Last Tuesday was not my greatest parenting day of all time.
Therapists from Early Intervention
finally came to do a speech evaluation on Sadie so that she can start receiving speech therapy. (I could go on and on about my opinion of the person who is "coordinating" our services since it took no less than 2 phone calls a week for the last 45 days to get them out here, but I try not to be mean on my blog and I just might step over the line on that one. Let's just say that legally they have to come out within 45 days of your initial phone call.....and they made it in under the deadline by about 3 hours.)
In addition to a speech evaluation, they also have to do a developmental evaluation. This consists of asking a lot of questions about what Sadie can and cannot do, as well as how she interacts with others. She was also asked to do a lot of "play" tasks, like putting shapes in a puzzle or building a tower with blocks.
For those of you that have met Sadie, you know she likes to do things
her way. When
she wants. How
she wants to.
She's 2. Isn't that what 2-year-olds are like?
And this particular morning, she was not interested in many of the things they wanted her to do. She much preferred trying to unzip the therapist's bag full of toys and did not respond very positively to their attempts at redirecting her. Why would one want to play with the toy sitting on the floor when there are obviously all sorts of fun things hidden in the recesses of a big black bag?
They told me she was a bit "self-focused." I believe that was their nice way of saying "stubborn and opinionated."
And then when talking about her speech I had to admit that the only two-word sentence she uses is "No - mine!" with much flair. Further evidence.
A few other comments they made left me a bit discouraged in my parenting abilities.
Then I went over to the neighbor's to pick up Sam from a playdate and found him sitting in time-out for not listening. And then on the short walk home he managed to completely ignore me twice - and go across the street alone after being told not to.
So - my children could be described as "self-focused" and "complete disregard for authority." Lovely.
But then I started thinking about how far we have come in the last 6 months. (Can you believe Sadie's been home that long!?)
In November, Sam was randomly knocking Sadie over "accidentally" on the average a couple times a day.
Now she only gets knocked down if she steals a toy from his hands. And at least half the time, he asks for it back nicely instead.
Through January, anytime I tried to hold or comfort one of them, the other one had to climb in my lap as well, usually attempting to displace the other one in the process.
Now they can share my lap, and sometimes I am can even hold them one at a time.
In February, Sadie's main form of communication when she wanted food was a wild-animal sounding scream.
I am happy to report we have graduated to "Eeee peees." (Translation: Eat, please.)
Those are just a few examples of how things have changed around here.
In China, she still seemed like a baby to us, just on the brink of toddlerhood. Now I look at her and see a little girl.
And Sam has made the transition from only child to big brother. Not the easiest transition to make when the little sister making an entrance is a walking, noise-making, toy-taking toddler instead of a non-mobile infant who sleeps most of the time.
Yes, she is a bit "self-focused." I try to remind myself Sam went through that stage too.
And then he moved on to "complete disregard to authority." See what I have to look forward to?
Thankfully, Wednesday was a much better day. I could have described them as lovely. And this time the "lovely" wouldn't have been sarcastic.
What a difference a day makes.
While I wish it had been me doing all the mothering in the first 21 months of her life, I give thanks to God for providing others to love and nurture her while she waited for her family.
