 |
| Painting our nails! |
My university students have seen my babies' early language samples and vocabulary development (from all four kids) to learn what typical language development and institutionalized/second language learning looks like. I'm so happy that I did that on a whim when Sam was a baby nearly 14 years ago. As I teach the students from my own kids' samples, it is so fun to look back and see how each child had different first words and different types of early sentence forms. SO, little Vivian's speech and language skills will be documented just as carefully...what is a little different about her second language learning is that she is quite older than Lydia was....and that she has a cleft palate...fascinating and extra fun!
Also, I know that I have not shared with my readers much about her. So here is my little informal assessment of my sweet Vivian within the first couple of days of meeting her (and from some previous knowledge given from caregiver reports):
Background Information: Vivian was born with a cleft lip and palate. Her lip was was repaired at 1 1/2 years old. The exact time of her palate repair is somewhat unknown. An update given to our agency at age 2 1/2 said "oh, by the way, her palate has been fixed too", so it was most likely around that time (which is quite delayed compared to the care she would have received here in the US had she been born here and with a family)...palates are repaired much sooner than that in a typical situation. Her nannies say that she can talk to them in phrases and they understand her wants and needs, but her speech is difficult to understand (which is expected even with a repaired palate).
 |
| Coloring with her sister |
Based on the updates and developmental reports, she seemed on track; but I expected her to have some significant delays, because I feel that sometimes the orphanage might exaggerate their skills to make it sound better. However, within the first two days of meeting her, I observed things that pleasantly surprised me (actually made me so excited) and I will explain:
Vivian is now 3 1/2 years old. When they put her in my arms, I could feel how tiny she is...all skin and bones and she has the little body of a 24 month old (but not the kind you imagine, with baby chub, but a more slender build because she is as tall as a 3-4 year old). Putting on 2T clothes is generous, with the sleeves down past her wrist; and 3T is downright laughable, because the little jeggings just slip right off her skinny booty...the tiny panties I brought look like granny panties!
So, because of her small size and cuddly sadness, she appears like a toddler...that's what we thought anyway...boy were we wrong! She played the toddler game for a little while (letting us do things for her because we didn't know any better...how kind and sweet of her) But, as we covertly watched her play, eat, and do things herself, it is apparent that she is very adept at 3-4 year old tasks. Looks can be deceiving. My first clue, was watching her body language, which is so hilarious! As she would wait for us to talk to people or complete a task, she actually stood with her hand on one hip or with one finger on her cheek propping up her chin, like she was bored and impatiently waiting for us to finish...wish I had a picture of that.
The next thing that was so precious was her pretend play. She opened and closed containers, dumping, pouring, and stirring like she was mixing up a yummy little dish and then fed them to whomever was around. First her baby dolls, then her stuffed tiger, then people in photos. She stood up her stuffed tiger and danced him around, then sat him to watch her cook. While coloring with Lydia, she colored away and when her page was full, she silently turned to a clean sheet. She can unscrew all containers, and when she eats her congee (which she starts to eat and then spits it out), she actually taps the spoon on the side of the bowl and scrapes off the drips before bringing it to her mouth. She knew that if she laid the water bottle lid up on the armrest on the train, that it would fall off, so she handed it to me instead. She can take on and off her clothes (which at the beginning she pretended not to be able to do...little stinker!) and can tell me when she needs a change (we have to use pull-ups now because of all of the running around we have to do and toilets aren't easily accessible). She watches Lydia and I do a task and then tries to imitate us. It is so sweet to watch her notice that she dribbled juice on her little dress or got eggs on the table and she will wipe it with a napkin. She knows that we can't speak Chinese, so she uses body language...watching her shoo away an undesired item with a little hand wave is hysterical. (maybe I can get it on video).
 |
| Wonder if she has ever painted her nails? She watched Lydia and then laid her fingers out to be next. So sweet! |
Little missy is very strong willed and stubborn! She is kind of sassy and knows what she wants (which are traits that I love and fit perfectly into our family). Now that she is done playing "helpless" we are seeing that act was just to entertain us and her being sweet/kind to the nice strangers. Now, she is ready to show us who she really is, and what she thinks is that she is in charge of herself and doesn't need a Mommy telling her what to do. Well, I'm afraid she is a little mistaken and will be disappointed, because God gave her one of the most strong-willed Mommy's on earth and it will be a challenge to win at that game...Mommy always wins! Even little ones at my office soon realize when they wish to engage in that power game...Teresa always wins. Sorry, Vivian :)
 |
| Not wanting to get up off the floor... |
 |
| Tolerating the camera with a sassy, impatient look! |
As with any "analysis" little people evolve so quickly over time, and in this situation will most likely have ups and downs as she switches to new environments, new people, and new expectations. Her speech and language delays are a given, and compared to US preschoolers who have early education opportunities, I'm sure she would look "behind". But today, it is fun to talk about what she can do because it is all new to us and is who she is. As time goes on, we will surely find other struggles and her "issues" (as Lydia likes to say..."Mommy, we all have issues don't we?") and tackle them as they emerge. Until then, so thankful for the little person that we will have the joy of parenting...She is just perfect.
Will think about surgeries and therapy later...first things first, trying to get her to feel better....little V. is sick and feeling worse each day :( More on that soon...
 |
| Won't even eat her suckers...just wants to lay on the carpet and sleep. Fusses when I try to make her lay in a puffy, comfy bed....that must be her comfort spot |
No comments:
Post a Comment