Hello everyone!

Well...looks like I'm going to be able to post about once a week at the rate I'm going, but that's better than nothing, I suppose! I wanted to post on our one month Gotcha "Anniversary"---just didn't happen. It was amazing last Thursday (4/17) to think that Leila had already been with us for one month! She is doing great and I thought today I'd answer the most "Frequently Asked Questions" or as I like to call them, TING FAQ's:

Q: How is she adjusting?
A: Very well, based on what I can tell. Leila is very attached to all of us, which is great. She hugs and kisses us constantly, and loves to be held. She completely has run of the house, and thinks she owns the place. Everyone that sees us as a family says that she just seems to 'fit right in' and I'd agree---she is a very happy girl! She still has night/nap terrors at times, and is having tantrums as well. However, it's hard to know if the tantrums are grieving vs. language barrier vs. typical two year old behavior. We feel that considering what she has been through, she is doing extremely well in her adjustment to life at the Potocnik house.

Q: How is she doing with Jason?
A: MUCH better! She'll let "Baba" do almost anything now, and is so excited when he gets home from work. I've left her with J several times, and although she sometimes has to search the house to see if I'm really gone, she does just fine. If we're both her, I'm still the 'preferred' parent, but she's doing great. Last weekend, she even let her grandpa and her uncles hold her---big steps for this little girl!

Q: How is she doing with the kids and how are they adjusting to her?
A: She LOVES her siblings, and is especially attached to Madison. The girls share a room and Leila just can't stand it at night when Maddie leaves for even a glass of water. She'll yell 'Sissy! Sissy!' until Madison returns. The first couple of days of school, Leila cried when Maddie got on the bus, but she now understands that she'll be back and does fine. Madison was Star of the Week at school last week, and brought Leila to school (picture below). The third graders loved Leila Grace...many of them have been hearing about her for almost 3 years now! The boys love Leila as well and do their best to teach her to be as naughty as they are. Rudy does seem to miss his place as the baby, but we've been teaching him a lot of 'big boy' things, and he also enjoys the new 'big brother' status. Both boys have asked in the last week if we can go get another baby from China. At first I worried that they didn't like the one we got, but they assured me that they think we just need another baby as well. I am quite satisfied with my family of 6 right now, but I do think that their request is a good indication of their love for their sister.


Q: What is her personality like?
A: Nothing like they said on her reports. Shy? NO. Timid? NO. Introverted? NO. She is a very typical 2 year old, into everything, mischevious, incredibly sweet to make up for the mischevious, then mischevious again. She'll do anything for a laugh, and is just as energetic as her siblings. Her grandparents describe her as "busy" and "deathly cute." She's got some facial expressions that say it all...including these little "Leila eyes" we see when she's most ornery.

Q: How is her English coming along?
A: Again, we prefer to call it Tinglish. Actually, she is doing so well. Her comprehension is fantastic, she can really follow almost any direction I give her and seems to understand so much of what we say. She is copying everything we say, today it was "Er Ting NO NO NO" and "Mama NO NO NO." Hmmm...I wonder who has been saying "NO NO NO" to her? I told you, she's a typical 2 year old! She knows many English words including "potty," "baby," "pretty," "more," "Night Night," and "NO NO NO." Oh yeah, I already said that. But it bears repeating. The first few nights I tried to read to her, she really didn't understand what was going on. She would try to close the books and just didn't attend to my reading even the basic board book. However, she is now very into the books, and has some favorites that she picks every day (currently "8 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," "Touchy, Feely, Smelly Colors"--not as bad as it sounds, I promise--and one of my favorites, "Goodnight Moon."). I think that her love for books mirrors her gradual understanding of English, and her need for repetition of these books is just one more building block for her language development. I am having to do some serious digging into my undergraduate speech pathology courses to remember how to work with kids, but it's slowly coming back to me!

Q: How are YOU doing? (Meaning me...Mom)
A: I am doing well. Some days are very hard as Leila and I still don't have the means to communicate everything, and that is frustrating for both of us. I still have times where I have no idea what she wants, and she tries to clearly say it in Chinese several times, as if I may possibly get it once repeated in a loud voice. We also still have times where Leila gets very upset if I leave a room, or even get up too suddenly. However, this is getting better and yesterday I checked email for almost 30 minutes without her even checking on me. (See next question for why.) In the meantime, I am adjusting to being a mom of 4, and of being home full time (I normally work 2 days/week.) This is the first time since my maternity leave with Rudy that I've been home full time, and it is quite an adjustment. Other than that, I am so happy to have Leila home, and our family does finally feel complete. I'm such a lucky Mommy.

Q: How is the Little People Phobia going? (See last post if you are confused)
A: Well, we're still not really into Little People. However, Leila is now very into her baby dolls. We visited one of Jason's aunts the other day, and she had a baby doll and a stroller. At first Leila wanted nothing to do with this, but then was curious enough to give it a try. She soon found that the baby was, in fact, not real, and gave it a push around the yard. She was very excited when we got home and Mom had a baby stroller and several dolls for her to play with---I think she and Maddie played for a couple hours with the babies---it was awesome!

Q: When do you go back to work? Who is watching the kids?
A: Too soon. I start back May 1st. Jason and one of our close friends will watch the kids in May, and then I have a great sitter for the summer (she's gotta be great if she can watch 4 kids!).

Those are probably the questions I get asked the most as well as an update on the kids. Thanks for checking in and for your sweet comments---we really love hearing from you.

Have a fantastic week!

Love,
Alissa