Sunday, July 25, 2010

2 year olds that are now feeling at home....

Abbey is doing well. She is comfortable in her new home. She has come up with the typical American words that most all 2 year olds say once they get the hang of it. That word is "no". She says it all day no matter whether she really means it or not. She also is swinging at her siblings and her parents when she doesn't get what she wants. She has entered the land of "time out".

The sibling rivalry thing is always lurking just around the corner. It can rear it's ugly head in a split second. It's mostly the girls. But the "it's not fair" line comes out whenever anyone feels the slightest bit of inequity occurring. Abbey just kind of grunts and whines to let us know that she is feeling things aren't fair. I have told the kids that "life is not fair". I know it sounds harsh, but someday they are going to go out into the real world and it's not a fair place. Inequities are everywhere. They are pretty much rampant. Now, don't get me wrong, I try to make things as equal as they can be in things that matter to the kids. Like feeling like each gets their fair share of a certain treat. But the inequity issue runs pretty rampant around here. Each of our kids are always on the lookout for any unfairness going on. I know this is normal, but it sure is annoying. I wish they could be a little less "id" centered (Freudian psychology). They love each other and help each other out too but boy can jealousy take over in a heartbeat.

On a different note, Abbey is understanding and saying lots of American words. Her palate is keeping her from pronouncing words correctly but she is doing a great job trying. The other day Sesame Street was on and they were slowly going through the alphabet. Abbey was watching and saying the alphabet letter by letter. Some letters she was saying them correctly and others were kind of muffled sounding, but she was interested and trying and that's the most important thing. We are going to see the cleft team this fall to begin whatever they suggest to facilitate her speech development and redo her lip so that she can use her upper lip better. She cannot pucker her lips. Well, she can, but not very far. The plastic surgeon wants to make her lip more functional and look better. In China they did a good job but it needs some more work. Her left nostril always looks like it's got colored mucus coming from it. It isn't runny, it's that the scar from her lip repair tore open a bit near the opening of her nose and left a darker scar there. The surgeon says that is just a matter of a touch up while she is doing other work on her lip. I would say Abbey's ability to speak so that other people can understand her is probably going to be the biggest hurdle she will have to master. With her palate being so...short it may be a long road. She is a smart girl and I would be willing to bet she will overcome this obstacle.

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