A Little Race Car Driver

Another round of camping complete and one very tired girl in tow...

 

I said in the last post that our family was going out for 'family camp'. This is Bart's siblings and their families, as well as mom and dad on Sunday. Jacie was very excited to go. From what I hear, she was annoyingly excited when she got to the campground and saw all of her favorite people there. They said...that she was VERY excited, which translates into a very loud, hyper Jacie. Sorry I missed it...yeah, not so much.

 

Again camping weekend was spent riding bike, swimming in the pool and sitting around the campfire. Jacie is doing better with her bike. She falls off of it less and seems to have more control. It makes her disgusted when she falls. She is cute to watch though. She hunches over her bike like a little race car driver. I think it is because her calves have very little muscle in them and she actually uses her hips for the power to pedal. You can hear her pedaling behind you as fast as she can...

 

Last night she decided that she wanted to sleep outside of the camper in a tent with the boys. We told her that we didn't think it was a good idea. Of course, that went over well. So she pouted for awhile. In the midst of her pouting/begging, she took me into the camper and said, "Ma, look." She laid down on her cot with her feet over the edge and said, "Jacie too big." She had put her pillow halfway down the cot and then laid on it to show me that she should sleep out in the tent because she was too big for her bed. I didn't fall for it...but Bart and I did decide to let her sleep in the tent with Jared and her cousin. I wondered how long it would last. The three of them laughed and talked well into the night then went to sleep finally and slept until morning...and now you know why we have a very tired girl on our hands.

 

I was watching her today, on the 2 month anniversary of her arrival to the States, in awe of the journey that Jacie has walked in that time. She has seen amazing things, laughed a lot, cried a little and learned to adapt to basic situations with a little give and take.

 

What a huge journey for her. I have heard people say, "Poor girl." That statement makes me smile. It really translates into "Poor orphan." I have to tell you, we don't have any orphans here. We started that when we adopted Jared. You might have been an orphan when I met you but now you have every opportunity, so orphan doesn't fit you anymore. When I look at her I think, "Wow, God has a great plan for this little girl and he chose me to be a part..." Wow...

 

Her language is coming along as well. I think that her comprehension is much better than her speaking though she does not understand everything and we still do a lot of charades.

 

She has picked up the boys' bad habit of bickering. Unfortunately, it is more difficult to bicker if you have holes in your language base...so tonight when she wanted to get after Loren for eating all of the dinner, she was fussing but not able to verbalize her feelings. I said, "Jacie, what is wrong?" She stood before me with tears threatening and stumbled over her words trying to show me that Loren had a big plate and there was no more left for her. It frustrates her when she can't yell at them...

 

Just what I need, another voice in the barrage of arguing.

 

An example of Jacie's language on a regular day is: Jacie says, "Jacie watch?" That means: "Can I watch TV?" I say, "No." She say, "Ma say No?" I say, "Yes, Ma say no." She says, "Why not?" Uhmmm...sound familiar? Is it any wonder that I look in the mirror and see a gray haired lady stare back at me. She is really flourishing amidst our busy lives. She loves the action and activity that hums through the rooms of our home...

 

Angie