It was one month ago yesterday that Sasha officially became a member of our family. I can’t believe it’s been a month already although each day it gets a little harder to remember life without her. She’s come a long way in a months time. We continue to shelter her some by not taking her many places and not having a lot of new people over. This has really helped her connect with us and learn who family is which is so important. She’s never had different levels of people in her life. One caregiver is no different from another so establishing the significance of parents and family is a strange idea to her. This past weekend she got to webcam with her cousins on the west coast for the first time. We kept it short and she did really well with them. We’ve been looking at pictures and video of family so that has helped the introductions to be less overwhelming as well.
With each week that goes by she feels a little more comfortable and something that was previously off limits becomes okay. For example up to now I would randomly rub her back or head and she would immediately move away from me. However this week when I did it she liked it and wanted me to do it again. I even was able to use this touch to calm and relax her at bedtime one night this week. She apparently is ready to open herself up just a little more. This kind of touching is great for bonding so what a blessing that she is willing to allow a little more skin to skin touch. Her ability to hold eye contact with us gets better and longer all the time as well. We have some games and play time things that we do to try and increase this since it is also an important factor in her attachment process.
Today we visited the zoo and all she’s talked about since are the monkeys. We only saw a few things and stayed a short time but it still proved to be quite stimulating for her. Even good stimulation which makes her happy is tough because she doesn’t know how to handle it. Her instincts are to use the same survival skills that served her well at the baby home. So, bed time and nap time proved to be a little bit of a challenge today. At least we are learning more and more about how she responds to things so we were prepared to handle it tonight.
While at the zoo a friend, Anna, picked up on something interesting that we hadn‘t even noticed. In Russia they point at something or gesture using their entire hand and this is how Sasha addressed things when Anna first met her a week or so ago. Today Anna noticed right away that Sasha would point at something using her finger. I find this interesting because we can verbally hear how she’s learning English but something like this is an automatic response. Knowing that some of her automatic responses are beginning to make the transition from Russian culture to American culture definitely shows how well and how quickly she is adjusting to her new environment. In addition, over the past week or two she has really taken an interest in her books. Several times a day she’ll bring a book out and want to sit and read. We then proceed to read through every book in her room!
Something else that’s kind of interesting has taken place at dinner time. We always sit down and eat dinner together at the table and we always say grace before we eat. Matt and I always hold hands and we place our other hand on the table next to Sasha. Just this past week she has begun taking our hands and holding them during prayer time. Each day she holds on just a little longer and tonight when we finished she actually copied us and said Amen!
So in a months time here is a highlights list of Sasha's firsts:
1. Her first English word (bye bye which is the only word she knew on our first visit)
2. First bath in an actual bathtub
3. First airplane ride
4. First visit to Red Square
5. Befriended two rather large dogs
6. First time in a big swimming pool
7. First time using the webcam
8. First bubble bath
9. First trip to the zoo
10. First time having her own room and her own toys
11. First time having her toenails painted
12. Probably the first time she’s been actually tucked into bed.
13. First time having a mama and papa who love her!
Even though we started life with her at two, we sure don’t feel like we have missed out on to many firsts. A lot of the first time things come because a parent has been there to love, nurture and guide their child. Sasha never had that so it makes sense we get to experience a lot of firsts with her.
With each week that goes by she feels a little more comfortable and something that was previously off limits becomes okay. For example up to now I would randomly rub her back or head and she would immediately move away from me. However this week when I did it she liked it and wanted me to do it again. I even was able to use this touch to calm and relax her at bedtime one night this week. She apparently is ready to open herself up just a little more. This kind of touching is great for bonding so what a blessing that she is willing to allow a little more skin to skin touch. Her ability to hold eye contact with us gets better and longer all the time as well. We have some games and play time things that we do to try and increase this since it is also an important factor in her attachment process.
Today we visited the zoo and all she’s talked about since are the monkeys. We only saw a few things and stayed a short time but it still proved to be quite stimulating for her. Even good stimulation which makes her happy is tough because she doesn’t know how to handle it. Her instincts are to use the same survival skills that served her well at the baby home. So, bed time and nap time proved to be a little bit of a challenge today. At least we are learning more and more about how she responds to things so we were prepared to handle it tonight.
While at the zoo a friend, Anna, picked up on something interesting that we hadn‘t even noticed. In Russia they point at something or gesture using their entire hand and this is how Sasha addressed things when Anna first met her a week or so ago. Today Anna noticed right away that Sasha would point at something using her finger. I find this interesting because we can verbally hear how she’s learning English but something like this is an automatic response. Knowing that some of her automatic responses are beginning to make the transition from Russian culture to American culture definitely shows how well and how quickly she is adjusting to her new environment. In addition, over the past week or two she has really taken an interest in her books. Several times a day she’ll bring a book out and want to sit and read. We then proceed to read through every book in her room!
Something else that’s kind of interesting has taken place at dinner time. We always sit down and eat dinner together at the table and we always say grace before we eat. Matt and I always hold hands and we place our other hand on the table next to Sasha. Just this past week she has begun taking our hands and holding them during prayer time. Each day she holds on just a little longer and tonight when we finished she actually copied us and said Amen!
So in a months time here is a highlights list of Sasha's firsts:
1. Her first English word (bye bye which is the only word she knew on our first visit)
2. First bath in an actual bathtub
3. First airplane ride
4. First visit to Red Square
5. Befriended two rather large dogs
6. First time in a big swimming pool
7. First time using the webcam
8. First bubble bath
9. First trip to the zoo
10. First time having her own room and her own toys
11. First time having her toenails painted
12. Probably the first time she’s been actually tucked into bed.
13. First time having a mama and papa who love her!
Even though we started life with her at two, we sure don’t feel like we have missed out on to many firsts. A lot of the first time things come because a parent has been there to love, nurture and guide their child. Sasha never had that so it makes sense we get to experience a lot of firsts with her.
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