Some Answers

Here are a few answers to some of the questions we received ... let me know if you have more!  This really helps me get a blog post up! I know there are still a few I haven't addressed, but this is long enough for now.


Does she ever cry?
Lilya DOESN'T cry - she makes the saddest face, like she's terrified, but no sound comes out.  She makes this face when I try to cover her with a blanket and she doesn't want one, or when the nurse is checking Ruby's throat & Ruby's crying.  Like I said, she looks absolutely terrified, and it's quite sad to see.  She simply does not have the experience to know what response crying brings.  I don't know if at the orphanage they told them to be quiet, or if they ignored cries and children learn that crying does no good.  Either way, it's pathetically sad.

Is she able to understand anything you are saying? Has she picked up any words? 
Lily seems to understand much of what we say, and she's picking up signs very quickly - especially signs about food.  The girl loves to eat!  And she really does seem to understand much of what we're saying - her frustration level has been very low, which is wonderful.

Has she tried to say the other 3 kids names? 
Not yet, but she does say Mama & Papa.  She sings in the car, wagon, stroller - and she'll babble & giggle to herself in bed as she's falling asleep, but she doesn't have a lot of English words yet.

As for adjustment / sharing mom & dad with the other kids:
She's lengthening her hold on me - she used to follow me around all day, and now she'll wander into the other rooms & explore without me.  It's nice to know she's secure enough to roam around on her own, and she still looks so happy to see me when I walk into the room.  It took a day or two, but she's warmed up to Brian again, as well.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's been more of a change for Ruby & Braden than for Lily - Lily's used to sharing adults with a group of kids.   It's still my plan to keep Lilya home with me for at least this fall - we're talking about school for 2nd semester, starting in January.

How is Lily doing?
Overall, I think she's going great!  She's a super good eater - bananas are a favorite.  She's still not drinking very much, but we're working on it.  She really only likes to drink milk, and sometimes we'll warm it for her.  Now that her throat infection is better, she's much more willing to eat, which is such a relief.

Lily's sleeping in our room in a toddler bed, and she's doing great.  She goes to bed without fuss, and I stay in the room reading while she falls asleep, so she doesn't get frightened.  So far, the only bedtime issue we have is she really, really dislikes being covered up with a blanket - odd, but not such a big deal.

She's also really good about going potty - we're still using Pull-ups, because I don't want her upset by an accident and figure we can take our time.  Most days, though, she'll wear the same Pull-up all day and keep it dry, which is fantastic.  She's also figured out (like Ruby) that signing "potty" will get you to the other side of the baby gates in our house, and so it's fun to go potty, for something different.

I'm actually pretty amazed by how well she's doing.  She doesn't show any signs of grief or missing her orphanage - hopefully the extra attention and family setting are enough to keep her happy & content.  It was hard at first when she was sick, she was miserable and she just wasn't her usual sunshiney self, but she is once again and we couldn't be happier!

* * * * * * *
Jill,  The hardest thing for me through this was all the unknowns.  It was hard to wait patiently and never know if the next step would be in 2 weeks or 2 months.  We did everything we needed to do as fast as we could ... and then we'd have to wait.  I tried to have big goals - when I knew we could have her home sometime between May & August, I kept in mind that we wanted her here by mid-August, for her birthday.

It was hard watching other families get to Ukraine & go home with their child in a matter of a few weeks in country - and it took us 2 months total to do that.  Not that I'd begrudge another family a speedy adoption, but it was  hard to watch sometimes.  My thought then was we aren't in this for a quick adoption, we're in this for Lilya's adoption ... and that really helped.

Once we got to Ukraine, I thought it would be unbearable to leave her & go home ... but it wasn't.  It wasn't easy, but we knew she was in a good place and well cared for and she'd be fine until we got back to her.  So, even though it takes longer to adopt from her orphanage, there were certainly advantages - like peace of mind.


And MoonDog ... when you're ready to move your clan to Wisconsin, I'm happy to help you house hunt! :)

If you missed it, Brian posted a video on our family blog the other night, Ruby & Lily dancing.  So cute!