valentines written out. Last night we made some chocolate suckers for her best friends. That was a lot of fun. I think she had a good time. The other day we bought her a valentines t-shirt and socks, and she's all set with her matching hair do-dads. I can't wait to hear about it when I pick her up from school. Her teacher sent home a request to write a special note to our kid and address it to the teacher and send it back to the school. I hope LG likes what we wrote to her.

I am excited about tonight because Jerry is finally going to be home after work. The past couple of nights he's been gone with Vendor Dinners and things for work. I miss him.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Reader...or not

When we were told by all the social workers, teachers, and therapists about little girl everyone said how much she likes to read. To date, the only time she has ever come close to reading is when we read a story from her princess book before bed. We don’t even do that very often anymore.
It seems that now that she has a DS, Wii, and tons of other things to play with that she doesn’t care to read anymore. It makes me sad because she has so many great books that our family and friends have bought her because we were told she was an avid reader. There have been several times in the past month that she’s come to me whining about being board and I let her know that she’s got tons of books in her room to read, but that’s the last thing she wants to do. Ugh. It’s a bit disheartening, but I guess when you’re not used to having things and books are something special it’s a wonderful way to pass the time. And now, when you have so much, books aren’t that great. Bummer.