tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19749208547596373182024-03-19T04:46:25.411-07:00Welcome Bela - Adopted from IndiaThis is our story about the process to adopt a child from India and bringing little Bela home from Pune to the US.Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-75141566727383364652012-08-09T00:14:00.001-07:002012-08-09T00:14:30.259-07:00We're Adopting Again!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCeGjinaPzSSEuEoZo4rbz_FQAri5aYoG48J6JC2pj49g9BgZ4EVhHTfiam6rngxpPJQv6e95CSFXUEt6fBXdnZHCVOmPFxPwdTB2_o6Rrit6e_-oPCSjgqSU20t5ekeiN5y9BGu4qBc/s1600/IMG_3904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCeGjinaPzSSEuEoZo4rbz_FQAri5aYoG48J6JC2pj49g9BgZ4EVhHTfiam6rngxpPJQv6e95CSFXUEt6fBXdnZHCVOmPFxPwdTB2_o6Rrit6e_-oPCSjgqSU20t5ekeiN5y9BGu4qBc/s320/IMG_3904.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Well, it's been a very long time since our last post and so much has happened. Bela is over 4 years old and will be turning 5 soon - my how she has grown! She is actually asking for another brother or sister so we figured it was perfect it was that we also found out a few weeks ago that we have been matched to an orphanage in Mumbai by the Indian government.<br />
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But, first things first. Bela is now in pre-school and while potty training was incredibly challenging for me, we are well past then and are night trained as well. Bela is done with speech - graduating out of speech class 1 year after we started. She is incredibly likable and everyone knows her at her school - she just stands out. She is very active and is excelling in gymnastic - turns out she is very athletic, strong and lacks a whole lot of fear when it comes to climbing on things! She is going to school full time now and absolutely loves it. She has totally adjusted well although she definitely gets attached very easily which is great. She doesn't like it when she has substitute teachers or coaches and takes her a class or two before she gets used to someone new. So 2.5 years later, she is thriving, healthy and very happy. <br />
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Now we have been ready for our next child however India changed the process on us which was very frustrating. Just to upload the paper work to the CARA web site has been a huge pain as it's down all the time and there are only so many days per month (one Tuesday a month) that they will even accept applications. However, one day, it happened and within 2 weeks were matched to an orphanage. The Indian government now decides the place we will adopt from and they decided to ignore our require to adopt from the same orphanage Bela was from. So, we are hoping this is for the best. Good news is that we know someone who did adopt from the same place and they had a great experience with their child and her transition. So hopefully we are matched very soon with our son or daughter!</div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-66456246782828647742010-11-29T20:27:00.000-08:002010-11-29T20:27:17.188-08:00It's Finally Here - ADOPTION DAY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYSmbrxlnFkPy_prC0HVIfDz7EReh2Tdgk7Tlo85Q8AvLnwEZj1WmEjyr4VxRdfS9nUp_kqTD6BdBlzdG_a4-ZZiSYnk6A49SX8HhDSHUhZUsIB0Y_w7CRGFib7jKozbqPrEPgeBbn1o/s1600/SusanKellerPhotography-6613-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYSmbrxlnFkPy_prC0HVIfDz7EReh2Tdgk7Tlo85Q8AvLnwEZj1WmEjyr4VxRdfS9nUp_kqTD6BdBlzdG_a4-ZZiSYnk6A49SX8HhDSHUhZUsIB0Y_w7CRGFib7jKozbqPrEPgeBbn1o/s320/SusanKellerPhotography-6613-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So it's been a very long time since my last post. Mostly because I went back to work and have been pretty busy. There is so much to update on! Perhaps the best news we have is that on December 1st, Bela will officially and legally be our daughter! We are so excited! <br />
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So what's happened since the last post you ask?<br />
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<strong><em>(September)</em></strong> Bela started a new private pre-school. Her Kindercare program served it's purpose and we knew that it was time to put her into a school with some structured learning. The caveat was that the new school required that she be potty trained. WOW - if anything came close to breaking me - it was potty training! Bela's will power and full control of her bodily functions clearly made her the winner of any battle of the wills when it came to potty training. She would literally use it against me whenever she didn't get her way by having accidents on cue! What I have learned from the whole process is what you resist - persists! My good friend Stephanie C told me to DROP THAT ROPE! Yes, she will always win the tug-a-war. So I just took it in stride and just when I thought she had it - she completely reverted back to pre-potty training days. So the 2nd lesson is - just when you think you have it down - the 3 year old will find a way to throw a money wrench into things - nothing is predictable - especially during potty training!<br />
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<strong><em>(October)</em></strong> - well this year has certainly been all about Bela's firsts! It was Bela's 3rd birthday but the first we celebrated together. She had a blast with her friends and family and we can definitely say that she is truly loved (i.e. spoiled). We also had our first Halloween where she was mini-mouse. She loved the outfit so much that she wore it 3 different times! Bela also went to Disneyland for the first time but both Daddy and Bela pooped about by mid-afternoon. She did have a blast though.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyuB4E2euoU2Mlvz72crx8rxNtmfHJL0JjFp6OLfR9qGBjnieTzuFhKnrEn1c4I6v8mxo6nlRFh0Hq82VhFtA1KRUfD-bQX8E-XlbJdnJGdgiIBVai0uL89fXpYIzpjIyGSVPlYlBYrrI/s1600/IMG_1309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyuB4E2euoU2Mlvz72crx8rxNtmfHJL0JjFp6OLfR9qGBjnieTzuFhKnrEn1c4I6v8mxo6nlRFh0Hq82VhFtA1KRUfD-bQX8E-XlbJdnJGdgiIBVai0uL89fXpYIzpjIyGSVPlYlBYrrI/s320/IMG_1309.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><strong><em>(November)</em></strong> - Bela had her first Thanksgiving this year. She had an absolute blast! She celebrated Thanksgiving with Ryan's family and with my sister-in-law's family. She had an absolute blast eating and playing with all of our cousins. She LOVED her new ruffly princess skirt she wore. Today she actually started to role play for the first time - she became Dr. Bela and took a stethoscope to check our lungs and our heart. She gave us a shot and even checked our ears. She even wrote prescriptions for grandma and grandpa. She put on her sunglasses, packed her bag with all of her Dr. Tools and proceeded to her Dr. office in the living room (the front door was locked thank goodness as she started to head out to work through the front office). Ryan and I also had our first day away from her - where she spent the night with her grandparents. We also have been going out on more date nights which has been great. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-zOUUqWcPgrA14QfzEZaFFBsufAk9JNaRSId5pVALyGdUX8SNDpqSb0ZA7_LdJz1igdfqjpq5eyotRxDzaL5b9n5YO19JVv8ZF0ZlpuGiUfbU9PJDN0U2hjaD4L-3-Y5gvbvll2Xklw/s1600/IMG_1480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-zOUUqWcPgrA14QfzEZaFFBsufAk9JNaRSId5pVALyGdUX8SNDpqSb0ZA7_LdJz1igdfqjpq5eyotRxDzaL5b9n5YO19JVv8ZF0ZlpuGiUfbU9PJDN0U2hjaD4L-3-Y5gvbvll2Xklw/s320/IMG_1480.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>So her personality has truly come out - she is definitely confident, assertive and knows what she wants. She is so sensitive and absolutely adores babies. She could sit through the entire Babies movie from beginning to end without flinching. She loves sports - is always playing basketball with her cousin Ayden. She is the popular girl in school - all the kids and teachers just adore her. She is amazingly brave - rarely cries for her shot and has to climb the tallest slides and ladders at the park She loves to play with dolls and her train sets/trucks but is partial to anything she can wear that looks like a princess. She is definitely super smart if I say so myself as she already mastered her alphabet and her numbers - which is amazing since she has only been speaking English for about 6 months. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeuabGLQJh-wMd8KZM8ZPW4UDOOoB-04Yrep7LjtzV1gDI7xo5opQaAqTcQjFsnvCeiroNwHUnfsx5hTHCbGGZ_Nz9TXROBup-K5iTo85yEWKvhl6Y-Dr9oHJGUC4aF8UG4YzF_V9fK4Q/s1600/SusanKellerPhotography-6333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeuabGLQJh-wMd8KZM8ZPW4UDOOoB-04Yrep7LjtzV1gDI7xo5opQaAqTcQjFsnvCeiroNwHUnfsx5hTHCbGGZ_Nz9TXROBup-K5iTo85yEWKvhl6Y-Dr9oHJGUC4aF8UG4YzF_V9fK4Q/s320/SusanKellerPhotography-6333.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>All in all, we couldn't be happier. Bela has been an absolutely light in our life. She has brought so much joy and happiness that we couldn't ever imagine life without her. We truly have been blessed and in a few short days she will be legally our daughter. It's hard to imagine this beautiful child has only been with us for 10 months now - it feels like she has always been our daughter and in a way, I believe she has always been my daughter - we just had help raising her for the first two years of her life. :)Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-91293383229716888132010-07-12T21:52:00.000-07:002010-07-12T21:52:14.695-07:00Destined to Remain Connected!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP00E9_WGpnkpYRy2ZnoNdvosyAw169r3sd7-cRFpu-XCxp9fAggYb9xGJFTUvCYm3xkeIQPEWE55fjT1dcsjMBfU4GMnIhC04teSdRYKhJOAJ5sTdxTjBh08glLBhbKmnVN08wfQmrQ/s1600/CIMG2788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP00E9_WGpnkpYRy2ZnoNdvosyAw169r3sd7-cRFpu-XCxp9fAggYb9xGJFTUvCYm3xkeIQPEWE55fjT1dcsjMBfU4GMnIhC04teSdRYKhJOAJ5sTdxTjBh08glLBhbKmnVN08wfQmrQ/s320/CIMG2788.JPG" /></a></div>So if you weren't a believer of fate and universal connection, well this story should convince even the strongest skeptics!! This past weekend, we hosted a get together with 3 other couples who have adopted or will be adopting from India. The picture on the left is Bela with her new friend AJ and her OLD friend Usha. Yes, Usha and Bela knew each other at the orphanage they were at! How this all happened is a pretty amazing story, which only gets better. <br />
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Back in April of this year, Ryan and I met two families at the Holt Agency picnic (which is held once a year, in Orange County). To our surprise, one of the families there adopted a little girl who was from the same orphanage as Bela! We recognized Usha from a distance and after a few minutes, we realized that she was there at BSSK (the orphanage) when we picked Bela up from India. In addition, during that visit, we actually witnessed Usha viewing a video of her parents! What are the odds!!!??? It turns out, Usha's parents picked her up just a few weeks after we picked up Bela. We have pictures and videos of Usha playing with Bela and the other kids. And now 3 months later, Usha is at the same picnic as Bela in California!! It's probably normal that they didn't remember each other however they got along great at our house. They played really well together and I'm sure they felt each other's energy - even if they physically didn't recognize each other. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9cATJug593OQfaExWTJOTg4goHEljItxpT9j98fiXKH7hSPO8WnTrT662NrDlxFLoPD-cCIg2CqNFqmLiLDHnfF1PK1nAaf_eLgtn_jW8cihJZsIBc65u36khbMN8i_OI4YSQeGxGWA/s1600/CIMG2768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9cATJug593OQfaExWTJOTg4goHEljItxpT9j98fiXKH7hSPO8WnTrT662NrDlxFLoPD-cCIg2CqNFqmLiLDHnfF1PK1nAaf_eLgtn_jW8cihJZsIBc65u36khbMN8i_OI4YSQeGxGWA/s320/CIMG2768.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So while the meeting with Usha could be considered coincidental to some skeptics (I happen to believe everything happens for a reason), this will blow your mind! The other couple that came to our house was invited by AJ's parents as they are about to pick up their son from the same city that we picked up Bela. When they arrived, they immediately recognized Bela. That was a little strange but we figured AJ's parents must have filled them in before they got here. Nope. After some discussion, it turns out that the child they are bringing home was Bela's best friend, Varun, from the orphanage she was at!!! Yes, best friend. In many of our reports about Bela, and in many of their reports about Varun, the orphanage noted just how close these two were with one another. Each one of us even wondered how we could adopt both Varun and Bela together so we could keep them together - that's how close they were! While they were at our house, Ryan bought up the videos we took and when we reviewed them we both noticed how Bela immediately gravitated toward Varun when we arrived to pick her up. In fact, the video shows that later in the day, to make her stop crying during eating time, we were asked to place Bela next to him to calm her down. Kismet!!?? So Varun is now coming to Orange County as well - literally only 30 minutes from our house. We can't wait for Bela and Varun to meet again. Even if they don't remember each other, I know they will feel each other's spirts. Afterall, they are destined to remain connected! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ORLy-FWc8hK5FTb01YJV8NJD_LzYbsVCvMfmMzewLJKIu4i48KdWbXCg1OsKgXFbtfo7ZhbH4_LE8Yt4XDSFBiRcy3oyjwb0tcj1-cW6NlNXILgWEAB3pbVwEUt-CXA1LgV7AiBBywc/s1600/CIMG2762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ORLy-FWc8hK5FTb01YJV8NJD_LzYbsVCvMfmMzewLJKIu4i48KdWbXCg1OsKgXFbtfo7ZhbH4_LE8Yt4XDSFBiRcy3oyjwb0tcj1-cW6NlNXILgWEAB3pbVwEUt-CXA1LgV7AiBBywc/s320/CIMG2762.JPG" /></a>According to Unicef, there are 25 million Indian orphans. Of those, only 400 or some to the USA each year. So the odds of both Usha and Varun coming to the US, within 30-60 minutes from our house, is simply amazing. Varun's mom said, "How funny is it that our kids have known each other longer than we have?" I think that statement was very intuitive and just sums up how special this really is. Bela will always have an amazing story to share about her life and it will be even more special knowing she will have childhood friends from where she was born to grow up with; something most adopted children never experience. </div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-85503340601798522762010-07-10T22:26:00.000-07:002010-07-10T22:26:21.240-07:004th of July - "Pop-Pop-Pop in the Sky!"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfX12Vd3y-drAsC9Jl5oSn5jWd3BLAaXh_egK8UdkiEP0Xa2Ovn6L_XTKTLrxzAiKW3up9t4QEn4H6YDYq8-jTVNg6jDo9h6YGUkHF5SGyH5j_7SxOF_Ybp3UKESP2AWijmZhDAeylNGA/s1600/CIMG2720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfX12Vd3y-drAsC9Jl5oSn5jWd3BLAaXh_egK8UdkiEP0Xa2Ovn6L_XTKTLrxzAiKW3up9t4QEn4H6YDYq8-jTVNg6jDo9h6YGUkHF5SGyH5j_7SxOF_Ybp3UKESP2AWijmZhDAeylNGA/s320/CIMG2720.JPG" /></a></div>We got to celebrate Bela's first 4th of July with her friend Zaleeya and her parent's who we met before we picked up Bela. Zaleeya is also adopted from India and the girls get along great. So we headed to Z's home town and spent most of the day in the park, dancing to music, eating great food and having tons of fun in the sun. Bela seemed to have a great time dancing and running around and enjoyed her time with Z and Bela's cousins Ayden. When it came time for the fireworks however, that was a different story. We didn't know how Bela would react to the loud noises and as we suspected, she didn't like the loud sounds at first. I in fact held her and walked around singing to her as the fireworks were going off for the first 10 minutes or so. Eventually, we made a game out of the fireworks in the sky by saying, pop-pop-pop them in the sky! Bela liked that game and we sat back down to enjoy the fireworks. All-in-all it was a great day and a great evening out with friends and we hope to make it an annual tradition.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKdc3fhAGHsVPWrmTq06V9YUOQJ0NAL5I8U9FU0yFtQPpNVTQFXaEo74FVv1sNU55t1vBkhFQ3gZ6RxQ24MKSKCmUIG_uVnb2BENeHvmmLdaqa2Z9c9atEu1CQiy3HrzS5jHHHdMhZTPA/s1600/CIMG2696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKdc3fhAGHsVPWrmTq06V9YUOQJ0NAL5I8U9FU0yFtQPpNVTQFXaEo74FVv1sNU55t1vBkhFQ3gZ6RxQ24MKSKCmUIG_uVnb2BENeHvmmLdaqa2Z9c9atEu1CQiy3HrzS5jHHHdMhZTPA/s320/CIMG2696.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-dhCnh6BcIY_gT4hthioKaa0zngs1afiyIqJxaiTK6dh1fngouq7QzPITkwLG3bnEvo37Ir2QtP0Fx9g9RkPFn5-qPGDg0e8BQuLik9iTHBUMUgEtLRB6F7DNN2DzitB7hQIpIIfsK0/s1600/CIMG2709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-dhCnh6BcIY_gT4hthioKaa0zngs1afiyIqJxaiTK6dh1fngouq7QzPITkwLG3bnEvo37Ir2QtP0Fx9g9RkPFn5-qPGDg0e8BQuLik9iTHBUMUgEtLRB6F7DNN2DzitB7hQIpIIfsK0/s320/CIMG2709.JPG" /></a></div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-18769515765401227512010-07-10T22:04:00.000-07:002010-07-10T22:04:43.477-07:00Earings - Oh My!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJPZIxZAGVAeXcZTsx-7wYiT1qPPXNhbpAJUCHaDICUecZ5LHE99QhnbWQPZ3QkWnf7TIOC8kMWFRT6t4FpL0yN3Aeg1evsDT2Gs52IsPR9IenesFgcncHaY_KNcrgQWqC-5Sg3V_dgE/s1600/CIMG2601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJPZIxZAGVAeXcZTsx-7wYiT1qPPXNhbpAJUCHaDICUecZ5LHE99QhnbWQPZ3QkWnf7TIOC8kMWFRT6t4FpL0yN3Aeg1evsDT2Gs52IsPR9IenesFgcncHaY_KNcrgQWqC-5Sg3V_dgE/s320/CIMG2601.JPG" /></a>It seems like being a mom means making hard decisions all the time! Working in startups seemed like a breeze compared to this! While the decisions never cease and many you never think about again, there are some that you sometimes think about quite often. The one I think about is the decision to get Bela's ears pierced. Yes, piercings! It's not a life threating decision nor will it even be a major issue in a few months time, however it's amazing how certain things weigh on you! </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We started the day at the mall where we had pretzels and drinks before the piercings. Brianna, Bela's cousin, came with us for moral support as she had just gotten her ears pierced. All started great and the girls had a blast playing in the store while we waited for Bela's turn. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GU_Kr2QlBB-IDQDtXKkgpAlNZFblpdsfpRnVrnyp9-WKscaT07EyO9PDc7X2GtsVtDyZzP7LLkvaKkLQLkxlInCclneM7jpCuwiXVPl_CwkpXkI40XX-8xq9amiLs8TAjvUSW5juc6g/s1600/CIMG2591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GU_Kr2QlBB-IDQDtXKkgpAlNZFblpdsfpRnVrnyp9-WKscaT07EyO9PDc7X2GtsVtDyZzP7LLkvaKkLQLkxlInCclneM7jpCuwiXVPl_CwkpXkI40XX-8xq9amiLs8TAjvUSW5juc6g/s320/CIMG2591.JPG" /></a>We waited about an hour or so and several girls (8-10 yrs) were getting their ears done. They all cried which really didn't make me feel better but Bela was too busy playing to really notice. Bela tried on purses, glasses and did her girly-girly stuff while Daddy and Brianna kept her company. I got to wait in line, fill out the paperwork and pick the earrings Bela would wearing for the next 6 months. She got these little pink faux-diamond earings that are apparently similar to her birth stone. Little did we know that what would set Bela off was the alcohol swab cleaning! Bela gets a shot every night and of course we use an alcohol swab to clean the area prior. So when the lady went to clean her ears before the piercing - she totally lost it! She of course thought immediately that she was going to get a shot. I had the wonderful job of holding her body while Ryan held her head straight as she whaled. We said several times that this was not worth it but then we also kept saying, if not now, then when? So we pushed through it and as soon as it was over, she was fine! She played in the fountain in the mall, rode the train, all like nothing had happened! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_CVfcKEJr1ch-VTcbPulv9BDs4RQm7fz1lkEqY317XJh-lOFXn6LSbj-5wNp0_wIjLwAu0Ak5rcRLSopMUcVfCx4fg5YlxB14vNyryhHj7_kKSlXvdGhP1krzpZmGDoWvCTwUqHj3S8/s1600/CIMG2590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_CVfcKEJr1ch-VTcbPulv9BDs4RQm7fz1lkEqY317XJh-lOFXn6LSbj-5wNp0_wIjLwAu0Ak5rcRLSopMUcVfCx4fg5YlxB14vNyryhHj7_kKSlXvdGhP1krzpZmGDoWvCTwUqHj3S8/s320/CIMG2590.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">While Bela really loves them and they look so adorable, she hasn't fully recovered from the experience I think (even a month later). She is now much more sensitive to any pain whatsoever - even non-burning shampoo in her eyes. She also won't let Ryan or I touch her earnings to clean them without a lot of discussion and coaxing. So did we need to do this - no. However, it is a tradition in my family and I know that if we didn't do it soon, she would have to wait until an age where she felt comfortable with it because the memory of the piercing would still be there. So Bela will eventually get over the piercing and life will go on and I hope that she doesn't remember getting them done! I guess this is why it's best to do the piercings when they are babies - but of course we didn't have that option. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-91521057925582064972010-06-18T11:24:00.000-07:002010-06-18T11:32:07.818-07:00Bye Bye Mommy and GO LAKERS.....!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0fvpHqg6xQpx8C4zuXwo7Q-FY67V21aRMsPdCoBg_UprGtPZHVdRU_GlN3IesQTG17Zj8Q75nDQ2xsgdY8VbbnnDm9-HvVODpj4lUkg6ujxLMrUqO8PKoG82bZrBFZprA2cSySYLPl0/s1600/Bela+-+US+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0fvpHqg6xQpx8C4zuXwo7Q-FY67V21aRMsPdCoBg_UprGtPZHVdRU_GlN3IesQTG17Zj8Q75nDQ2xsgdY8VbbnnDm9-HvVODpj4lUkg6ujxLMrUqO8PKoG82bZrBFZprA2cSySYLPl0/s320/Bela+-+US+dress.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So now I know why they say being a parent, especially a mom, is so hard! It's not about the physical labor or the daily duties that need to be accomplished. As a corporate executive and career woman, I know how to get things done. What is hard and perhaps what I wasn't totally ready for was just how emotionally tough and spiritually grueling it can be. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love, love, love that I get to spend most of my time with Bela; in fact I would have it NO other way. But I wasn't prepared for all of the tough points. For instance, when we started Bela at KinderCare a few times a week, I was very gung-ho about it. Never did I anticipate having to deal with such an emotional issue. The first day, I dropped her off, she was crying for me relentlessly;. I kept thinking to myself, "Am I doing the right thing?" It got harder as the weeks went on because I started to see just how much being away from me was affecting her. She would cry every time I would pick her up, she wasn't getting the attentionshe needed in an environment like that (12 kids to 1 teacher). But I knew that she needed to be a large social environment to interact with kids her own age because she wasn't getting that at home with us. But I was so emotionally torn - literally losing sleep over what to do. Should I keep her in there, should I take her out? She would come home asking for Daddy and my heart was just sinking to the point where I seriously thought about taking her out totally because I felt that things would never get better and that I could be damaging our attachment. However, thank goodness for my husband. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EEq9Z6bwG86x5SRrQ-ndEJkkpvFbLxAGHjlSdG9fZqNVQcMk5ISVfK5DPsVnMb1JumLgL2OnOrQoR4UNesUhy83HWf4nuLqOp_h6k66aeyclGf1dVmPVD4hgzj9wa7zuUyXCW9UmSWk/s1600/IMG_3002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EEq9Z6bwG86x5SRrQ-ndEJkkpvFbLxAGHjlSdG9fZqNVQcMk5ISVfK5DPsVnMb1JumLgL2OnOrQoR4UNesUhy83HWf4nuLqOp_h6k66aeyclGf1dVmPVD4hgzj9wa7zuUyXCW9UmSWk/s320/IMG_3002.jpg" /></a>He was able to remain logical because he was somewhat removed from the emotional impact of the whole situation. He encouraged me to stick with it and so I did. As a result, after about 4 weeks of sending her to KinderCare part-time, today I dropped Bela off and she said, "Bye Bye Mommy" and gave me a kiss! She then started dancing with all the other kids even before I could get out the door she was dancing away! Today my heart felt so full; it was like I had just crossed a major milestone being a mom. With Bela being adopted, we have been sensitive to ensuring her attachment remains strong and moving her into pre-school at a very slow pace. So it was such an amazing experience to see how attached she is to us while she simultaenously enjoys pre-school. I think I now know why they say kids grow up so fast and to truly enjoy every moment. </div><br />
One of the biggest benefits I have seen with Bela and pre-school is her language improvement. Next week will mark 5 months since we brought Bela home. Since we placed her in pre-school, her language has just exploded. Kids do learn from other kids and she seems to be much more confident speaking. Now if I could only get her to say, "Yes, Please" instead of "Yah"...my job will be done! :) She is still going to speech and language therapy twice a week and is in the middle of her assessment. By the end of this month, they will determine whether she has tested out and no longer needs therapy or whether she could use more support until her 3rd birthday - at which point our local school district would take her on. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjM9bYERi_GJ1WuNrKYksJkI2dNCu0ZsXxmoI5Do2Kyj1p-V8QstOS31F49voPAOAbPyhO9GvabTP2EcANoi04Z8y3iLybdlisbmQbaWch0HFA0E_NaZwYNerZSavr8ApUMgg6H_pYI8/s1600/Bela+-+family+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjM9bYERi_GJ1WuNrKYksJkI2dNCu0ZsXxmoI5Do2Kyj1p-V8QstOS31F49voPAOAbPyhO9GvabTP2EcANoi04Z8y3iLybdlisbmQbaWch0HFA0E_NaZwYNerZSavr8ApUMgg6H_pYI8/s320/Bela+-+family+4.jpg" /></a></div>This past weekend, a bunch of couples from the OC and SD area got together to have an adoption potluck in San Clemente. We have been fortunate enough to meet some amazing couple (Zeena and Azeem) who have adopted a gorgeous girl from India (Bela refers to Zaleeya as Zeeya) who have since introduced us to several other couples who have adopted in our area. Many of them are local, closed adoptions but it's truly been great to meet adoptive parents and we really believe it will be great for Bela to be friends with other children who are adopted so she remembers just how special she is and how special she is to us. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8vvfLxyDJCAbcS1BcewKMa_rpLvALJ4jW1efTN_JH5uDrpiW2ffhPhJo4DnQTOZ4rK4S8N4tWSEG7J7bn9dfFWgKXQYebzYwbxP__-7TEMEse8Veff2_frVPjGros7xhaIw8Oea_uIo/s1600/Bela+-+pool+mom.dad+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8vvfLxyDJCAbcS1BcewKMa_rpLvALJ4jW1efTN_JH5uDrpiW2ffhPhJo4DnQTOZ4rK4S8N4tWSEG7J7bn9dfFWgKXQYebzYwbxP__-7TEMEse8Veff2_frVPjGros7xhaIw8Oea_uIo/s320/Bela+-+pool+mom.dad+3.jpg" /></a></div>This weekend is Father's Day - Ryan's first Father's day. Not sure I can top the gift he got me (Breakfast in bed with a new Flast Screen TV), but I know it will be special. Over the last month or so, we have noticed that Bela is much more attached to me than Ryan. The main reason we believe is because I am with her most of the time while Ryan now goes into work during the day. So on the weekends, we figured that Ryan should have a Bela and Daddy day where they get to spend at least half the day together, just by themselves. Going to the park, the petting zoo, etc... are ways for her to continue building that strong attachment she has for Ryan. Our social worker was good to remind us that she is still in the attachment process so we want to continue to build on that while finding a good balance between getting some alone time for us. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYITIcTxpn-jQe9AbBtKmbF3UkrqUWyXFX0Ku8Ne8jDZnqG3p4YDBYWrcY1yRXZu0yfSk6nutBVrdZsNRtOxzH66cJrAidKd5dxOR72O_wkN-Ffv00WkjsL7amyQnQ__CVwPGQG6Xmb-E/s1600/Trio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYITIcTxpn-jQe9AbBtKmbF3UkrqUWyXFX0Ku8Ne8jDZnqG3p4YDBYWrcY1yRXZu0yfSk6nutBVrdZsNRtOxzH66cJrAidKd5dxOR72O_wkN-Ffv00WkjsL7amyQnQ__CVwPGQG6Xmb-E/s320/Trio.jpg" /></a></div>Grandma and Grandpa have also been coming over quite a bit to help me during the week when Bela is not in school so I can get some work done. The great part about that is that she is totally building a solid relationship to them and feeling attached to them as well. She misses them when they leave and enjoys playing with them when they are here - they have truly opened their hearts to loving Bela and Ryan and I both appreciate just how much time they have taken to spend with Bela each week. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6NYh4MLGuPXrvi1iIU_598zP3PlknHLNO3ZfEJBWwF7dNmeSVrM_XXQh_khoEdvi9TRCl3ZIulhcJEhetvN7QwC7hRBshLFg_5zXQoybOfNyPbKXmCRKOJfyXe5bsY1JP3Hl8G6uyuw/s1600/Pool+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6NYh4MLGuPXrvi1iIU_598zP3PlknHLNO3ZfEJBWwF7dNmeSVrM_XXQh_khoEdvi9TRCl3ZIulhcJEhetvN7QwC7hRBshLFg_5zXQoybOfNyPbKXmCRKOJfyXe5bsY1JP3Hl8G6uyuw/s320/Pool+1.jpg" /></a></div>So Last night, the Lakers won their 16th championship and anyone who knows me, knows that I am a die-hard fan. So since much of being a nurturing and loving parent includes passing on some passions and hobbies to your children, Bela is now chanting, "Go Lakers" and cheering and clapping when the game is on. She even recognizes the NBA logo and loves to play basketball. It's becoming so amazing to see how much of Bela's actions, words, demeanor and personality has changed since we brought her home. No longer do we have a shy child who won’t look other people in the eye – in fact, she loves to say hi to people who say hi to her; no longer do we have a scared child who wouldn’t let anyone hold her; no longer do we have a frustrated child who couldn’t tell us what she wanted; no longer do we have a stoic expression, instead it's all smiles and giggles. In addition, she seems to be taking on some of the traits and characteristics and even likes and dislikes of me and Ryan. She loves the Lakers, loves cooking with Dad (which Dad loves to do) and is very logical in her actions for the most part - much like we are. Granted she still is a 2-year old but it amazes me how much us I see in Bela. She truly is our daughter, meant for only us!Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-66526861507810807702010-05-27T22:22:00.000-07:002010-05-27T22:22:42.169-07:00Sleep TrainingIt has been just a little over 4 months since Bela entered our lives and up until this week getting Bela to sleep at night was a rather difficult procedure. We had to be careful to balance the need for bonding with the need for being able to comfort herself during sleep. So for the first 4 months, one of us would lay down with her to help her get to sleep, which was usually a long process that could last several hours with sometimes 2 to 3 shifts per night until she fell to sleep. We wanted to make sure she felt connected to us and knew that we'd be there for her, which is all part of bonding. By now bela now figured out that she could get out of bed, open the door, and come into our room. While it was very cute to see her come into our room reaching out for us, we both knew that it was not the best thing for sleep training. So we decided that each time she did that, we'd pick her up without speaking to her and just put her back in her bed, but then she'd just get up and come into our room again, and we'd put her to bed again. That back and forth process latest about 36 rounds that night before she finally stopped getting up and fell to sleep, it was probably around 11 PM that night. It was rough to say the least. We both fretted over the thought that each night we'd have to go through this back and forth over and over, so for the next week after we fell into our old habit of sleeping with her till she fell to sleep. One thing that Bela didn't really have yet was a security blanket or favorite doll that she'd like to sleep with. So we began to put her to bed with a soft purple troll doll that her cousin Nicholas given her. And a friend's wife had quilted a beautiful green and purple blanket, and we began giving both of them to her as she went to sleep. Unfortunatley, she really didn't take to either of them, but we made sure that everytime she napped and went to sleep that we'd tuck her doll in with her underneath the soft blanket. Then just this past Monday, we went through the steps of putting her to bed (getting her into her PJs, brushing her teeth, reading a book, etc) and after tucking her under the little blanket we gave the doll a kiss good night and told her that mommy and daddy would be downstairs and that Bela would need to go to sleep, but if she needed us she would only need to yell out "Mommy" or "Daddy" and we'd right up to get her. She nodder her head, said night night to me, and POOF, we didn't hear a peep from her until the next morning. Wow, could it be that easy finally to get her down to sleep? The next few nights were the same as one of us would go through the same exact process and she'd nod her head with a big smile and say "Night Night, I luv you" and we'd close the door and she would fall to sleep. What a relief, Bela is now secure enough to comfort herself to go to sleep - a huge sign of attachment. Where before we'd painfully pass on the nightly shifts of laying with her until she fell to sleep, we were now high fiving each other after only taking 5 minutes to get her to bed. We now had our evenings back and we could catch up on Lost and have some mommy and daddy time.Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-14297610245950827772010-05-27T21:57:00.000-07:002010-05-27T22:24:25.315-07:00As Fate Would Have It....Last week Holt International, the agency that we used, sponsored a picnic for all of the adoptive families of Holt. It was a great turn out, and as expected there were lots of children with their parents. However, since there are only about 400 children adopted from India into the US, we didn't expect too many kids from India. While we were sitting on the blanket relaxing after playing on the slides, we noticed a family coming over to us. Wow, could it be another adoptive child from India? Sure thing, we met a very nice family who had an 11 year old daughter whom they brought home about 8 years ago. I thought it was very special that they continue to come after so many years, and we hope to do the same. Their duagher is a very sweet girl and was very interested in meeting Bela, but Bela was more interested in playing on the slides. For the next hour or so we shared adoption stories with the family over some delicious Korean BBQ supplied by a local church. It turns out that their daughter was also adopted from BSSK, but back in 2002. Just after lunch we noticed another family coming to the picnic and they too had a lovely little girl from India. We quickly called them over and began to get acquainted, but something was so familar with their daughter we just couldn't place it, but we soon found out why. It turns out that the family had brought home their 4 year old daughter three weeks after we did from the the same orphanage in Pune (BSSK). Out of 1.1 Billion people in India and 25 Million orphans, of which only 400 are adopted to the US, we happen to meet someone from the exact same place we brought Bela home from. Wow, we were floored to say the least. We then met even another family who had adopted a little boy from India, wow we didn't expect to meet 1 let alone 3 adoptive families from India - it was very exciting. But the excitment didn't end there. After sharing our stories, I told the families that I'd post the videos that we took of BSSK (one of the families hadn't been to India) so that they could see where their daughter came from. As I was going through the videos, I noticed that the little 4 year old was in our videos, a couple of times sitting right next to Bela playing. WOW, fate sure was on our side. We are very fortunate to have found one of Bela's playmates and we can only imagine how helpful it will be for both girls to have each other as friends as they get older and have questions about their adoption and begin coming to terms with what it means to be adopted - we couldn't be more happy for our little girl!Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-62233401340085965202010-04-27T21:17:00.000-07:002010-04-27T21:17:46.327-07:00PERSISTENCE = P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8X07P8QL4iuFcgyUSZ_vTjSSyTSqB3JJveayLSFj4gZC9RDKP5MbG0gzp3409RObq6BLaMupkv9hsN-cMBDud7MeykRpm5aBKa3HddgpkjJIgkZpluD-7ipEVPXDRIrUuty7L_-9oBSM/s1600/CIMG2540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8X07P8QL4iuFcgyUSZ_vTjSSyTSqB3JJveayLSFj4gZC9RDKP5MbG0gzp3409RObq6BLaMupkv9hsN-cMBDud7MeykRpm5aBKa3HddgpkjJIgkZpluD-7ipEVPXDRIrUuty7L_-9oBSM/s320/CIMG2540.JPG" tt="true" width="320" /></a></div>So the theme for the last few weeks has really been about PROGRESS! We had our third monthly social worker visit this week. I forgot about the visit so I was kind of scrambling as I got Bela dressed from her bath. But Mike was great - he was patient and assured me that I was not the only one to forget these visits :) Every visit that Mike makes, he makes note of how Bela is progressing in the areas of eating, attachment, sleep, interaction, language, etc.... He indicated that he is looking for signs of progress; that really stuck in my mind because all too often we have certain expectations and it's hard to gauge just how well Bela is doing in certain areas. So we just take cues from her and work on things repetitively until they are accomplished - missing entirely the celebration and joy in the bits of progress along the way. So I am now celebrating and taking note of the bits of progress - not just the achievement and completion of something, but just how much Bela has improved. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIwbCg2y7_DHop6n8EK7gVPEnwDORQMrbMDqctt3sXbqySyQDM4Cjeei-ISFvSDxb43tZLS-tpdt9vfv6wm4dIVyNORLOXmK9_zHGsdEbnHbrTlqhkXI_5gMxbBsYRzGG0fHQxBi3_IE/s1600/JumberBelaOutfit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIwbCg2y7_DHop6n8EK7gVPEnwDORQMrbMDqctt3sXbqySyQDM4Cjeei-ISFvSDxb43tZLS-tpdt9vfv6wm4dIVyNORLOXmK9_zHGsdEbnHbrTlqhkXI_5gMxbBsYRzGG0fHQxBi3_IE/s320/JumberBelaOutfit.jpg" tt="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<strong><em>P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-!</em></strong> Bela is now taking naps EVERY DAY!!! Again, this is the end place we wanted to be but I had to recall the steps we took and the bits of progress I saw before we got here. The first dozen attempts to nap Bela resulted in serious whaling and crying to the point that we just gave up. Then we started it again because I read just how important afternoon naps are and how a lack of sleep can result in a compounding effect to even worse sleep patterns, poor eating, etc.... So Bela went from crying and kicking for an hour to take a nap, to about 30 minutes, then 15 minutes and now, she just sits in her bed with a book, we read it and then she lays down to take a nap. No crying or screaming at all. I have to be in bed with her for her to fall asleep and I can't wait until that is no longer necessary, however the PROGRESS is that she is now napping every day consistently! I have noticed her eating is picking up as well as a result - she seems to be more hungry. She is certainly more focused and able to pick up new things quicker and best of all, she is less fussy during the day! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-cF2BWev9fY38fd3UzA93Ad2M4gE0iRxKGYpyEGzJlV4VnE13SbR3DeSnqSh7ukT0lj2y5Wvr7rlTG5EAS4iq945vntxdW8kQOOlprhXWUX-FCuht21lHCkOdvRgS5Rwh4MskwUZBGc/s1600/CIMG2514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-cF2BWev9fY38fd3UzA93Ad2M4gE0iRxKGYpyEGzJlV4VnE13SbR3DeSnqSh7ukT0lj2y5Wvr7rlTG5EAS4iq945vntxdW8kQOOlprhXWUX-FCuht21lHCkOdvRgS5Rwh4MskwUZBGc/s320/CIMG2514.JPG" tt="true" width="240" /></a></div><strong><em>P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-!</em></strong> In Bela's language class, we have been working on separation where I don't have to be in the class with her. The first attempt resulted in crying for about an hour or so until she finally stopped. The 2nd attempt seemed to get worse but then the 3rd and 4th attempts were great! So much so that the last time she went in with Miss Nancy without issue and couldn't wait to start playing! Woho! She also has been alone with Ryan's parents on several occasions - allowing me to leave from time to time. Again, this too was a process. It started with lots of crying at first and then just minutes of crying (or no crying at all). She also has no issue with Ryan going into work every day but is so excited to see him home each night. <br />
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<strong><em>P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-!</em></strong> Bela's English has improved by leaps and bounds! She literally understood me saying to her, "Bela, please go in the other room and get the pillows for mommy." She went in the other room and brought in the pillows one by one! So she definitely understands more than she can say but the PROGRESS has been amazing!! She is also counting to 10 consistently and identifying all of the animals and their sounds. I even hear her singing on a daily basis with me which is a lot of fun. She understood how to give my grandmother a rose from our backyard which was so special to see. My grandmother saw Bela for the first time since she has returned from India - it filled my heart. Not to mention she gave Bela custom made bangles from India.<br />
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<strong><em>P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-!</em></strong> Potty Training....well we have kind of regressed a bit on this, which I think occurred as a result of the separation but I view this as progress. To me her regression is part of her overall process which I now recognize. I think this is where things get a little worse before they get better. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15aYX5vo3S5HmTKiizzWW1PCxaFW82aSlATc8H978o8f9FFEy3p8grobkxpmkzob3nbje0eTlrsC-xLmPkyQjxhvsQLiZHYsON29m25A-ZpICFP_2W2BrZJGLO0rx1OJHsWAIYAWSp-o/s1600/CIMG2515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15aYX5vo3S5HmTKiizzWW1PCxaFW82aSlATc8H978o8f9FFEy3p8grobkxpmkzob3nbje0eTlrsC-xLmPkyQjxhvsQLiZHYsON29m25A-ZpICFP_2W2BrZJGLO0rx1OJHsWAIYAWSp-o/s320/CIMG2515.JPG" tt="true" width="320" /></a></div><strong><em>P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-!</em></strong> Shots - Bela started her growth hormone treatment this week. Ryan and I had to attend a 1.5 hour training session just to administer the medicine which is given by injection EACH NIGHT. Sunday marked the first day that we started giving her the shots - today is day 3. And so far Bela absolutely hates the shot and built a lot of anxiety before she gets it. However, today we noticed that her crying after the shot is subsiding to where she is no longer screaming for a long time after she has taken the shot. So again, PROGRESS! The nurse who came to do the training indicated that over time, she will just be so used to the shot that it will be no big deal. What broke our heart was that the day after her first shot, she took her brown-skinned baby doll and the plastic cover of the needle we use. She brought it over to me and Ryan and lifted up the baby's dress to give her a shot (with the plastic cap) on the thigh and simultaneously said, <strong><em>"Mommy, Daddy - Babie Owwiee!" </em></strong>I almost cried when she did that - my heart just broke! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Oq8EH17O4ou-vbifBGSrrr5CvQS35R2CYGSLsW-tTkvnxn_9fVW8nKnuhpz55I_2y1YzkV-zJov46EzzAo7afUtW3PGwwX8wRU32i4DdOraMr2Mgj-eaXci7h1lE-xhoHJNfhd67I6U/s1600/BelaPuddingFAce2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Oq8EH17O4ou-vbifBGSrrr5CvQS35R2CYGSLsW-tTkvnxn_9fVW8nKnuhpz55I_2y1YzkV-zJov46EzzAo7afUtW3PGwwX8wRU32i4DdOraMr2Mgj-eaXci7h1lE-xhoHJNfhd67I6U/s320/BelaPuddingFAce2.JPG" tt="true" width="320" /></a></div>Bela is such a strong and brave little girl - she has had to be from birth! Being born at 32 weeks, staying in NICU for a month, and then living in an orphanage for 2 years - this little girl (literally) has developed strength and bravery that most adults never develop. And she is so dang smart and quick!! I have learned a lot from Bela in just a few months and I am amazed at how resilient children can be; she is truly one of the strongest people I know at just the young and tender age of 2!Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-67059757186424825792010-04-06T22:07:00.000-07:002010-04-06T22:19:02.078-07:00Now...Seperation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Wc12lpW1zc-Qu59E3VrVKv3v0_39E6Ezi427cZ_2PdRtfz_B0NLnIH2C9J-Bzr5ikIT4BXIsP6l_CjTJHVZ7MOpb8jIfQUV4uEMl3GhaJ6r9h2xhzN0casXOEdg0vXxpYxU6_4ujZAM/s1600/CIMG2457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Wc12lpW1zc-Qu59E3VrVKv3v0_39E6Ezi427cZ_2PdRtfz_B0NLnIH2C9J-Bzr5ikIT4BXIsP6l_CjTJHVZ7MOpb8jIfQUV4uEMl3GhaJ6r9h2xhzN0casXOEdg0vXxpYxU6_4ujZAM/s320/CIMG2457.JPG" /></a></div>So now that Bela has fully attached with me and Ryan, we are working on separation! Seems odd but a test of her attachment is being able to stay with other people without mistaking them as her caretakers or her mommy. It actually would be nice for Ryan and I, from time to time, to be able to have grandma and grandpa babysit so we could enjoy a nice dinner and a movie. But honestly, we are so thrilled with how Bela has adjusted. <br />
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So what's happened in the last month you ask...??<br />
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1. Bela started her language and speech therapy with the regional center in Mission Viejo. She just completed her third 2-hour session and already the therapist is talking about moving her up to the next class level. She is repeating words and learning English quickly. In addition, the last sessions, she was separated from me for most the entire class sessions without issue! If she continues that in her next session, she will be moved up. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHME-3sg4cevFc8iYBy9vz6-NGXVYUQKI7uBNh6S6L-Bi8ap_HMwLx_r7C-BRdzffQI5Fu_o8j3Hmj4v5jXMpXJDbw0_OAws6eTVzGL2GuHLOBkuSB6oogmsVA_VgNt7ORF6dY_OnqIDI/s1600/CIMG2361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHME-3sg4cevFc8iYBy9vz6-NGXVYUQKI7uBNh6S6L-Bi8ap_HMwLx_r7C-BRdzffQI5Fu_o8j3Hmj4v5jXMpXJDbw0_OAws6eTVzGL2GuHLOBkuSB6oogmsVA_VgNt7ORF6dY_OnqIDI/s320/CIMG2361.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-Q0hECUGWyxB_xx9uKcbO4Jx1nt9jfEv6S8jR2u0Y52dB4pX4sf8XWLzAze2Cv9TJGRo7obAd2L1AMYPgs-2SHgCcKuhyC0rbCV3Niq2ye_lpxUVWqhuKjl1qa24X3tWS8qvIMYkVjw/s1600/CIMG2480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-Q0hECUGWyxB_xx9uKcbO4Jx1nt9jfEv6S8jR2u0Y52dB4pX4sf8XWLzAze2Cv9TJGRo7obAd2L1AMYPgs-2SHgCcKuhyC0rbCV3Niq2ye_lpxUVWqhuKjl1qa24X3tWS8qvIMYkVjw/s320/CIMG2480.JPG" width="240" /></a>Bela had her first Easter this year which consisted of 3 Easter Egg hunts! She is a pro at finding eggs now and low and behold, she loves eating the hard boiled eggs she painted as well! She also has had Christmas in April - our neighbors have overwhelmed us with attention, love and goodies. They all have kids older than Bela and all of them love to spend time with "Baby Bela" - giving her rides in their mini-Escalades and battery-operated cars. Every Friday we get together so the kids can play in the neighborhood and everyone just chips to make sure Baby Bela is being watched, having fun and is playing with the kids. It's truly heart-warming. Our neighbor Jill has also given us all her old educational toys, trains and even strollers for Bela. In addition, we were offered a slide set, furniture, etc... Seriously, the generosity has been amazing. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQTaERNSoxGxdqu2329Mkx_g98al7hHoY9Ozt7J8m4GxYUDbKoZZEPZHU01jEfWnnHxCenvTEGu-d9fiajzcfSkU3uPa4gMzQoOcCJx0C8vYL7RfdYVuqnDNhvMTaiJH0T4YLNAecCvI/s1600/CIMG2384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQTaERNSoxGxdqu2329Mkx_g98al7hHoY9Ozt7J8m4GxYUDbKoZZEPZHU01jEfWnnHxCenvTEGu-d9fiajzcfSkU3uPa4gMzQoOcCJx0C8vYL7RfdYVuqnDNhvMTaiJH0T4YLNAecCvI/s320/CIMG2384.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Bela saw her specialist today and she has grown almost and inch since she has been here and she isn't on her growth hormones yet! That is a great sign but what is even better is that the Dr. is convinced that Bela hasn't experienced any delay in her brain development due to her thyroid or growth hormone condition. Ryan and I have known how smart she is but it was nice to get an official opinion too. Bela is an amazing helper. Wherever she can participate and contribute, she wants to be involved! </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtskKAiov771DnI20SZeu7yWKbKIRkFoMHrvwa0FOFcrzhfO5v17VV4Y-qndzQX2CVrT1ycq0gf2nBe0ntPYl0Wxmp5wsKaZvmK5himp77Cp2aBCXTg6ETqhXg96PUjWrHCNm29pD8s9U/s1600/CIMG2355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtskKAiov771DnI20SZeu7yWKbKIRkFoMHrvwa0FOFcrzhfO5v17VV4Y-qndzQX2CVrT1ycq0gf2nBe0ntPYl0Wxmp5wsKaZvmK5himp77Cp2aBCXTg6ETqhXg96PUjWrHCNm29pD8s9U/s320/CIMG2355.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">She is also becoming so much more affectionate - saying I love You and giving kisses all the time. She is smiling so much now and laughing to the point where she likes to play jokes and tease us to get a laugh out of us! Bela is really spending a lot of time with Ryan's family and she knows them by name and looks forward to seeing them. She also is spending time at my parent's house about once a week. It's nice to see her adjust and bond with other family members and feel safe and comfortable with them as well. We got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese Twice in the last month - Bela had a blast there running around and riding the rides.</div><br />
Finally, my friends Sima, Deena, Neena and Hina came down with their daughters to visit with Bela - it was fun seeing her interact with the other girls. It still takes her a while to get comfortable with new people but she is definitely better about playing with kids than she used to be. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeiVwdjZZa3GhkWjVK6DDqwAwjFiuXyxy3yuvLWo_LWjVpkEu61znl_-8HN5ByQMGgwBNgtPgfmi0ZaNgmyvClRvyLsjepqDOtjDd5_mZ8Gp9q4SQkBnRtVQOx8sI8jTkUlIPDZF1-BI/s1600/BelaSillyFace.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeiVwdjZZa3GhkWjVK6DDqwAwjFiuXyxy3yuvLWo_LWjVpkEu61znl_-8HN5ByQMGgwBNgtPgfmi0ZaNgmyvClRvyLsjepqDOtjDd5_mZ8Gp9q4SQkBnRtVQOx8sI8jTkUlIPDZF1-BI/s320/BelaSillyFace.bmp" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJMtiwwbmOZA2uc8vWo0Ecx0fR_XUflxHSgERS1GdSJoUxIJ7k9eM7xbFgZvpojAvUB7azsEfMFhanm17tH740JkVQv1GUBfVMq5ssCsiubccdIbmpl-wa1DUT8QNlpkee5tFVk8asqg/s1600/BelaBarbieCar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJMtiwwbmOZA2uc8vWo0Ecx0fR_XUflxHSgERS1GdSJoUxIJ7k9eM7xbFgZvpojAvUB7azsEfMFhanm17tH740JkVQv1GUBfVMq5ssCsiubccdIbmpl-wa1DUT8QNlpkee5tFVk8asqg/s400/BelaBarbieCar.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-15750610189919688652010-04-06T21:18:00.000-07:002010-04-06T21:29:33.218-07:00Inspired!So I haven't blogged in almost a month and after a 10 minute conversation with a journalist, author and literally expert in our Guajarati culture, I was inspired to write this blog. I think I have had writers block and couldn't figure out why (now I know why they call it a block) and realized what is was after speaking with Mr. Anand Rao. Anand Uncle is coming this Saturday and as we are finalizing the logistics - he told me why he was interested in writing a story about us and Bela. He said that our culture is not very open to adoption and quite frankly looks down upon that. While this was no surprise to me, what inspired me was his encouragement to write my blog with language and sharpness that awakens my family. I realized that my block was coming from the fact that I have noticed a real distinct difference with my family in how they treat Bela vs. other children in our family. Mostly I am speaking of my extended family. However, I know my parents are also in the process of adjusting to this - you can just tell by their body language. My Dad has been amazing and is naturally a very loving person but I know my Mom, who speaks so highly of Bela, is still adjusting. Much like when I married Ryan, it's a process that I know needs to happen and just have to be patient about. However, what upsets me the most is my extended family - they have made little effort or regard to come see and visit with Bela. I have to take to places where they can visit with her - yet when babies are born in my family, it's a must that we go and visit with them. Why is that? Could it be that even my generation of cousins looks down upon adoption? After all, all of my friends - even friends I haven't spoken with in a year, have made an effort to come see Bela and spend time with her. Some of them come by weekly to visit with her . Yet my family - my uncles, aunts, cousins, don't find it necessary to do so. The exception was my cousin Shetal who made it a point to visit Bela during her trip from Texas and my cousins Sagar and Shareena who met us at the airport when we arrived from India with big welcome signs and balloons. Seriously! So now the writer's block is over. As uncle mentioned, the sharpness in writing is similar to a surgeon performing surgery - if she didn’t have a sharp knife, she couldn't do her job. Just as this blog is hopefully a small step in awaking those who happen to live in ideology and false pretenses - I hope this blog reminds us that in the end, it's all about love and opening your heart. Not about what you have to show on this planet, not about the money you make or don’t make, but about the genuine love you show children and the contribution of love they feel compelled to give this world as a result. Our future is our children and if more people loved the unwanted children, how different could this world be? I am reminded of Sandra Bullock at the Academy Award for her role in Blind Side when she said, “Here’s to all the moms who love the children, no matter where they came from!” It's time to stop with old beliefs and recognize that love had no boundries or DNA profile.Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-3548809049043877762010-03-18T22:16:00.000-07:002010-03-18T22:19:03.751-07:00Christmas in March, Dentists & "Mommy Bubbles Up!"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgaQp1KpU3QpoOJXdmWhinjNTjGkojHM1cUe2YUcrdIG_kn8mLeWaE8v3TpaWCyZUYsOTRv9v-HVDOvfTVnpUvB4cBp9FLpbKduZfK8fpXBkLpFa47SJlJWAwt-NHG-XJNsT3AVidWag/s1600-h/CIMG2340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgaQp1KpU3QpoOJXdmWhinjNTjGkojHM1cUe2YUcrdIG_kn8mLeWaE8v3TpaWCyZUYsOTRv9v-HVDOvfTVnpUvB4cBp9FLpbKduZfK8fpXBkLpFa47SJlJWAwt-NHG-XJNsT3AVidWag/s200/CIMG2340.JPG" vt="true" width="200" /></a></div>Today marks the 2nd month anniversary of the day we picked up Bela from the BSSK orphanage in India. It's hard to believe she has only been with us for 2 months. She fits in so well and she is such a huge part of our life that it feels like we have had her for years! Everyday continues to be filled with new words, new experiences and new learning's for both Bela and us!<br />
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This month, we celebrated Christmas in March with Ryan's family. It's really hard for his extended family to coordinate getting together around the holiday's so we decided to get together this month at Philipes French Dip restaurant in LA. Bela is still pretty shy around new people but we think that is more of a 2 year old thing than an adoption thing. She needs about a good 30 minutes to warm up to people she has seen before and total strangers are usually hit or miss in terms of her being open with them. The Christmas get together was a little hard because she was just adored with attention and that probably overwhelmed her a bit - although we all had a good time. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCY67v1dUNQxllhkXuR3DbXNp_prDaAL8gdMHGverDSdlej3oj8ZEsfmJogSbyPRevmZNIyBv0Dw14L4CGGgO6l7qrjHkADgAYjGKX7wIIWlTxj9b4vVwpXgH6bm50oS7Xn-w72vnTIc/s1600-h/CIMG2342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCY67v1dUNQxllhkXuR3DbXNp_prDaAL8gdMHGverDSdlej3oj8ZEsfmJogSbyPRevmZNIyBv0Dw14L4CGGgO6l7qrjHkADgAYjGKX7wIIWlTxj9b4vVwpXgH6bm50oS7Xn-w72vnTIc/s200/CIMG2342.JPG" vt="true" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjz973D5uZ5rG_XfDkxKSpFpuIT5NysgCoZk8ydTvbZH0-qHChJoAG2b26ezQecgyh-AhQyLqNbLWymW8Gtirkd_3cdDfneG0RrKK7f2_PcLojYex1cq-ijWTRmFqMsIWbaGKQ9YxWlEk/s1600-h/CIMG2301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjz973D5uZ5rG_XfDkxKSpFpuIT5NysgCoZk8ydTvbZH0-qHChJoAG2b26ezQecgyh-AhQyLqNbLWymW8Gtirkd_3cdDfneG0RrKK7f2_PcLojYex1cq-ijWTRmFqMsIWbaGKQ9YxWlEk/s200/CIMG2301.JPG" vt="true" width="150" /></a></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXDRXzXpSwlGthB_Rfz6xb5K1kiO18m4xQgP5D74zcjfwWRYoGAisk4NvaH4FNYy62TheLI8gAJooj_MEnfUulKl6bUb6NY8tZZPHVworzYYywIVVToOt-6IjRH2PHGdjxgUznqKslxc/s1600-h/CIMG2303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXDRXzXpSwlGthB_Rfz6xb5K1kiO18m4xQgP5D74zcjfwWRYoGAisk4NvaH4FNYy62TheLI8gAJooj_MEnfUulKl6bUb6NY8tZZPHVworzYYywIVVToOt-6IjRH2PHGdjxgUznqKslxc/s200/CIMG2303.JPG" vt="true" width="200" /></a>Bela seems to have really started attaching to her grandparents - both my parents and Ryan's parents. She knows to call my dad "dada" and my mom "dadi" and she often asks about dada when we are at hope. She likes to pray with dad when we go over and visit with him. She also really gets happy when she sees Ryan's parents - especially Ryan's dad who likes to tickle Bela (which she loves).<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Bela also had her first dentist appointment this week. While the appointment only lasted 5 minutes to do a quick checkup, she squirmed and fussed the entire time. She saw the office workers in uniform and automatically thought she was at the Dr's office because she started to whine and squirm at the sight of them. Needless to say, Bela likes to brush her teeth but the dentist now suggests we floss her teeth as well! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnAocCOwcbKWmeOAqGfZnPoupAi3Rg-DLUnXtTWK6uikiHM_PDrWXw-VBcCK5zDzw2LGhLMtKav0_eLWAQMXIxOo2Bs_xvE-_DdNcMhUO5NGU0u-MFQLHf7F2j8vHMT1UEHZcFTB7Y9c/s1600-h/CIMG2346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnAocCOwcbKWmeOAqGfZnPoupAi3Rg-DLUnXtTWK6uikiHM_PDrWXw-VBcCK5zDzw2LGhLMtKav0_eLWAQMXIxOo2Bs_xvE-_DdNcMhUO5NGU0u-MFQLHf7F2j8vHMT1UEHZcFTB7Y9c/s320/CIMG2346.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div>Bubbles seem to be a big area of fun for Bela. We played with bubbles today quite a bit - to the point of exhausting her. Ryan's parents came over with their friends and she was running all over trying to catch and pop all the bubbles. Her favorite thing to say was, "Mommy, Bubbles Up!!" She literally could spend hours and hours chasing after bubbles. My cousin got her an automatic bubble blower shaped liked a octopus which relieves mom from having to blow the bubbles herself. While Bela is learning to blow bubbles as well, she hasn't quite gotten the hang of it consistently which means - little bubble octopus is on double duty (thank goodness I stocked up on double-A batteries)!! <br />
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Ryan and I got a book to try to train Bela into taking naps again. She absolutely will not nap so we're hoping to get some tips as she is just plain exhausted and fussy by the time 6pm rolls around. It takes a toll on me especially as I would love to have some alone time while she naps if possible. We're starting to look into nanny's as well but we'll probably make a decision in a few weeks about that. Next week I start the mommy and me class at the state regional center to help Bela with her speech and language. Those will be 2 hours classes twice a week so if she gets use to those classes without me, that will give us a good indication of whether she is ready to be with a nanny yet.<br />
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Finally, Ryan and I got to go on our first date night since we brought Bela home 2 months ago! Ryan's parents baby sat for us and while we were only gone for about 2.5 hrs, it was a much needed break! We celebrated my birthday the night before with my family and friends and then Ryan and I went out alone together. It's so easy to forget just how much alone time can mean until you don't have it anymore! <br />
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But Bela is progressing really well and she is picking up new English words every day! We were looking at the video we took of the day we picked her up and it's amazing to see just how much she has changed! Her hair is longer, her cheeks are fuller and she is certainly smiling more often!Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-64030692722703438602010-03-12T10:51:00.000-08:002010-03-12T11:26:08.778-08:00"Down Kitty!"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHvW6kVdnK4WCdIlC2QxbaM8a2WXKuHt2OuAfyI6D3gV4xbg2tAXsmq__y5kq0_3EHtVyxxa4tFyaUXS-cBKghbxBeWATtKgL_W8R0hX-veeyLgjyF_O8-KmJoKirWk31d0gtIKYDYws/s1600-h/CIMG2094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHvW6kVdnK4WCdIlC2QxbaM8a2WXKuHt2OuAfyI6D3gV4xbg2tAXsmq__y5kq0_3EHtVyxxa4tFyaUXS-cBKghbxBeWATtKgL_W8R0hX-veeyLgjyF_O8-KmJoKirWk31d0gtIKYDYws/s320/CIMG2094.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Hello Family and Friends! I realize this blog post is well overdue, but I have lots of great updates since our last post. For starters, Bela and I got to attend our first Indian event where we both dressed up in our Indian clothes. Bela - the girly girl, really loved her Indian outfit and especially loved accessorizing! Our neighbor (Susan Keller Photography) came over to take some professional shots as well to help us capture the special moment. The pictures on the blog are by Ryan but we hope to have the professional shots picked out soon. The Indian event was for my sister's baby shower. Bela is still getting used to new places and people but it's interesting to see how long it takes her to get comfortable in a new setting. When I got to the event, my aunts and cousins were there (people she hasn't seen before) and she was definitely clingy. She wanted to go outside and didn't venture out too far away from me. I thinks he was overwhelmed a bit by all the attention she was getting. But toward the end she did get more comfortable and even allowed the priest to give her a blessing and a "chai" on her forehead. I also discovered that she really still loves Indian food so I am now trying to make it a point that she gets Indian food at least a few times a week (thank goodness my mom is back from India and she lives close by)!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXzC2doF5_tHgHQY0Ak1Yf3_kVBaiWUWuoYwmXJHCLBrHt8FfuRjEwKxSUzRRB2aZHEIiQvQRTwebkTdl2H_9V-eBaHCAVUQ915YSFMyLBp-ppTLG_zKOpf3ppcWqPBfyaEOUxAFYui3A/s1600-h/CIMG2155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXzC2doF5_tHgHQY0Ak1Yf3_kVBaiWUWuoYwmXJHCLBrHt8FfuRjEwKxSUzRRB2aZHEIiQvQRTwebkTdl2H_9V-eBaHCAVUQ915YSFMyLBp-ppTLG_zKOpf3ppcWqPBfyaEOUxAFYui3A/s320/CIMG2155.JPG" vt="true" /></a>We also took our first family vacation to Scottsdale, AZ last weekend!! We were invited to a friend's weekend birthday bash and we didn't want to miss it. So we packed up and did our best to show Bela a great time while Ryan and I traded off to attend the various weekend birthday events. BTW - gone are the days where Ryan and I could travel for a week with just one carry-on bag each. We found out that our bags literally multiplied with a child! We had 4 check-in bags and 3 carry-ons!!! But Bela got to go swimming for the very first time in Scottsdale! She absolutely loved, loved, loved, the pool!! Once the weather gets warmer here, we will certainly be taking her to my parents pool. While in Scottsdale, Bela got to meet alot of my friends and Ryan's mom's cousins (Marce and Jack) drove down to our hotel from Prescott to see her as well. She really loved the Fashionista Barbie that they got her - she is really into accessories (purses, jewelry and all). She played really, really well while they were visiting and even reached out to Marce to play with her as well. This was all without Ryan which was great. She does like to be free and runs around quite a bit but she really seemed to open up with them the longer they stayed. It was great to see her starting to get more comfortable. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYPxMp_DfK_jWfEfZ_JFNPG9IS5YJZfuBZJV5fnXJu-kRExNxKzWRvk4cmTU4Cg3WK8bL2ZH3jDkRWeon-O8kc0QrolxeumROzuifTUTD_LQA_oIv2RAa4-XZ8NHzRrOI81jKMBCApk4/s1600-h/CIMG2146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYPxMp_DfK_jWfEfZ_JFNPG9IS5YJZfuBZJV5fnXJu-kRExNxKzWRvk4cmTU4Cg3WK8bL2ZH3jDkRWeon-O8kc0QrolxeumROzuifTUTD_LQA_oIv2RAa4-XZ8NHzRrOI81jKMBCApk4/s200/CIMG2146.JPG" vt="true" width="150" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">BTW - I have now learned that I need some basic essentials in my purse at all times while traveling: lolipops, vanilla wafers, wet wipes, a spare diaper, some crayons/pen and paper. The loli came in handy on the flight as Bela sat very patiently in her own seat sucking on the lolipop while she was watching her video during the flight. The crayons were great to pull out at times where she would get bored when we were visiting with friends. The diaper is for my own convenience. The wet wipes are a must!!! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eZzj24-htKl7SjJk4PqkKCU0G-zEMCpTAPNMxmOgZjRlJAoZ9LM7gPNTzk7j-2gjZrsDN1zQOmebIG6YlftLHqmE_mY4EazCNeAaaIwo5v1VocU745bmAhdQB_Xgz4XrSVFBUXNoPVQ/s1600-h/Bela+and+Baby+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eZzj24-htKl7SjJk4PqkKCU0G-zEMCpTAPNMxmOgZjRlJAoZ9LM7gPNTzk7j-2gjZrsDN1zQOmebIG6YlftLHqmE_mY4EazCNeAaaIwo5v1VocU745bmAhdQB_Xgz4XrSVFBUXNoPVQ/s320/Bela+and+Baby+2.jpg" vt="true" /></a>Then the next day my friend, Sue came by for breakfast and brought her a doll with its own stroller. WOW, that kept her busy for hours while the adults were all having breakfast. She was literally in a house full of people and just had a grand old time playing and enjoying herself. She in fact totally opened up to Sue and was playing with her for hours - she had never seen Sue before so that was totally amazing!! She even let our friend Fred hold her - again a total first as she had never met Fred before. The secret to Bela's heart is clearly babies and Barbies! She really LOVED Sue and the gift she got and still goes out daily pushing baby in the stroller! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMu3tiqERia9oI5_chRyYJCl3QlIjEjFfvjOWSr-hHoTq8rkxAXuV5lW_sss0fdSSwWddhCuuqOsvyfnTVmrbvtEmEO0tfmgGv85Ft5foYvgiO9E_YTr2Wq68lpK_BNbQccUdZndvgXCQ/s1600-h/CIMG2234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMu3tiqERia9oI5_chRyYJCl3QlIjEjFfvjOWSr-hHoTq8rkxAXuV5lW_sss0fdSSwWddhCuuqOsvyfnTVmrbvtEmEO0tfmgGv85Ft5foYvgiO9E_YTr2Wq68lpK_BNbQccUdZndvgXCQ/s320/CIMG2234.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In terms of eating, sleeping and develomental progress - lots has happened there too. For starters, Bela is now up to almost 2 eggs in the morning. She is eating really well and we've started to add a lot of high caloried (but nutritious) foods to her diet to help her gain some weight. Bela's doctors have indicated she has had a failure to thrive given her low weight but pediasure, cheese and lots of other great calorie foods should help that. I learned that a good friend of ours has a son (who is now 13) and he was diagnosed with a failure to thrive at birth too - and now he is healthy and active and you would never know he wasn't gaining a lot of weight as a newborn. She gave us some great tips on high calorie foods she used to feed him which has helped as well. But it was very reassuring to see her son and imagine Bela at 13. Bela was also sleeping through the nights entirely for the last few weeks and even slept through the night in her own bed in Scottsdale. But that hasn't been the case the last 3 nights or so. We think she was a bit traumatized by my mom's friend who she recently saw. My mom's friend is from Pune, India - the same town we picked Bela up from. So she started speaking Bela's local language to her and she was even dressed in traditional Indian clothes, resembling the caregivers at the orphanage. Bela totally freaked out around her and since then she has had nightmares and has been waking up 2-4 times a night. So either Ryan or I will make it a point to sleep with her until she gets back to her old sleeping pattern again. It's amazing though - that even though she will likely have no memory of this experience when she gets older, every experience is shaping her well-being and development and programming that little brain of hers. Children are total sponges! Bela's langugage is also developing - she is now putting 2 and 3 words together and learning how to count thanks to her cousins who have been teaching her new words and numbers. Bela now says, "Mommy, i'm no hungry", "Kitty down", "mommy outside" and of course she says "I luw you" a lot! She even likes to give flying and personal kisses to people she knows. Bela has her final evaluation from the regional center to approve her language group therapy (3 times a week) and her occupational therpay (once a week). She still doesn't like playing with new kids but has started to open up to my nephew and her cousins Alyssa and Brianna who come over once a week (one at a time) to play with her. I am also trying to set more play dates with her as well. She doesn't mind the kids as long as they don't come up to her and touch her - which we think must be an orphanage thing where kids would probably hit her or try to grab her toys since there were so many kids that she interacted with. So it's probably a territorial thing where she like her independence and is a new thing she is taking advantage of. This week the focus is on potty training - I bought a new book of stickers to finally get her trained once and for all - mommy and daddy are really over the poopy diapers - wish us luck! :)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-91253855142962790732010-02-25T19:30:00.000-08:002010-02-25T19:30:10.081-08:00Guilty FeelingsSo after my last post, I went downstairs to spend time with Bela and to feed her dinner. As Ryan was putting her to sleep, I started to think about just how guilty I felt having to discipline Bela yesterday. I felt the need to blog about it! Correcting Bela after she spit in Ryan's shoes was probably one of the hardest things I have done since we brought her home. I felt sick to my stomach and just so guilty that I had to do it. However, both Ryan and my friend reassured me that it needed to be done and that we did it in a manner that was calm and matter of fact. But I was NOT expecting such tremendous feelings of guilt and anxiety over the situation. I think what really helped me was thinking about my first experience having to discipline my employees - while it sounds bizarre that I would compare an employee to Bela, it's the last time I had this feeling of nausea around a discipline situation. I felt so bad afterwards that I didn't sleep for weeks and then many years later, the same employee thanked me for having the guts to tell him he needed to improve and giving him the ability to do so. This same employee passed away while I was in India and his mom contacted me to let me know - it has been almost a decade since I managed him. That's the only thing I can relate to that helps me keep focused on knowing that correcting Bela is not only needed, but someday, whether she realizes it or not, it will help her. Sounds like a really obvious conclusion to make and my mom always told me she corrected me for my own good, but last night was the first time I really understood what that meant.Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-20436334659226744012010-02-25T17:57:00.000-08:002010-02-25T17:57:27.720-08:00"Mommie...Owwie??"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWmjmrC-JM-Ku0uwepOihpFhWcVLu944tBVmWgPeipC0GVdE-Ba940LuL8g8WoU3-ultp22eybXXwsm0NoFKgonqn-v-jXGfHBcBMKtGtQXWc2mJUgYlIGDdzt9_LrSklmkk3t9fHIn0/s1600-h/CIMG1689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWmjmrC-JM-Ku0uwepOihpFhWcVLu944tBVmWgPeipC0GVdE-Ba940LuL8g8WoU3-ultp22eybXXwsm0NoFKgonqn-v-jXGfHBcBMKtGtQXWc2mJUgYlIGDdzt9_LrSklmkk3t9fHIn0/s320/CIMG1689.JPG" /></a>This was a busy week! Blood tests, evalatuions, social worker vists and it's only Thursday! We have another Dr's appointment tomorrow to round out the week of experts. We had to subject Bela to more blood tests which Ryan took her too. She did very well considering the trauma! First, the blood takers at the lab stuck her twice and managed NOT to get any blood AND they left an incredible bruise on one arm, causing Bela to say..."Mommie, Owwiee?" She was a great sport when she got back and she showed me both sets of bandages on both arms from the owwies that she got from being stuck! But after that experience, she and I played with some of my purses and hats and Bela had a great time - she loved my cowboy hat and even discovered how to say Chheeezzzeee for the first time! She is definintely a girly girl and that's so much for me me! We pick out the clothes she wants to wear most mornings and she especially likes to choose which shoes to wear. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKed_lzPnwn98Rc9KTGGbVYhmAfFrhKgra_7JWR6t_hiI_Mq6vh9PFvZmgVh7WTLarR9mjn7htnANaU1sEB_m5CDXEJxyMz2w6-cW60QD5DR7MJPNbitoYp4pOI6nbLpL8Z-ObxSc-RJ0/s1600-h/CIMG1693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKed_lzPnwn98Rc9KTGGbVYhmAfFrhKgra_7JWR6t_hiI_Mq6vh9PFvZmgVh7WTLarR9mjn7htnANaU1sEB_m5CDXEJxyMz2w6-cW60QD5DR7MJPNbitoYp4pOI6nbLpL8Z-ObxSc-RJ0/s320/CIMG1693.JPG" /></a></div>I have had a ton of fun playing pretend with Bela this week. She has really started to latch onto her baby dolls and stuffed animals. So when I was brushing her hair, she wanted me to brush baby's hair. This morning for breakfast, she wanted one of her dolls to also wear a bib and pretend to have yogurt and eggs like she did. Yesterday, we had one of Bela's cousins over, Brianna. Bela and I picked her up from the school next door and she played with Brianna for about 2 hours without fussing very much at all. She even learned Brianna's name and pronounces it, "Bunnuna". Brianna brought over books, an umbrella and jewelry for Bela to play with and she loved the umbrella and jewelry especially. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ7-ZPXo91NfZBfONfJ6J8BmiNWrivD2nkj-2WYp3MQwOeXhmLjids5ClqUAbUSvnViXsL_8wOKfUpUKoBbn4Y-jU6Qbpb17twLun3-iRo1nWNQMq_55fSU_yxSQWwwLOJP9zOBegbzc/s1600-h/Family-reshandBelawithhandsonface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ7-ZPXo91NfZBfONfJ6J8BmiNWrivD2nkj-2WYp3MQwOeXhmLjids5ClqUAbUSvnViXsL_8wOKfUpUKoBbn4Y-jU6Qbpb17twLun3-iRo1nWNQMq_55fSU_yxSQWwwLOJP9zOBegbzc/s320/Family-reshandBelawithhandsonface.jpg" /></a></div>Finally, today we took Bela to Newport Speech and Language center for an occupational therapy and language evaluation. Good news is that she is doing amazingly well with her motor and fine motor skills. The occupational therapist commented on the fact that Bela's block stacking skills were the best she had seen in over 5 months! She is clearly behind in her language skills because she never learned English prior. So we will likely enroll her into a group program with other children so she can catch up. The speech specialist and case worker for Bela seem to think that she will catch up in no time. We were so impressed with the resources available to Bela. Just makes us so appreciative of the fact that we live in a place where she really has all the necessary support to catch her up, both physically and from a speech/language perspective. We even got some great tips on how to speed up her language skills at home from the specialists. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyRN5FT7bZERs54cnJQmxr3CFbBVJb7fymEh4Ggd7xBOyyKsmR9vo1Iv-XqYSkM-C3Fq5jmdlJPAJzwkYTIB8VMM2IiZ3HwzL9o8oZAtPxK74-BNuR-yGNqwvdvE_e1U7MP3InuCD7_g/s1600-h/BelaLaughing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyRN5FT7bZERs54cnJQmxr3CFbBVJb7fymEh4Ggd7xBOyyKsmR9vo1Iv-XqYSkM-C3Fq5jmdlJPAJzwkYTIB8VMM2IiZ3HwzL9o8oZAtPxK74-BNuR-yGNqwvdvE_e1U7MP3InuCD7_g/s320/BelaLaughing.jpg" /></a></div>We had to start correcting Bela this week now that we feel very comfortable that she has connected with us. Last night when a friend came over, Bela spit some chips into Ryan's shoes. So I created a place in our kitchen where I set a stool in a corder and gave her "time-in" (vs. a "time-out"). That was a suggestion from one of the adoption books I have been reading. The time-in requires that I stay with her and explain to her what she did wrong and then give her the option to make a better choice - in this case the choice was not to spit in dad's shoes. It's important that I don't isolate her or make the time-in too lengthy as the attachment process is fragile. She really didn't like the process but she seemed to understand the explanation of what she did wrong - at least we hope she did...time will tell. Bela is not going down for naps much these days either but she is sleeping around 6:30-7pm at night for about 12-13 hours. She is still waking up to see me or Ryan and then she is asleep again - that happens 1-3 times per night and the great news is that we don't have to sleep with her - we can choose when we want to or not. Sometimes Ryan or I just want to sleep with her because we don't want her to be alone - kind of overprotective but we're trying to make sure we don't create a habit of it if we don't have to from an attachment perspective (and so far we haven't had to). <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfKRXOeEjPZJBtGvWtHhszjYhF8HN4V41OEErcpFLojyqWlA_O_lv4ENM6eI6JRGfCUTofWC-Ko9gcAvmSMQQuk8EeM44Phm5I6Q0KnmzwNPt__wJUTqTQlC5PapvfIPepARW6lg8SLk/s1600-h/CIMG1690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfKRXOeEjPZJBtGvWtHhszjYhF8HN4V41OEErcpFLojyqWlA_O_lv4ENM6eI6JRGfCUTofWC-Ko9gcAvmSMQQuk8EeM44Phm5I6Q0KnmzwNPt__wJUTqTQlC5PapvfIPepARW6lg8SLk/s320/CIMG1690.JPG" /></a></div>Finally, we had our first social worker visit and he was very impressed with the progress she has made. She was very active when he came by, even talking and playing with her toys while we were talking to him about her progress. He indicated that his experience with our agency is that he rarely ever gets frantic calls from parents who adopt from Holt - so he was glad to hear that we didn't have a need for one of those calls so far either. He will be by 3 more times per California requirements and. Again, it's so nice to know how many resources we have available to us and to Bela. It's something that definitely gives us a sense of relief and ease knowing we're not in this alone and any issues we run into, there is a whole team of people who are truly interested in helping us resolve them!Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-12250597798346938722010-02-22T17:04:00.000-08:002010-02-22T17:11:56.606-08:00No Fear!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mzNdIzIsxP95drLPB-nZiaJrAr44NPtRaiIu9eWcJ1wrB7S8FaZhl4tuyPy4DFcnXAKtBf8SSp1ESq-dgq-7135M9OW1zGVqeBw3ZY8YkpxYrXTkyqw595tXPGOfo8vxdhhbFKVwEh4/s1600-h/CIMG1667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mzNdIzIsxP95drLPB-nZiaJrAr44NPtRaiIu9eWcJ1wrB7S8FaZhl4tuyPy4DFcnXAKtBf8SSp1ESq-dgq-7135M9OW1zGVqeBw3ZY8YkpxYrXTkyqw595tXPGOfo8vxdhhbFKVwEh4/s200/CIMG1667.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIxRPDOMtZt7LDsHK5Yx_tOLFrRDwtbs944nrG6-nkFFWjbS7gbdhmaum9obvmmaNOKTDjUd69opZ_3DhnSTDe8lnAC9xI7xK4m1gef_GlcPjB_d7ptfhXyRhsNfHg0EkZHGvDLZjZZw/s1600-h/CIMG1654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIxRPDOMtZt7LDsHK5Yx_tOLFrRDwtbs944nrG6-nkFFWjbS7gbdhmaum9obvmmaNOKTDjUd69opZ_3DhnSTDe8lnAC9xI7xK4m1gef_GlcPjB_d7ptfhXyRhsNfHg0EkZHGvDLZjZZw/s200/CIMG1654.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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I took Bela to my sister's baby shower and she did very very well considering all the attention people were paying to her. The next day, we took her to a birthday party at a place called Bounce U - she absolutely loved that place!!! She could run around and be free and not be "bothered" by other kids trying to play with her. Best of all, she got to slide down a 15ft inflatable slide all by herself. She looked so small going down it but daddy thought she was ready for it - and she had a blast! She couldn't get enough of the jumping, bouncing and sliding! She was probably one of the most active kids there - which wore me and Ryan down. But we had an absolute blast. She also discovered pizza for the first time at the party - which she really loved. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmjPTR8x5Lw8JmfJpSbv1q9YimsVf6mPqA-D5PlCDpWhVJdD99uuZM-JAZFzPFt3_17K4KgotZsneMZaMhIfCMTIGmiF4cR5U7oi5hdA-gCo0psEtNoWEVXd_n4C2GbQ_1NSML-cjxZE/s1600-h/CIMG1680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmjPTR8x5Lw8JmfJpSbv1q9YimsVf6mPqA-D5PlCDpWhVJdD99uuZM-JAZFzPFt3_17K4KgotZsneMZaMhIfCMTIGmiF4cR5U7oi5hdA-gCo0psEtNoWEVXd_n4C2GbQ_1NSML-cjxZE/s320/CIMG1680.JPG" /></a></div>While she definitely doesn't like strangers and kids touching her, she is getting very comfortable around family she has seen before. Her association skills are amazing so the fact that she recognizes them is great. She let grandma hold her up today so she could look in the mirror at herself. We are so impressed at how quickly she can imitate and pick up new things. She even wanted to feed her cousin Ayden grapes after playing with him at Bounce U. She is very nurturing toward babies and young kids it seems and likes to feed people. I think that is her way of trying to bond with them and she doesn't do it to everyone, just people she has seen before it seems.<br />
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This week is jam-packed with more tests and evaluations. First we get to have more blood tests for her thyroid. Then the social worker visits for the first time since Bela has been home. This is routine and we will have many more to come (one visit every 3 months). According to the Hauge treaty, India also requires other CARA reports for the next 5 years which I get to fill out. Oh joy - the paperwork never stops it seems. But it has all been so worth it - the feeling of Bela laughing, playing and talking and screaming out loud is awesome.<br />
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Her potty training is getting a bit better. Although the doctor suggested we put her on the Giardia meds because her diarrhea came back. She is taking the meds really really well so that's not an issue. She is even starting to tell us (on occasion) when she needs to go potty. She is now even telling us at night when she wants to go to sleep!!! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nxk71jV-DozHlSu3DjiiXlJUWE-j5QTMKUJBNJQFJCmr5PV_M69vRRcDzxOxcRv56e0ngOtyNVEUlzCycT21ea-BaLJL7yiHHBnQ9cNDLAAjOXtsOu8DUD9EtrDMBVHclI-jOoMz7ks/s1600-h/CIMG1649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nxk71jV-DozHlSu3DjiiXlJUWE-j5QTMKUJBNJQFJCmr5PV_M69vRRcDzxOxcRv56e0ngOtyNVEUlzCycT21ea-BaLJL7yiHHBnQ9cNDLAAjOXtsOu8DUD9EtrDMBVHclI-jOoMz7ks/s320/CIMG1649.JPG" /></a></div>Good news is I finally got a case number assigned from the OC Family Court last Friday - what a pain. Our agency was convinced of one process while the Family Court was convinced of a different process entirely. But I went prepared for both my 2nd trip there and was able to file the papers successfully! Now we wait for a court hearing and hopefully in about 6 months, Bela's adoption will be finalized.Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-77496694303544888732010-02-18T22:10:00.000-08:002010-02-18T22:10:01.291-08:00"Mommy, I Luw uuu..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong><em><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.susankellerphotography.com/">Susan Keller Photography</a></span></em></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFlKJ2uDJUEAC6MA10tIuFRZpUehbLiChJdjzz29jzjZZic26Ayq-jExfiKrKPDI__jFhOSdFrBG2UUW-7DpBLeK3O_9jLPjjEpo51IzfGhoumREMesQ6V0o7nljOMLfAVFqgHy3EOwk/s1600-h/bela+-+1st+collage+-+web+res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFlKJ2uDJUEAC6MA10tIuFRZpUehbLiChJdjzz29jzjZZic26Ayq-jExfiKrKPDI__jFhOSdFrBG2UUW-7DpBLeK3O_9jLPjjEpo51IzfGhoumREMesQ6V0o7nljOMLfAVFqgHy3EOwk/s400/bela+-+1st+collage+-+web+res.jpg" width="230" /></a>The photographs in this blog were taken by our neighbor Susan Keller, who has provided her professional talents and skills to photograph Bela for her first year home. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Exactly one month ago today, we were in India at the orphanage where we picked up Bela. It's hard to believe, but time does fly!! The first few weeks were really difficult and it was hard to imagine that just a few weeks later it would feel like Bela has been our daughter for years! Bela has been feeling much more comfortable around my family and Ryan's family - especially his mom. Grandma is referred to as "muna" now and she seems happy when she see her. Bela has progressed so amazingly well in her language and association skills just in the last week or so. While she has a lot of catching up to do with language, she said "mommy i luw uuu" today - I just about melted!!!! She apparently learned that from one of her stuffed animal toys. She is also learning thank you and yummy, yummy, yummy. She is also eating without fussing too much - although she's not always hungry at the same time every day. She has been sleeping mostly on her own - occasionally she wakes in the middle of the night to see Ryan but once she does, she is asleep again. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MxOSgwQCuwodXoeZipPk-Es0qFvaM4LSMVAFpXN-D-ng3M0UPZ8myGlVRmGbKAEvoa0OTV7mMX5AJG5d18Ghe5cWJv7A03kJu6pWNG6szGdLJNlBSUb6oZu2alF-IsC8C207d9MvTho/s1600-h/Ryan+and+Bela+-+021809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MxOSgwQCuwodXoeZipPk-Es0qFvaM4LSMVAFpXN-D-ng3M0UPZ8myGlVRmGbKAEvoa0OTV7mMX5AJG5d18Ghe5cWJv7A03kJu6pWNG6szGdLJNlBSUb6oZu2alF-IsC8C207d9MvTho/s320/Ryan+and+Bela+-+021809.jpg" /></a>Bela also saw an endocrinologist today - we were really pleased with the doctor and the entire office staff and how they treated Bela. The doctor was equally impressed with the all the paperwork and testing the orphanage did for Bela. The doctor indicated that they orphanage did all the testing she would have done - wow!! That was very reassuring for us too since it was entirely up to the orphanage to conduct the necessary testing. Unfortunately though, I get to take Bela for another blood test. When I heard that, my mouth dropped since I immediately had flash backs of our first blood drawing experience where it took 2 adults to hold her down! Ugh!! Bela is also dancing a lot more these days - nodding her head back and forth and today she even stomped her feet up and down to John Mayer, Greenday and Jack Johnson. Her clean streak is still with her - picking up her shoes and putting them in the closet. We put a slide set in our backyard that another neighbor gave us and she seems to really enjoy playing on that - diving head first down the slide! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Only 30 days ago we picked up Bela and she seems to be a totally different person - full of joy, love and energy! My grandmother said it best when she said all she needed was a little love from her mom and dad! We are so blessed!</div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-10586435929072918672010-02-16T22:21:00.000-08:002010-02-16T22:54:46.749-08:00Wheeeeeee!!!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjfs5J2UrETEis3-FRj7f39F0qED0RCz1J4T3Yq9uQlI_QMMTw_urntcPPkPXxhk-RnmQlcwlUPtVnb2VNa6g5ubdyJJLD1Rd7HcbmO7IqDQLPJzdcZVeFV6vOUITiY1PZNwUrw1tiVE/s1600-h/Bela-ValentinesDay-AtGomezHouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjfs5J2UrETEis3-FRj7f39F0qED0RCz1J4T3Yq9uQlI_QMMTw_urntcPPkPXxhk-RnmQlcwlUPtVnb2VNa6g5ubdyJJLD1Rd7HcbmO7IqDQLPJzdcZVeFV6vOUITiY1PZNwUrw1tiVE/s320/Bela-ValentinesDay-AtGomezHouse.jpg" /></a>From my last post, Bela has become so much more comfortable around our family and friends - it's like a whole different bundle of fun! First our friends (Ryan's highschool friends and their family) came over with dinner. One couple had a baby boy and a 3 year old girl who brought her Barbies for Bela to play with - the Barbies were a hit but baby boy Casey was a bigger hit. She loved feeding him and would get so excited to be around him. The orphanage said that Bela is very sensitive around other children, always comforting those that got hurt or were crying. We saw some of that with baby Casey. But the last few play dates she has had, we have noticed that she really doesn't like people or kids touching her or hugging her unless she initiates the affection. She in fact tends to get overwhelmed and very cranky after a long play date with kids trying to hug and play with her. I'm not sure if this is normal, but Ryan's sister was telling us that she had to keep playdates with her twin girls to 30 minutes to not overwhelm them. So we learned that we need to keep playdates to about 30 minutes so she is not overwhelmed after.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhrs7ZIQsad2RfrNsY-NPRViNIJfUvB5h_85ZuMO9CPaMVi7sMACwLkB_v6RKniD5gZTOkZV6BGNMt24oz0ZoIuD6h1maYbwPgO_-Ys6GoR9KtNbQ0UAuz_b2OA9RJROuEe5l6x68TSQ/s1600-h/Bela'sVDayWknd-TustinCoast3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhrs7ZIQsad2RfrNsY-NPRViNIJfUvB5h_85ZuMO9CPaMVi7sMACwLkB_v6RKniD5gZTOkZV6BGNMt24oz0ZoIuD6h1maYbwPgO_-Ys6GoR9KtNbQ0UAuz_b2OA9RJROuEe5l6x68TSQ/s320/Bela'sVDayWknd-TustinCoast3.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">But this past weekend was Bela's first Valentine's weekend! We went to lunch with my family and friends where Bela got to run around outside with the backpack grandma bought her. She really enjoyed the water fountain and loved being independent and just playing freely in the sun. Then the following day we had a Valentine's party with Ryan's family - where she got to enjoy cake and sweethearts for the first time. Bela also discovered chocolate - wow, she loved chocolate kisses! But as you can see from the family photo above, she was still very quiet and not comfortable totally around new environments. Her expressions were typically very serious and stoic through-out that day. So the culimnation of Bela really opening up to our family was when we visited my sister and brother-in-law yesterday. By chance, Ryan and I both had appointments in their area so we took Bela with us and went to visit my sister. We spent about 4 hours there. After about hour 2, Bela started to really get comfortable with them. They were very careful in not to overwhelm her with hugs and kisses and to just let her do as she wanted without much expectation. So she discovered a basket full of blankets which was just big enough for her to sit in. That was it - all my sister and brother-in-law had to do was say whheeeee and start swinging her around in the basket! I haven't heard her laugh so loud since Ryan discovered her tickle spots!!!!! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAwD9VKzDXsVw2czHe0RbH25wnQFgeD8BlKRA2yYMsS_t7buzeZnMEsATNBU6Ic0IfhJgThzYAYvDeqZseNbe6yXhT9KqtNRJBa3Z3e06uXg-Fiuc-Uk1niIkZcN90cp_809y2NpA9aE/s1600-h/IMG_0748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAwD9VKzDXsVw2czHe0RbH25wnQFgeD8BlKRA2yYMsS_t7buzeZnMEsATNBU6Ic0IfhJgThzYAYvDeqZseNbe6yXhT9KqtNRJBa3Z3e06uXg-Fiuc-Uk1niIkZcN90cp_809y2NpA9aE/s320/IMG_0748.jpg" width="320" /></a>We were cracking up at how hard she was laughing! She even ran up to my sister and brother-in-law to give them hugs after they stopped swinging her around. Of course she had to place the basket back where she found it once she was done playing with it (her neatness and organization skills are still in tact)! But it was amazing just how much fun she had - she loved, loved, loved seeing her pictures in the camera. Even more fun, she loved posing and imitating us for the photos; we definintely discovered the hammy side of Bela for sure!! It was like a whole different little girl came out! I was telling my sister that I couldn't help but to wonder if Bela would ever open up to other people because she is typically so shy and stoic around anyone but us. If Bela wasn't adopted, I probably wouldn't think twice about that, but we tend to be very observant of her behavior to ensure that the adjustment and attachment process is going "normally" if you will. But those concerns started to fade away after yesterday with all the fun she had at my sister's house....pictures say a thousand words!! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoAFMaszon9JWDHatsX7RHxX_HVuU-O39Dkc7LkKMDLlRyy1LUFsEG_APxSzSgBENjDehawYjIP0ouLpzKKaxxfxbnX-Y96mElohyK4r3wYpoE5DmuWqaNqQdGGtz9o2U1K015fd8azYU/s1600-h/IMG_0754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoAFMaszon9JWDHatsX7RHxX_HVuU-O39Dkc7LkKMDLlRyy1LUFsEG_APxSzSgBENjDehawYjIP0ouLpzKKaxxfxbnX-Y96mElohyK4r3wYpoE5DmuWqaNqQdGGtz9o2U1K015fd8azYU/s320/IMG_0754.jpg" /></a>Then today, I had to go out for most of the day so Ryan's mom came over to help watch Bela during the day. She brought her tea set and immediately Bela began to play with her and started to serve her stuffed animals tea - we're not sure where she learned how to serve tea but it was like she had done it before and was just having a blast playing pretend tea party! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsS3EN3NQjgxu75sEumA96VgRojxIziL1tGMj1yEX0Vz1TGaWIzXJBrYaji2n85zbCWPjsqzjFxnOOWLeQ81xMnUsycIrAok5UfsvwsRSf_4gNKsMjNciblju8rGmDEGEdTacsv4ed0pE/s1600-h/teaparty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsS3EN3NQjgxu75sEumA96VgRojxIziL1tGMj1yEX0Vz1TGaWIzXJBrYaji2n85zbCWPjsqzjFxnOOWLeQ81xMnUsycIrAok5UfsvwsRSf_4gNKsMjNciblju8rGmDEGEdTacsv4ed0pE/s200/teaparty.jpg" width="200" /></a>I was just talking to Ryan about the fact that before Bela, we had a fun life (or so we thought). There wasn't anything we didn't do. We traveled, we went out every weekend, we enjoyed the company of our friends and family regulary. Now, we have Bela and while our travel has subsided a bit, we are having more fun than either one of us imagined. Don't get me wrong - being a new mom is tough and adjusting to a 2 year old is pretty hard, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! My grandmother said it best - just showing Bela love will warm our hearts as she starts to love us back. Seeing Bela's daily changes is so amazing. It's hard to believe that only 4 weeks ago she was at an orphanage in India!! The pictures below are all from my sister's house - the trick apparently to her shyness was discovering a way to swing her around - hope that doesn't mean I have to ride roller coasters with her???</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnjPylKXY6ZFPmI_Esb2kcqd7Gk26P3Ik4dkkoHl3O-UVNZ5zmOHfVtHW8q5RrP2HHARDO23MeZubsUnumU6oy7V7Cw1RAErUoTUotG4AglOY_DPhCGFuFGfBGdfoKk-Eb1R1ptNm19s/s1600-h/IMG_0747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnjPylKXY6ZFPmI_Esb2kcqd7Gk26P3Ik4dkkoHl3O-UVNZ5zmOHfVtHW8q5RrP2HHARDO23MeZubsUnumU6oy7V7Cw1RAErUoTUotG4AglOY_DPhCGFuFGfBGdfoKk-Eb1R1ptNm19s/s320/IMG_0747.jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZRYFXxL3MmUs4sLhekPjfTfoPx08qVBSHEHri12npXJMBvSyTpPqVqkkrWNiOoVhlG-s1u4mbCgsatXn3eTZudWIz4awF6Jx3ZcxmP1akQn58H-GG-g4l2nekLv1OUZpV5OytKGzLGg/s1600-h/IMG_0740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZRYFXxL3MmUs4sLhekPjfTfoPx08qVBSHEHri12npXJMBvSyTpPqVqkkrWNiOoVhlG-s1u4mbCgsatXn3eTZudWIz4awF6Jx3ZcxmP1akQn58H-GG-g4l2nekLv1OUZpV5OytKGzLGg/s320/IMG_0740.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kfXNUm6cQQ1P9Kx2UCgk64UNVkEGvPtUnt9F3hc_Dku-DgTPHQ4h7AUgktA2NbWiPP_zCDqal6an5W5XlgFMK45D9KGXseJzVVA2jnU8eDnG0a_5JYujSAaVcbPkF6_JBheDs53hOOo/s1600-h/IMG_0733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kfXNUm6cQQ1P9Kx2UCgk64UNVkEGvPtUnt9F3hc_Dku-DgTPHQ4h7AUgktA2NbWiPP_zCDqal6an5W5XlgFMK45D9KGXseJzVVA2jnU8eDnG0a_5JYujSAaVcbPkF6_JBheDs53hOOo/s320/IMG_0733.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-10384176352102287822010-02-11T17:32:00.000-08:002010-02-11T17:32:31.952-08:00"I'm Too Sexy for My Shirt"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBNdS1VfOdHthsa0gcD-7k9rTbjWE8lD6XuWCaAUcN4VeYacQXdSTug3ZAHg8alNHi9XEw_qoodniQb8hJiZICaMkcD098cSTCUWDsUSJJQa4MY-b8V7vV037p0G6GBeTq5e6MGk_r8c/s1600-h/Bela-sunglasses.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBNdS1VfOdHthsa0gcD-7k9rTbjWE8lD6XuWCaAUcN4VeYacQXdSTug3ZAHg8alNHi9XEw_qoodniQb8hJiZICaMkcD098cSTCUWDsUSJJQa4MY-b8V7vV037p0G6GBeTq5e6MGk_r8c/s200/Bela-sunglasses.bmp" width="200" /></a></div>So little Bela's personality has certainly come out even more the last few days. Turns out not only is Bela a girly girl (loving her Barbie’s and dolls) she loves to look at herself in the mirror!! One of her adoption reports said that but I didn't really realize how much she really did love that. Specifically, she loves to pick out her clothes in the morning, comb her hair and then stare in the mirror for a few minutes with a big smile! It's is the cutest thing in the world (at least in my opinion)!! She loves to wear sunglasses and pose with them on also. Her obsession with shoes is also totally cute - she insists on lining up her shoes and making sure that her pink ones are put away just right (her pink ones are her favorite). <br />
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So this past week, Ryan and I have been busy with post adoption stuff. For instance, I spent 2 hours at the OC Family Court trying to get paperwork filed to finalize Bela's adoption. Once the paperwork is filed, it takes about 6 months to finalize the adoption. This is after I spent 3 hours filling out all of the paperwork and getting all the right copies made. Turns out the court would NOT accept the forms without all of Bela's international adoption paperwork (of course they wouldn't be more specific than that). So I get to try again next week - I'm looking so forward to that line again (not!). Ryan's persistence definitely paid off in getting Bela an appointment with an endocrinologist though. He physically went down to the OC Choc hospital facility - only to find out they had no openings until April - so they referred us to the Newport Beach center. They also had no openings but the lady on the phone said Ryan sounded really friendly and was touched by our story about us adopting Bela so she squeezed us in for next week!! Woho - the sooner we can get in to see a specialist, the sooner Bela can get the right medication to catch her up on her height. Finally, today we had an Early Intervention Admissions person come and visit Bela. She did an initial evaluation to determine Bela's developmental progress. Bela did great with the puzzles and shapes but she is clearly behind on her language skills - the only problem is that we can't tell for sure whether she is behind because she is learning a new language or because she has some developmental catching up to do. So after an hour of her assessment she referred us to conduct a full evaluation at another facility next week. She said that Bela is doing fantastic on her gross motor and cognitive skills and seems to be very social considering how new her environment is. She was also impressed by the fact that Bela likes to get dressed and likes picking out her new clothes. In fact, she commented on Bela's appetite being better than her 11 yr old (Bela just polished off 6 chicken fingers for lunch - she discovered ketchup today and loves it!). She educated us on the some local learning programs that are offered by school districts for minimal costs - programs that include speech pathologists and various other specialists. The programs are designed for a child and parent (between 0-5) to interact with other children in a social, education environment. There is a program called the learning link in south OC that we will be enrolling Bela into. She is not that social with children so we think this would be a great program to get her involved with.<br />
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So next week will be interesting as I will be out for 3 mornings while Ryan and his mom watch Bela. Bela seems to be mesmerized by sitting on a recliner and watching learning videos so hopefully that will help next week. We are just not ready to hire a nanny or sitter because we feel her attachment is still pretty fragile and we don't want to take any steps backwards by introducing her to a new caregiver. BTW, I got to spend some alone time with Bela running errands today – she did amazing. She didn’t fuss at all in her car seat and seemed to enjoy the grocery store – especially since we were buying bananas (her favorite). She is definitely feeling much more comfortable with me while Ryan is working. I love the alone time we get – it’s so much fun showing her new things. BTW – I have picked up singing. I am definitely not a singer, but Bela seems to enjoy it when I do it so I figured, what the hec! Singing out loud is almost therapeutic in many ways so I try to do it at least once a day with her. She loves a CD that my friend gave her of Hindu yoga songs for kids.Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-68077499916606115122010-02-08T15:00:00.000-08:002010-02-08T15:01:19.200-08:00Bela Loves Her Barbies and Her First Superbowl!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExWNaw-wkHJ_OW0g-lhrHkovaBm8_t0ywFGfYus_gMetPB-Hi7C1ITeZma1fV64JgS8gMZIPDCdHkIq5cK8tKUc1GcL8DrBRrDVjP5hAl5pCvlx9oaYdCATYe5pDnFF5IVhgoNj-xjkg/s1600-h/CIMG1634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExWNaw-wkHJ_OW0g-lhrHkovaBm8_t0ywFGfYus_gMetPB-Hi7C1ITeZma1fV64JgS8gMZIPDCdHkIq5cK8tKUc1GcL8DrBRrDVjP5hAl5pCvlx9oaYdCATYe5pDnFF5IVhgoNj-xjkg/s320/CIMG1634.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So who would have known that our daughter loves to eat chicken wings and ranch, while watching football. Bela and mommy were rooting for the Saints!! While Bela is certainly a girly girl - playing with her barbies and wearing mommy's bangles up to her elbows, she had a blast at her first Superbowl! She was very playful and seemed to enjoy herself despite new people coming over to see her. She would get shy for a little while then she would open up and play again. Even without a nap, she did amazing (although she was out by 6pm till 7am the next morning). She found French onion dip delicious but didn't care for the bean dip too much. Mommy taught her how to motion when the Saints scored a touchdown and also how to point out a first down! Bela continues to pick up new words and is feeling even more comfortable with me alone. She can tell us in sign language when she is hungry and when she wants more of something. She also learned how to recognize her eyes, ears, mouth, head and nose in English. Today, Bela even went with me to run a few errands and to go clothes shopping and she was amazing the whole time. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_R9BVYR65YTHzmkBva9r4PUSNiL_lybckkGj2udmkt9UpmAVyYNGg1XAKr1T2p17t5D6XTDFeZmqeYRXpb0ApIxWrORifhRY8pG289a3k0x44JwppbQxtjvJNezccIICS9lH2z88QLY/s1600-h/CIMG1638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_R9BVYR65YTHzmkBva9r4PUSNiL_lybckkGj2udmkt9UpmAVyYNGg1XAKr1T2p17t5D6XTDFeZmqeYRXpb0ApIxWrORifhRY8pG289a3k0x44JwppbQxtjvJNezccIICS9lH2z88QLY/s320/CIMG1638.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We have noticed however that she is regressing from her potty training. She seems to just now go in her diaper and then tell us about it afterwards or not at all. So we're going to have to employ so some good old fashion potty training techniques again to get her back into the swing of things - might need to start from scratch. While it certainly has surprised me - I am thoroughly enjoying being a mom and seeing her personality come to light (even her little mischievous side which likes to throw food on the floor). This week we get to focus on all the post adoption paperwork and getting her specialist appointment. Let's hope all of the above is very painless! The good news is that Bela is great at taking her medicine and multi-vitamins - it's almost odd but she loves them. </div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-35983080779732583542010-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:002010-02-05T10:13:04.948-08:00Back to Nap TimeToday was another great day for a first! It was Bela's first bath without crying! Daddy managed to teach her how to have fun in the water. Since we picked Bela up, she has been screaming and whaling during her bath. Today she had tons of fun with the rubber duckies and even wanted me to wash her hair - holy smokes! The experience was so much more pleasant than it has ever been!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotzRb-zHn9kLWOm8hLNnLnmYRoDi9kBvw1sRhn6xaXcCxf5h3E7LcrcHe4qHepHkWxc6A8nlSAmZ2hGVC3Rfa7FccDLf469wel2TUh0zWcXSvm49TKG_iFI49t4kgUseuG_Y5SLANUuo/s1600-h/CIMG1625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotzRb-zHn9kLWOm8hLNnLnmYRoDi9kBvw1sRhn6xaXcCxf5h3E7LcrcHe4qHepHkWxc6A8nlSAmZ2hGVC3Rfa7FccDLf469wel2TUh0zWcXSvm49TKG_iFI49t4kgUseuG_Y5SLANUuo/s320/CIMG1625.JPG" /></a></div>But we're back to trying nap times again. Last night Bela wanted to go to bed around 5:30pm - way too early. So daddy kept her busy playing and having fun with pipe cleaners to keep her awake till at least 6:30pm (see picture). But taking care of daddy while he was sick, taking care of Bela and keeping the house in order has definitely taken its toll. Time for mommy to get out and go shopping! I have always said that being a mom is like having a full time job - but I never knew just how right I was! I have a whole new respect for stay at home moms!!<br />
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It’s been less than 2 weeks since we brought Bela home from India. Here are 10 things we have learned so about her since then...<br />
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1. She is not a morning person!<br />
2. She loves to take things out so she can put them away again<br />
3. She loves spaghetti, cheerios, bread, tortilla chips and quesadillas<br />
4. She is a girly girl! She loves shoes, bracelets and purses<br />
5. She is a good medicine taker as long as it's in liquid form<br />
6. She hates sleeping in a crib - prefers a queen bed instead<br />
7. She has to be able to touch her belly button when she sleeps<br />
8. She loves going outside but not very far from the house while walking around<br />
9. She loves playing with dolls and likes to comb their hair and put shoes on them<br />
10. She is a quick learner - she is learning new English words everyday (including how to give a high five and a fist pound)!<br />
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Of course she is loves throwing tantrums when she wants something that she doesn't get. She also prefers daddy to hold her when possible. But all in all, we're sooooo amazed at how quickly Bela has progressed. She is a ton of fun and I can't wait for her to wake up every morning. Of course I would prefer she not throw so many tantrums during the day, but they call it the terrible 2's for a reason!Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-43445130530080791252010-02-02T06:19:00.000-08:002010-02-02T06:19:49.449-08:00Little Miss Independent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOzAv_gUhMeCW1yZ6XJJOLOx0ABpMjXep2QzBvOMf0N9oOwpQOQFOCrZozLBHNoaW2VkM34O4ZsNAFfDaLSEALAuEhYpA1Iqk4UCieVL3HI63fJPWSLGkHuBzRx2PvlWkh6v4eybs9Co/s1600-h/CIMG1601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOzAv_gUhMeCW1yZ6XJJOLOx0ABpMjXep2QzBvOMf0N9oOwpQOQFOCrZozLBHNoaW2VkM34O4ZsNAFfDaLSEALAuEhYpA1Iqk4UCieVL3HI63fJPWSLGkHuBzRx2PvlWkh6v4eybs9Co/s320/CIMG1601.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So it's been 4 days since my last blog and LOTS has happened. For one, Bela went to her first outing to the park. The walk there was great but then she started to melt down when our nieces and nephews came over to play with her. We then took her to my nephew's first birthday - originally we were NOT planning on doing that because we were afraid of Bela being overwhelmed, especially with the park incident the day before. What prompted us to take her was a little family encouragement and Bela in the hours prior started motioning to us to go outside again. So we took our cues from her and decided to take her and keep her busy on the slides - away from the crowd. That seemed to work really well - she had a fabulous time playing on the slides for hours and hours. Everyone at the party was able to see her from afar - I dressed her in purple so she was easy to spot. Dad had to be nearby at all times while she was playing but she didn't have a single tantrum. She was coined the nickname "Miss Independent" because she wanted absolutely no help climbing on the ladders and the play area - even on the really high ladders. She is a determined little girl especially for being so small! Her size does not deter her from climbing on even the tallest ladders! So we were really happy with how that day went. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9k1sAxhOoo5zRkJHz0hAKMgEVSF1SwafNMvqSodi4zNbjL8fpztPc_NHmcHy1jUbIm0brvPRhUVd_etiqMVqzDQB7KT0K0U5XFExzVcth7nSR_hL_0ARx0szKrOLvXpkuVnlQsLvdc0/s1600-h/CIMG1602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9k1sAxhOoo5zRkJHz0hAKMgEVSF1SwafNMvqSodi4zNbjL8fpztPc_NHmcHy1jUbIm0brvPRhUVd_etiqMVqzDQB7KT0K0U5XFExzVcth7nSR_hL_0ARx0szKrOLvXpkuVnlQsLvdc0/s320/CIMG1602.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Then finally yesterday, the day Ryan had a 101 fever (seems the party was more tiring for him), Bela started to latch on to me. While she would occasionally look for Ryan through-out the day, she would started to really open up to me today. The day started with Ryan needing to go back to work (at his home office) so she started to search the entire house for him. She could hear him but couldn't figure out where he was. So I got to bath her, dress her, feed her, tickle her, play with her, take her out for a walk and even put her to bed!! She fell asleep without dad for the first time. She did reach out and want him nearby at various parts of the day but it was a great day yesterday for me and Bela. She is now calling me and Ryan mama but to me that's amazing progress! She was laughing and smiling a lot yesterday and again, not a single tantrum. She discovered baked potato soup and seemed to like it. She also loves cherrios and the colored fish for snack time. She is getting more comfortable around Lucky our cat - she is chasing him around the house and pulling his tail. He has been a great sport and when he has enough, he bolts. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-o_rGQRdso_nyEW5XwtdQDUfS_1P7QoxJaF_paVxPaJ05p-OdyQmoKZjd7WoZkToE7pCs36bvew-D0r87UF6XjoXyH2oJenAoboe_VjFg3s6g47GrgANdwcgzpVLRw4WKJURkNRZtxc/s1600-h/CIMG1592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-o_rGQRdso_nyEW5XwtdQDUfS_1P7QoxJaF_paVxPaJ05p-OdyQmoKZjd7WoZkToE7pCs36bvew-D0r87UF6XjoXyH2oJenAoboe_VjFg3s6g47GrgANdwcgzpVLRw4WKJURkNRZtxc/s200/CIMG1592.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjseOgF0DNy4bQPWCoEJT4KNWV47cJ7loYbHSv8OIDd-YJJIsN2KCP2Fle70089KXY4zLmEhLpFzsdqXi65zy6NO-eJ1nXfE_2piOyGqloefat6-CJHNDEy2uC0k4vYJ9T3UhuRJIrQues/s1600-h/CIMG1591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjseOgF0DNy4bQPWCoEJT4KNWV47cJ7loYbHSv8OIDd-YJJIsN2KCP2Fle70089KXY4zLmEhLpFzsdqXi65zy6NO-eJ1nXfE_2piOyGqloefat6-CJHNDEy2uC0k4vYJ9T3UhuRJIrQues/s200/CIMG1591.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-91210168162564121762010-01-29T16:08:00.000-08:002010-01-29T16:11:45.039-08:00OMG...The First Doctor Visit!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dmapnDPq7-j9Ii76L5WxEXXxXAYpi6iFntjl-sp6PYKm2D0aK6eClJ0T_0unMDpLCOxkS-1SJMLfKZfuOdyZyKQksGlf-T39yUIGznk2EPihE3sR9njreGd9pQLwpVVT9jhZbYKGFt4/s1600-h/CIMG1589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dmapnDPq7-j9Ii76L5WxEXXxXAYpi6iFntjl-sp6PYKm2D0aK6eClJ0T_0unMDpLCOxkS-1SJMLfKZfuOdyZyKQksGlf-T39yUIGznk2EPihE3sR9njreGd9pQLwpVVT9jhZbYKGFt4/s320/CIMG1589.JPG" /></a>Ok is it me or are Ryan and I totally underestimating every first with Bela!?! So today was Bela's first doctor visit. She had a fit in the car seat although we were expecting that because our first experience with the car seat was from the airport (but we were unprepared for that first tantrum too!). Luckily the Dr. was only a 5 minute drive. So while we waited at the Dr.'s office, Bela was having a good time with Ryan by playing with the toys and playhouse in the office. When we got into the Dr.'s office however, that was a WHOLE different story! She had pooped in her pants so bad it was riding up her back - of course mom didn't bring the diaper bag in the Dr's office and of course mom forgot to pack a change of clothes. The Dr. keeps diapers and stuff stocked so that helped but it was totally disgusting. She then threw a fit the entire time during the checkup. We had given her Dr. all of her medical records prior so she knew all the vaccinations that Bela had received already. However, she needed the nasal flu shot and then a shot on the arm for one other vaccination - we weren't prepared for her to get a shot! OMG!!!!! </div><br />
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When the worst was over, we then had to go down the street (another drive in the car seat) to draw blood. It took 3 people to hold her down to get her blood drawn!!! She threw such a fit that she bumped her head at the office on the counter. We could not wait to get the hec out of there and Bela pretty much stopped her fit as soon we started heading toward the elevators. Man - Ryan and I were wiped from the experience. Once Bela got home (after another fit in the car seat), she acted as if nothing had happened. She had lunch, started to joke around with Ryan (mom was still unloading the car and emptying the mess in the back seat) and she even pointed to her "owie" on her arm and gave an expression of how it hurt. Clearly we were more traumatized from the day’s events than she was! Now mom gets to follow Bela to the potty so she can collect 4 stool samples (yes, 4 different stool samples collected in 3 different jars each!)....the joys of motherhood never end! :) Seriously though, Bela is a resilient little girl and we're just so glad she is now back to "normal" now that we are home. She even learned how to give Ryan fist pound after she goes potty. <br />
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Bela is holding a wooden cat that seems to be like a lot. She points to Lucky when she is holding the cat but still is too afraid to pet our real cat. Oh well, at least she likes the fake cat.Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-48922705221404824052010-01-29T07:54:00.000-08:002010-01-29T07:54:44.218-08:00Mommy's First Head Butt!So right after my last post, it was dinner time for Bela. She got very fussy and head-butted me by accident in a fit of rage. I lost it (started crying) as it hurt so bad and I think I was just very frustrated. So there Ryan was consoling both me and Bela at the same time. When Bela saw me cry, she got very quiet and stoic again - almost remorseful for what had happened. She wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Needless to say, dinner was over that night. Bela woke up in the middle of the night and refused to go to sleep. What we figured out was that she was hungry and once she had a banana she was fine and went back to sleep. So yesterday we tried her on a different schedule.<br />
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After reviewing her schedule from the orphanage, it looked like she was eating much bigger meals here with us than she was used to. She was used to multiple smaller meals. Instead, she would have a big breakfast, a good sized lunch and we would then give her snacks before dinner - leading to small dinner and a middle of the night hunger craving. So we went without a nap yesterday and didnt have any snacks until about an hour before bed where we gave her warm milk and a banana (after a full dinner). She went to bed immediately and the times she woke up, she was just searching for Ryan and went right back to sleep once she saw him. So yesterday was a great day in our book - one of the best since we have been home. My sister and sister-in-law also came over and made some food for us since I was still pretty sick. It was nice to have some adult interaction again since it seems like we have been cooped up for weeks - even though it's only been 5 days. So Bela is now sleeping with her butt stuck way up high with her belly button just a finger tip away. Today is her first Doctor's visit - let's hope the fits don't show up there!Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1974920854759637318.post-63940146726267461902010-01-27T17:48:00.000-08:002010-01-27T17:48:28.246-08:002 Year old with a clean streak??So Bela and Daddy managed to get some sleep last night. So much in fact that at 9am we had to wake little Bela up otherwise she could have slept for much longer. She also slept for 3 hours for her nap today also so our plan is to keep her up a bit later so she will sleep through the whole night. Hopefully this trial and error won't cause a major issue tonight. One thing is for sure, Bela is NOT a morning baby, but then again, not sure any baby is. It's odd however how clean Bela is. She insists on wiping herself after going potty, insists on picking up her crayons and blocks after she is done playing with them; she remembers which drawers had which books and puts them in the right drawer and she even like to put our shoes away. Even more odd for a 2 year old is that any food she drops or purposely throws (with the evil smirk of course) she wants to get on the floor right after and pick it up or point it out to us to pick up. Normally we would be thrilled with this behavior but we're concerned that this could be some weird coping mechanism to being adopted??? Whatever it is, I hope some healthy form of that behavior lasts! Bela still has 2-year old fits of rage and tantrums but it's kind of nice to know she hasa clean streak!?!<br />
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Today was full of a lot of first's with Bela and mommy though! She let me hold her while I fed her breakfast - she definintely is getting used to American foods. Daddy had to be nearby while I was feeding her but that was definintely a first where she sat on my lap for a change! She also reached out and grabbed my finger to walk toward the door for a few seconds. Hopefully, these are all progress signs of her beginning to attach with me...only time will tell of course. I know daddy is looking very forward to when Bela wants mommy to sleep with instead :)Reshma Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816981247632137517noreply@blogger.com0