So much has happened these past few days. We are just trying to soak it all in as we get to know our daughter! She is so full of life and energy, just waiting until she sees something else new. I had assumed she would be overwhelmed at it all and retreat to herself, but she is completely the opposite. She loves playing games with us...and not the intentional Uno kind of game. She loves the "potty game"--where she pulls up her shirt or dress to tell us she needs to go potty. Once we have her diaper off, she shakes her head no to tell us she really does not need to go...but then says, "soap!" and points to the sink. Joshna LOVES to lather her hands with soap--although she now has progressed to lathering her arms and legs too! She is great at splashing her face with water to clean it (the kids all did this in the orphanage after meals). Whew, this routine is wearing us out, but Joshna is so excited with it that it is hard to tell her no. :) She definitely has a very strong will (yes, another daughter with one!). She pitches the biggest screaming fits and then looks over to see if we are watching. She hates it when Chip leaves (in case you did not read, I was the one to give her the lice treatment, so she bonded with him because she was mad at me!). She will scream and scream until she realizes I am not going to give in and go after him. She looks at me, gives me a silly pouty look, and then huffs with her breath. Whew, we are in store for some fun times ahead!
Joshna has loved being on the go and around people. She waves to everyone when they wave to her, and she likes to blow them kisses. She even does the "Namaste" bow with prayer hands! Unfortunately, she attracts many oooos and ahhhs--all in front of Ellie. Finally one of the head managers at the hotel came up to Ellie today and said, "It must be hard having a sister receive so much of the attention." After I translated his English to her, she just grinned because someone finally understood what she is going through right now. He then said, "You're cute too!" We have sure had a huge transition with Ellie this past week. She is throwing some huge fits, and Joshna justs looks at her as if to say, "What's up with you?" Yes, as I just finished mentioning, Joshna has had her share of fits too! I need to remember...that which does not kill us makes us stronger! (Are you sure???)
Today was another day spent at the doctor's office and US Embassy. Turns out Joshna does have TB--we were quite scared that the Embassy would not grant her visa, but the doctor did not seemed too concerned. While we waited for the medical report to be written, we met two other families from the US who are adopting kids from India (also from Chennai). It is interesting that adopting from India is a very lengthy and difficult process, yet at least three US families are bringing home children at the same time. Hopefully we will be able to keep in touch with each other (one of the dads in the group actually speaks Tamil--the language spoken in Chennai!). Thankfully the work at the Embassy went well. The lady who helped us was an Indian who must have grown up in the US. She spoke with a thick southern accent and kept saying "like". My favorite sentence she used was, "This is like the most complicated thing!" (speaking of our paperwork). No kidding! I just wanted to laugh and tell her she has not even begun to see just how complicated. And this is someone who works for the US government saying this? Whew...it really proves we have been through the ringer!
The only problem we encountered today was when that same woman at the Embassy noticed our home study report. It stated we are agreeable to adopt a child with minor, correctible needs. The orphanage had checked off many medical conditions they thought might be a potential with Joshna. Of course, they have no medical training. They just check off what they think possible. On the list was a neurological condition that could mean either very mild developmental delays or severe needs with life-long medical treatment. This woman was so concerned that we would not try to "get out" of our duty to parent this child based on the word "correctible" in our home study, that she wanted to call the orphanage and doctors to look into this more. I tried to assure her that we have already bonded with Joshna, and as far as we are concerned, we are her parents regardless of what diagnosis lies ahead. Finally, I teared up and she got the point that I am this child's mother! That ended that one. :)
I now know what all of the fuss is over the "monsoon season". Today it rained for less than an hour, and the roads were a mess! Water pooled in the dips in the roads and delayed the masses of cars, trucks, buses, and rickshaws. What would have been a 15-20 minute drive in Nashville took almost an hour here. It was also a ride in a taxi that was on empty with AC that did not work with 100% humidity and incredibly heat! I thought we would never make it, but after almost six hours of being away, we returned to the wonderful world of air conditioning! Chip, Ellie, and I went for a swim in a cold pool while Chip's mom sat with Joshna while she napped. Upon returning from the pool, Joshna woke up in a great mood. After snuggling with Chip for a while, she began singing and dancing! After a while, she started singing "Happy Birthday!" It was all a bit too much for Ellie, so she and I stayed in the room to eat together while Jackie, Chip, and Joshna went to dinner downstairs in the fancy dining room. When they returned, Jackie said it was a good thing we didn't go. Joshna sang and danced, she flirted with all of the men behind the buffet, blew kisses to people-- basically she drew plenty of attention the entire time. It would have driven Ellie nuts! Hopefully this phase will quickly move into a more settled phase for the two of them. In the meantime, we are in for some fun!
Lilypie
No comments:
Post a Comment