The past 3 weeks have flown by and seemingly stood still at times. It's been a crazy gamut of emotions for all of us. Personally, I feel like I'm coming out from under the heavy cloud of jet lag and complete exhaustion. The kids seems to have endless energy and stamina. "She fits in" doesn't even seem to touch the experience we've had with adding Stella to our family. It's almost an understatement. Again I'll say, she's that missing piece to our family that we didn't even know was missing. It's hard to believe we've gone from this...
to this...
Stella wants so much to be independent in caring for herself (changing clothes, brushing teeth, going to the bathroom). It's not like she had a choice in China. We have been and still do to some degree insist on helping with simple daily tasks. The purpose is to instill the security and comfort of being cared for by a parent. It's strange to think we have to teach our 4 year old that, but sometimes it is part of adoption. She still helps with Samuel. She strives to keep Joey (pronounced Joe-Yeah...it's cute) in line. Despite the language barrier, Stella does really well to communicate and understand the basic responsibilities of being a Webb kid.
We're juggling new adventures and the lack of life experiences. Whether it's her oblivion to the hot stove top or swiping random items from the counter to be promptly stored in her purse, it's just obvious that so much about Stella's new life is just that...new...uncharted territory. Stella's comfort is growing though. Comfort with family. Comfort with rules and expectations. Some say that children are more likely to express themselves at home (both good and bad) because home is that safe place where love should be/is found without conditions. Stella is starting to express herself more little by little. Refusing to lie down for naps. Refusing food. Taking liberties with things off limit. These are all positive steps as she learns and explores.
We ventured out to church yesterday morning. Call us crazy. It went very well. Thanks to our wonderful teachers, Stella will now be able to add a little Hebrew into her Chinese language. Stella was content to color throughout class or instruct me on what to color. Also there were donuts involved. She met a lot of new faces, some she was more cautious with than others. That was actually nice to see. Not that we want her to shy away from our friends who are pretty amazing, but it was nice to see that Stella was cautious of strangers. Often when children are starved for attention (unlike in families) in their early years, they tend to be friendly with anyone and everyone in hopes of receiving that needed attention. Stella waved freely to all friendly faces from a distance. She gave a few high-5s too.
The furry girls arrived home Saturday with the help of my mom and aunt. Although we've talked about Molly and Gracie for weeks now, nothing could've prepared a young girl for the overwhelming beauty of an 80 lb. dog. Or was it her monstrous size? Either way, Stella is cautious around Gracie, keeping at least 3 feet of distance between herself and the dog. That involves taking the looooooong way around the kitchen sometimes. And Molly? Well, they were fast friends, according to Stella. Because Molly is 16+ years old, she sees mostly shadows and can hear very littke. She was greeted by a wildly waving tambourine and "Hi, Molly". Stella has been adamant that Molly be fed constantly - chips, cookies, pretzels, whatever Stella deems appropriate. It's pretty cute when Stella says "Hi, Baby" to Molly because she hears me talk to Molly (yes, I talk to our dogs). She just might be a big fan of dogs, much like her momma!
On Our Way to the New Norm
As we settle into our 2nd "real" week back home with school and laundry, my mom and aunt are here to help out while Russ is traveling a little for work. Having the extra help (which is like having not 1, but 2 mommas visiting) is a welcome transition period to our new life. Dear friends are still providing meals and that is HUGE! We're figuring out the recipe for our new norm...slowly, but surely! The secret ingredient: God's grace! Also, sleep is nice.
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