We can hardly believe it has been a month since we have been home from our incredible journey to China, yet it seems as though Jaelyn has always been a part of our family. That can only be evidence of God's grace and provision for our family, as Jaelyn was truly meant to be with us.
Jaelyn has fit into our routine since day one. The sad, somber little face we saw in her referral pictures is not that happy, playful girl we have in our family. Jaelyn is a real tease and goofy girl. Not much different from her sister Kaia in that respect. Speaking of Kaia, those two have their ups and downs. In competing for attention or a toy, they can push, scratch, bite, and pull hair with the best of them, yet in the next breath, hugging, kissing, and saying "sowry." After chasing around big brothers all day they are tuckered out and easily sleep all night.
Nap times are a different story though. We often have to separate them as they are jumping up and down in their cribs and throwing out all blankets and stuffed animals. I'm not sure which girl is the instigator, as I think it rotates each day.
Jaelyn is the most persistent child I have ever met! She does not let her arm keep her back from anything. She will spend five minutes putting on shoes with a buckle, refusing any help. Her tenacity is quite amazing. Lately she has really shown her love of music and makes the whole family sing along with "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" while she plays the tambourine. Another past time is walking around in everyone's shoes. It takes us about 10 minutes to find everyone's shoes on our way out, as the girls have scattered them all over the house.
Both girls love to work and play outside. They help weed and love to find worms and sow bugs. Jumping with big brothers on the trampoline (or "bumping") is a blast! Beach time is fun too, as there are all kinds of critters crawling around when you pull up the mussels. Water is okay as long as it is not falling over your head, like in the form of a shower or sprinkler. When Jaelyn first came home she had developed a fear of the bath. That is, until she discovered bubbles! Now Kaia and Jaelyn request several baths a day, as well as asking to blow bubbles many times. The other fear that Jaelyn has overcome is of the dogs. She has slowly warmed up to our two Golden Retrievers. As long as she approaches them and not vice versa, she is okay. Today she helped Kellen brush Caesar and actually kissed the dog.
We're not sure who will influence whom first; Jaelyn speaking English, or Kaia speaking Mandarin. They seem to have some mixture of language going on between them! Jaelyn seems to understand everything we say to her, and will mimic all of us, but then Kaia will mimic Jaelyn when she speaks Mandarin. The funniest thing to do is to hand Jaelyn a cell phone. She wanders all over the house speaking in Mandarin to whomever is on the other end. We never have any idea what she is saying, but she has us worried for her teenage years!
Jaelyn goes to Children's hospital in August. We don't have any concerns for her at this time, as she seems so self sufficient and comfortable the way she is. The girl is a real trooper, as she has sit through a pediatrician appt. with five shots, a dental checkup, and a haircut. The only problem was in being diagnosed with giardia, but that is quite frequent with the Chinese kids (Kaia had it too) and easy to fix.
Thank you to all the many of you who have been in prayer over this adoption and to the many of you who emailed throughout our journey. When something like this is orchestrated by God, it truly is an amazing feat.
We truly could not have fathomed that adding another child to our family could bring even more joy to our already full lives, but it did.
