4 Months Ago

4 months ago today we were doing this:

WHO IS THAT? That's not MY child. I barely recognize her in these photos.

 

Before we met Luyana, we had these descriptions of her personality:

 

1. Gentle

*Actually, this is one of the first words we taught her. While we were in China, she bit me and pinched me. When she'd hand something to you, she'd throw it. When you handed her something, she'd snatch it. She bangs things, throws things, eats things. I don't think gentle is the way I'd describe her.

 

2. Easy-going

*Yes, this one is true. She takes things in stride. She can miss naps and not be too affected by it (unlike another certain child of mine). She accepts changes and different environments with more ease than I had expected.

 

3. Gets along well with other children

*Also true, she and Camden get along very well for their ages. They play all day together. She doesn't seek out other kids to play with in other social situations, but she does not bully or aggravate others.

 

4. Likes group activities with other children

*Ok, maybe that was true before. But not so much now - maybe these types of activities are too reminiscent of her past. During library story time, she only wants to sit on my lap and not participate. She refuses to go into childcare at church, again I'm assuming because of the above reason.

 

5. Quiet

*HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

 

6. Afraid of strangers

*Nope. Hugs strangers. LOUDLY Yells "hello" to strangers in the grocery store. So that's something we're working on. Boundaries!

 

SO MY GIRL, how would her mother describe her? After only 4 months of knowing her, I feel that I know an insane amount more about her than the orphanage that cared for her for 2 1/2 years. This is how I'd describe her:

 

1. She is so so so adorably girly. Loves her 'baby', purses, chapstick, hair bows (which she calls "piaoliangs" which means pretty in Chinese), dresses, fingernail polish, lotion, makeup, etc., etc., etc. 

 

Gotta love the pink hard hat!! 

  With this photo I envision many selfies in her future.

2. She is a lefty!

 

3. She is crazy smart. She is picking up English so fast. She watches how we do something once and copies it and remembers it. One day Mark's mom was over cutting his hair. As she was using the scissors, Luyana stood in front of her and stared with the "the look". "The look", which means, "I see what you're doing, I'm going to remember it, and when I get the chance, I will do it too". I made a mental note to gather up all the scissors in the house and lock them in a high cupboard.

 

 

4. She is determined and confident. If she is going to do something, she is going to do something. Even if I'm loudly saying, "Luyana, no, stop, no, NO, NO!", she still does it. In fact, it inspires her to do it faster so she can get it done before I stop her. While this is annoying now, I know this is a great quality and one she will need in the future with any physical, social, and emotional challenges she faces.

 

5. She is helpful. She gets our shoes for us when its time to go. She loves helping me cook and clean. If she finds something that is Camden's, she runs to bring it to him. Her face fills with pride when she does something like this and you shower her with thanks and praise.

 

This girl, she is not what we expected by the descriptions we had of her. She is MORE, better. And we are still getting to know her, still learning about her, every day. (Just last week she bent her thumb all the way back, like at the joint in a way thumbs aren't supposed to bend and we were like, "How did we not notice that before?!"). Some days are really hard. Some days I wonder if I can really do this. Some weeks I barely drag myself through the motions because adoption is just difficult and draining and confusing. But she is so worth it all of that. God really did some maneuvering to get this girl here and in THIS family, so I know this is how it supposed to be. She has a ridiculous amount of potential and I am bursting with hope for her future.