Do you remember this picture?
She was in a shopping cart in Walmart an hour and a half after we met her. She loved John David pushing her fast in it.
Just looking at these pics makes me see how little we knew of her those first days. I know I will feel exactly the same way when I look back to where we are right now.
Fast forward to yesterday…..
We passed Target and she yelled “I want a shopping cart”, then just “shopping cart” for at least 15 minutes. For the past week she cries for “shopping cart” on a daily basis in the car!! And she says it perfectly!
Welcome to America sweet Janie, so thankful to know we are raising you right:)
This morning Janie had her first donut: 🙂
true love!
Hank just got home as I am writing this and said “um not her first donut”
He took her to the clinic with him the other day and let her have one that a rep left for the staff
He said she was tentative at first and them shoved it in her mouth 🙂
Some thoughts about sweet Janie:
She is saying some sentences, “where is it?” “I want…” , the famous “shake your booty”, “that’s a mine” and she says that with ATTITUDE!
She calls all in her family by name and a few friends as well
She calls the dogs and cat by name but calls all other dogs “Goldbug” 🙂
John David accidentally knocked her down and she said “that’s ok John David”
Hank told her she could not go outside without her shoes and she said ” I don’t know where my shoes are”
I can’t keep up with all she is saying.
All my adoptive friends told me that we would be blown away at how fast she would learn and they are so right!
I know that we still have miles to go as far as getting to know Janie. She now pitches a great fit, can whine like the best of them and will tell me “no”!
She will also freely give me a kiss, give me that sweet smile when I catch her looking at me, sings “Jesus Loves Me” with the sweetest look on her face. She skips the words she does not know:)
She ADORES John David, loves Madeline but is not sure where she stands with her sometimes, uh yeah me too:)
All in all I think it is going really well. Some days are so chaotic I think I will lose my mind and other days are so sweet, our new normal!
Madeline is hot and cold. She is either so very sweet and loving to Janie or on a rampage to not let her touch ANYTHING that belongs to her. So again, I think normal, Madeline’s normal anyway:)
John David is doing great with the changes other than not getting attention that he needs when doing homework ect. He is such a sweet kid that he can fall under the radar so Hank and I has been trying to get some time alone with him. He loves playing pool with his Dad and watching some goofy show with me.
Well there it is in a nutshell. We are all so very thankful for this peanut. She is precious and a gift from God. Adoption is hard work and exhausting both physically and mentally. Yet I can say without hesitation, that we would not want our lives to be any other way!
LOL, love the shopping cart and doughnut story. Although our first year was magical together, it was also unfamiliar and hard at times. I felt bad sometimes because I didn't know her and it took about 8 months when I realized we had turned a big corner and then after 1 year, she really felt like she was mine in a familiar way, that I knew her.
Too cute!! LOVE the shopping cart story! She is just precious and boy what a journey this is! Enjoy dear Paige!
Such a great update of your beautiful family~ ALL is normal and you are handling it famously!!! Blessings and love to you all! XOXO
Amazing how much she's learned in such a short period of time!! Love the "shake your booty"….too funny! What a cutie
It sounds like you are all doing FANTASTIC!!!! I think your "new normal" sounds VERY normal!!! Madeline will mellow in time! Hopefully it won't take 18 months like our favorite Spicy girl over here!!!!!
Hugs,
Diana