Jacie has been home for 2 1/2 years. She was adopted from the Special Needs Chinese Adoption Program at the age of 8 years old. She is learning and growing in her forever family~



Wednesday, May 11, 2011

A Mashed Potato and Ponytail Girl







Today Jacie and I have hit a monument...

She, for the first time, let me put her hair back in a ponytail! I was impressed. Her hair is getting so long and it was pretty warm today so I convinced her to let me pull it back. Did she ever moan and groan. You would have thought that I was tearing her hair out. Actually I was very gentle. Much more gentle than my mother ever was. I did not want it to hurt so that we could do it again sometime. Well, she fussed with it, said that it looked 'un' gly and finally took it out. It made her look older, somehow. I am not certain what I am going to do with her hair yet. As I said, it is getting long and very thick. If she won't go for the pony tail, I am thinking that she is going to want to have it cut. Not that I blame her but I have to admit she looks so cute as her hair grows. I have to keep in mind that in China, she probably always had short hair. It is easier to care for and cuts down on lice.

I have tagged pictures of her in her 'pony,' I'd take a look as it may be the only time you see her in one. I remember when we were taking our family pictures in July of last year and her hair was very short. I had Bart hold her hands (not brutally mind you, just in love) and I quickly slipped a blue barrette into her bangs (or lack thereof.) We all smiled, snapped the picture and then she snagged it out. I have not seen her in one since.

She has found a new love. Mashed Potatoes. They have moved to the top of her list for preferred foods. Even over Ramen Noodles. She loves them. She douses them in salt. Really, douses is the right word. Then she eats them. No gravy. Nothing but good old fashioned potatoes and salt. I think the Midwest is wearing off on her. She remains quite picky. I wonder if some of it is from being a girl. I know that I have always been a little persnickety when it comes to food (sorry, Mom. I guess I owe you a bigger Mother's Day gift...)
She does eat a lot when she likes something but changes what she likes daily so none of us can keep up.

She is learning to walk slowly. At this point, she is using her walker still. I think it will take some time to wean her off it. It became her security blanket and she is not willing to be parted from it. We have her practice walking a few steps without it but her leg is extremely weak and does not support her weight very well. This hurts and consequently scares her. I think I told you that when her cast was removed she had a nasty infection. We are working on getting that under control. It is right over the plate that was put in her leg. Hopefully, in the next couple of days, we will see a change in how it looks. She does see the doctor more regularly now. At first, they scheduled her to come back in four weeks. After I called them and told them that her leg was getting worse, we now go every week. Makes sense to me. If that infection breaks through the skin layer and gets into the plate area, she needs immediate care.

I am continually amazed at how much she has grown both physically and emotionally. She is definitely part of the family. It feels like she has been here forever.

I like that.

~Camo Pants

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