"You Hurt Me...?"

I have been really stepping back and observing Jacie lately. I find her an interesting study. She is definitely changing every day. She seems to get more opinionated with that growth but I am afraid I know the cause of that. Her brothers are thirteen and almost thirteen.

If you were to sit and watch her play, you would hear some very odd combinations. First it will appear that she is playing Star Wars. Give her a second and she moves to another form of seemingly violent games. She play acts with an imagination that rivals anyone that I have ever met. She is such a little monkey and [very much] a tomboy.

I have been seeing a little bit of girl in her though. While she was playing with her tiger and Curious George, pretending that they were fighting a large battle from Star Wars, she came over to me with tears in her eyes. "Listen to this," she said, "It's so sad."

She had been listening to my ipod and a love song by John Denver came on. It is called Annie's Song for the nosy amongst us (trust me, I know were you are coming from.) This one song moved her so greatly that it made her cry. What a tender heart she must have. A tiny peek into the core of this young lady. Those are few and far between right now. I loved seeing this side of her. I think that as she settles down into her 'new' role, she will develop an identity that is all her. Right now, she is the greatest mimic I have ever met. That makes it hard to discipline her because I can ALWAYS tie her actions, lack of actions or words to something that one of us in the family has said or done. Most of the time she uses them inappropriately but she honestly doesn't know.

I am convinced that the people around us at Walmart think that I am raising the biggest brat of a kid they have ever met. They do not know her language boundaries and story, all that they see is that she questions me all of the time, repeatedly talks back and swats me in the rear (she thinks this is a joke because we have teasingly done it so many times.) The problem is that her timing is not so good.

What a ride we are on.

We went to the doctor yesterday. This was a crucial visit because he was going to 'round table' with doctors from Mott's Children's Hospital and make a plan for Jacie in regards to upcoming surgeries. This is what they decided. At this point, Jacie's right foot seems to be in the correct position, her hip in place on that side and her knee isn't under stress. Her left side is the exact opposite. Her foot is out of position, causing stress to her knee and her hip is not correct either. The recommendation...?

She will need to have surgery in February or early March. Brace yourself if medical stuff makes you nauseous.

In this surgery, they will open her hip area removing some bone, set the hip and put in a plate or two to hold it. In the same surgery, they will break her leg (right above her ankle), take out some bone again, set the foot/leg and put in a plate. She will be off her feet completely for six or eight weeks unless we can teach her how to walk with crutches or a walker. I can't imagine that her other foot is in any shape to fully support her weight. It is toed in so badly and bent from the club foot. I don't want her to wear out her other knee. Unfortunately, she will be either on crutches or not able to get around at all through her first American birthday.

That totally breaks my heart.

We will still make it special but all I can think is, "Yuck!"

She feels the same way. The whole time we were at the doctor's yesterday, she did not interact with anyone except me. When the nurse asked her a question she pretended that she didn't hear or understand her. The same with the doctor. She had a little handheld game and totally devoted herself to that. I found that amazing because I cannot get her to focus on one thing for more than a second with her attention span. Little stinker.

The only thing that she said to the doctor was, "You hurt me...?"

He patted her knee reassuringly and said, "Not today."

The good news? This is the only surgery that she will need right now. We thought that she might need two this year. Nope. Only this one. So that is exciting. If we can get this under our belt, we can move on with life. Hopefully. I think that rehab will take a while though. I am hoping to have her up and on her feet by summer. We are very active and involved and I know that she will want to be as well.

She is a funny little gal. She brings a new joy to my life that I did not even know I was lacking. The joy of having a daughter. Another gal in the house to keep those boys at bay. I am enjoying every minute. Even the hard ones...

She is growing like a weed, two and a half inches since she came. Hope you are enjoying following her journey. I am honored to have you along.

~CP