Pantomime Time

For the fourth year in a row, I've participated in the annual pantomime at a local community theatre.  No, not MIME... pantomime.

Pantomime (informally panto), is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is generally performed during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, slapstick comedy and dancing, employs gender-crossing actors, and combines topical humour with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale. It is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers. (Thank you Wikipedia).

Anyhow, it's the reason I've been missing several nights a week from home and super busy and unable to update.  Once the show opened, I am the busiest I get all year.  This year, I was excited to bring Dania to a dress rehearsal to see Mama on stage and to hear some of the songs.  The kid doesn't sit to watch anything longer than 15 minutes so I didn't want to bring her to an actual performance and leave an empty seat for the majority of the show.  She totally blew my mind and stayed for 1 hour 16 minutes!  That was the entire first act and 2/3 of the show!  She LOVED it!  I have to say, I loved seeing her from the stage and it was adorable how she wasn't quite heavy enough to keep the folding seat down completely.  Whenever a song started, she'd start dancing and the seat would fold up and down.  I come out on stage and hear her say, 'Mama!'  Adorable.  She would even participate when encouraged...it might have come late, but she still did.  For example, "Say 'hi' to Lightning everyone!" (Lightning is the horse) and 5 minutes later you could hear her say "HI LIGHTNING!"  The other actors kept telling me about stuff she'd do or say while they were on stage.  She also loved the dog puppet one actor always had on him.  Every time he came on stage I could hear her repeat "baby dog" and say 'hi' to it.  She kept talking about it at home too.  I had to tell her that he wasn't a baby because his name was Ol' Feller.  Well, he became Ol' Baby Dog from that point on.  She would also tell everyone "Mama blue eyes, Mama play" because I had sparkling blue eye shadow on as my character's name was Sapphire.  After she saw me on stage, she actually got excited when I would prepare to leave in the evening.  'Mama sing, Mama dance, Mama play' and then constantly repeat Ol' Baby Dog over and over and sing the name.  She talked about Ol' Baby Dog so much I had to bring her in before the show one night so she could see and talk to the puppet personally.  My coactor was so awesome and sat with her and the dog for a good bit of time while Dania just kept hugging and kissing and petting the dog.  She still sings his name every day!  

I gotta say, this kid LOVES to sing.  She has even become obsessed with the song Let it Go from Frozen.  Now, she hasn't watched the movie, but she will watch the music video 21 times back-to-back no problem.  I was even told in the grocery store that she was a good singer as another lady recognized the song... I wasn't even prompting Dania, she was all on her own.  

She is also loving Christmas music.  Mike always has it on in the car and of course every store plays it.  She is always bopping her head or dancing.  I'm actually very excited for Christmas this year.  I have put over 250 hours into building her a doll house.  I started in July.  Photos will come when I can show off the WHOLE thing.  

She also just had a visit from Gramma for a few days.  It was great watching them together.  Plus, she got Christmas gifts early, not that she gets what Christmas is, she just got excited because she got new stuff!  Above is her Elsa and Olaf and she also got a scooter.  She carries Elsa everywhere.  So cute.

A Whole New World

We picked up her glasses today and it was amazing to watch her response.  I was so curious to see what would happen because she can see things, just not clearly.  As soon as they were on and she took a look at the lady who just fitted her, she started nodding her head up and down to see through and then above the lenses.  We all giggled.  The lady then took the glasses off because she realized the arms were too long.  She couldn't find shorter arms, so they are on order, but she got a head strap and put the glasses back on her and made it so they wouldn't slide down her bridge-less nose.  She ran around a bit and then she stood up and it kind of dawned on her that it was different on a bigger scale.  Her mouth actually dropped open and she was looking around the store as a 'big picture' for the first time.  SO ADORABLE!  We went for a walk in the mall and went under the skylight and when she was looking she said, "woooOOOOoow!" because she could see the details of the clouds through the skylight!  She also ran to a store that had a shelf of stuffed animals on a front display - like, ran from far away because she saw what it was!  I let her play with those for a bit and then wanted to take her to the book store.  She sat on the ground and opened a book and did the "wooOOOOooow!" again.  She doesn't always do this for books but I cannot say whether it was for the new clarity and being able to take in a page as a whole or if it was because there was a shiny spot on the page; either way, she didn't keep hitting herself with the pages while she looked at the book because she wasn't as stooped over!

Now, after a whole weekend, I can say that they have made a bigger difference then I imagined.  She giggles and laughs SO much more now - which I adore!  She can see our expressions better and mimics so much more.  She stood under a tree on a walk and just stared up (I'm assuming noticing the layers of leaves for the first time), she saw all the fun stuff at the waterfront at the same time Mike and I saw it, she pays attention to things for a longer time in general!   She watched the small tv we have in the upstairs for the first time ever!  I took her downstairs and she sat in a chair instead of standing directly in front of the big screen - not for a very long time though.  What can I say?  Old habits die hard!  She skyped with my family and giggled more at their faces because she could see them clearer too (and also at the little face of her in the corner because THAT was now like looking in a mirror for her).  She has not tried to take them off herself since we left the store on Friday morning.  She asked once to have them off but when I shot her down she just kept doing what she was doing without a fuss.  I think it's the strap on the back of her head pushing her hair that bothers her more than the actual glasses.  She has not fought us once when we put them on after waking her up in the morning or at nap.  AND, my fav, she can actually lay in bed beside me while we read bedtime stories.  She doesn't have to sit up each time I turn the page to see the smile on Gerald's face that she knows is there!  Then, she also doesn't cause a stink when we take them to say goodnight.  It has been an absolute joy to watch her with her new eyes.  

(crap, I thought I'd get through that whole thing without tearing up and there I go on the last sentence.)

Vindicated!

I got a call yesterday from the Eye Clinic saying they had a cancellation today and could we make it at 9:45?  Heck yes, we can!  I have been waiting for this because as she grows more and does not stop looking at things close up, I feel more and more that she needs glasses.  I know she can see far away shapes, like, she knows a slide is a slide... but she never really looks at things unless she can hold it to her nose.  

Long story short - she needs glasses... big time.  The doctor looks in her right eye with a lens and says, "oh my, are you ever myopic!"  She is -7.5 in one eye and -5 in the other and then has astigmatism on top if it.  This kid has NEVER seen anything in the distance in focus!  I am SO excited to take her for her first walk or to even look at a book and not have her bend right over it and block the text!  They said kids with myopia are usually the ones that keep their glasses on without trouble because they are actually SEEING now!  This is also something that she will live with forever so it's best that we got on top of it now.  I dropped her prescription off and got her fitted for baby glasses on the way back from the appointment and they should be ready in a week and a half!  I'm hoping that by next weekend my baby girl will see!

Long story long... and it's gonna be long because I find it SO fascinating!

First of all, I was worried she was going to be cranky because she, like me, is not a morning person.  She wants to be left alone to enjoy her coffee (cereal) and then do something quiet (read) until she wakes up.   I got her a muffin and she was fine.  Even hugged the muffin before eating it.  When we get to the hospital she is excited because she remembers the elevators - better than remembering the surgery!  Ha!  We ride up 6 floors, register, and after a quick "WooOOOOOwwww!" at the fish tank and before she can even play with the toys they are calling her name.  We go into the room and I sit her on my lap in 'the chair' and she gets quiet.  I notice the Sesame Street finger puppets and start playing with her while the optometrist came in to do the initial evaluation.

I was really keen to know what they did since I knew babies can't say their answers... she started with pupil reaction to light, then to reacting to light from different angles.  She did some focus testing by having her look through a prism at an image that has now been split into 2 images to see if she flicks focus back and forth between the two.  She had a flashlight with an end that had 1 one light, 2 green lights, and 1 red light in a diamond pattern and put on the red-green glasses and had her point to the lights (she even counted them aloud).  She did distance testing by turning a television on and off.  She had these slats that were grey with a square that was made of grey and white lines located somewhere on it.  The slats started with very wide lines, making the square very obvious.  She would (blind to the location herself so as not to unintentionally suggest the answer) flip the slat over and have Dania point to the square.  She nailed it.  LOL!  They also did some perception testing with 3D images... Dania didn't like those very much, or, at least, wouldn't touch the images.  She would say her sound for 'ball' and point but not actually try to touch the 3D ball - I guess that happens a lot with little kiddos.  She did some other light testing that I have no idea what it did because I saw the back of her head and it didn't look any different from the initial testing - it might have been different coloured lights and the pupil reaction.  So, all in all?  This part took about 30 minutes and she sat so well and they kept commenting on that.  They also took an oral history from me and I told them about the adoption and that it was noted in her info given to us.  I told them that I have always noticed she looks at things closely and doesn't pay attention to things farther away for very long and that my gut said it wasn't attention span because she will sit and play with her Leapfrog reader for an hour!  I told them how it was my family doc that referred us to the eye doctor and how we saw him once, he told us to come back with the drops, and then he told us she was near sighted and referred us to the people that can deal with kids properly.  Then she had to put the dilating drops in her eyes.  Enter the tears - that I think were more from boredom and sitting still than anything.  Now we had to go to the waiting room and wait for the drops to kick in.

She played, happily, and seemingly unaffected by the drops.  She was not walking weird or seemingly having a messed up depth perception from the drops.  She did disregard the books quickly and opted for staring at the fish tank at length.  After about 30 minutes she asked me for Pocoyo.  Now, this is a show on youtube that we watch sometimes and I wasn't about to say 'no' when I had no idea how much longer we were going to be.   I also knew her vision must be screwy by now so I pull out my phone, find the show, press play, and her name is called.  So, we are now going into this next part with an anticlimactic Pocoyo experience...

She was so good!  It blew my mind her patience!  She wouldn't have this for me at home but she is also an inquisitive girl and was fascinated by the new activities going on close to her.  She did ask for Pocoyo in between every lens trial though!  So, this new session involved the Ophthalmology fellow and a student.  They were both so nice and very patient and clearly used to working with kids (automatically lowered their chairs, put smiles on their faces and raised the tones of their voices).  This was the part where an adult sits behind the big lens machine and looks at the alphabet chart (I know it has a real name) and tells the doc if number 1 or number 2 is more focused.  For a kid?  They have mum sit Kid on her lap and gently keep her head forward (I say gently because I'm sure for the 3 times I had to adjust Dania that others have had to do 30 or just brace their child's head).  I think she has this fear/reverence for doctors.  She has a love/hate relationship with them because the first bit of her life was composed of a lot of poking and prodding - especially in the mouth and ears - but has now experienced long-term results and 'get's it.'  Anyway!  He started with her right eye, chose a lens strength that was to an extreme (I don't know what extreme!) and holds it to her eye with a light scope and looks at her inner eye reaction.  This is where he exclaimed, "oh my!  Are you ever myopic!"  He then tries a bunch of different strengths and just like with adults, flicks back to the one he thinks is right while going to extremes and ever-so-slight variances.  He finds the one he thinks is good and then starts on the adjustment for her astigmatism.  After about 15 minutes, he finds the right combo for the right eye.  This whole time she has sat so still on my lap and listened to every direction from the doctor.  He would say, 'oh, chin down,' and I knew he was talking to me but she would then put her chin to her chest and he would laugh, 'oh, not that much!' and she would bring it up a little.  He kept telling her how smart she was.  Made me really proud!  It takes a bit longer for the left eye because she's done this all before now.  He starts getting her eye to look at the right spot by saying, 'HEL-looooo!'  To which she immediately says it back.  The student is laughing off to the side and making his hand creep up on her and making faces - he's going to be good with little ones!  After about 35 minutes total, the doc has the right combo and writes me a prescription and we sit and chat about what it means and I ask all my questions about what it was he was actually doing so I understood it enough to tell it here!  At this point, I do put Pocoyo on the phone for her to watch!  They laughed at the dancing that ensued.

The fellow told me that this was something that couldn't be corrected.  She will need glasses forever.  Ok, no big deal.  I had initially thought it might be correctable but I am not as concerned with her keeping them on because she will wear sunglasses outside for a long time and I wear glasses and she points that out a lot.  I think about how my prescription has a similar astigmatism to Dania's but that my eyes are 7 times and 5 times better than hers and I get major headaches if I sit at the computer without them.  What does she get?!?!  It makes me wonder if she has ever seen far away to understand near and far!?  After a lot of my questions were answered, the fellow goes to get the ophthalmologist and she comes in to talk to us.

She sits down and immediately begins asking about Russia.  What region is she from?  How much history do you know?  What tests did she have over there?  How come it took so long to get here?  Okay, the last one?  Not a Russia thing... that was the Eye Clinic and Canadian health care system.  I made sure she knew that  (and please, I am not knocking it at all!  I LOVE our healthcare.  I just felt slightly off put because of this sudden barrage of questions and nothing to do with the eyes!).  She takes a big breath after she asks what age we brought her home and then tells me that was the same age her son was when she brought him home from Moscow!  HOLY MOLY!  Seriously?!?!?!  What are the odds?!?!  It's been 6 years for her now since her adoption but as soon as she told me that she instantly warmed up and seemed so involved and concerned.  She explained that her region was important because of ethnic physical features (wider set eyes, flatter bridge of nose, almond eyes) to be taken into consideration but also because she was curious about our knowledge of hereditary syndromes.  It's none, by the way.  She said that there are syndromes from that region related to cleft palate and myopia that would be worth considering for the long run.  She asked if I would be okay with a referral to genetic medicine for testing to see if the 2 problems are genetically related or not.  I have no problem with that!  I was excited when she said it!  So fascinating!  I do a lot of genetic transcriptions in my job and was giddy at the thought of being part of this unique world;  moreover, it would almost be like being given a link to her past that we don't know!  This would be something that, if relevant, would affect any biological offspring and her long-term healthcare.  Such syndromes, the most obvious being Stickler's syndrome, which I had heard of (thank you new job!) can progress quickly without intervention and treatment (aka, eyesight and hearing getting worse without aid) and can affect connective tissues and cause joint pains/arthritis in the long run.  Despite what it can cause, just knowing can help with future healthcare needs.  I have to wonder if this ophthalmologist hadn't adopted from Russia herself if Dania's file would have stuck out in her immediate thoughts like this (remember, only yesterday she was given the file)?  I mean, I do not doubt that this connection would have been brought up eventually by one of the many specialists but now that we have these 2 conditions to work with and a woman who recognized the regional relevance, we have a starting point for possible special action.  SO DANG FASCINATING!

So much of Dania has seemed 'meant to be' in this process... this is a scientific aspect that I never could have predicted!

As I said, we went to the glasses store that was recommended as specializing in little ones and would also consider the flat bridge of her nose and we had frames within 10 minutes of walking into the store.  I didn't expect a wide array of choice with what is considered 'baby' frames.  I got to choose dark copper versus gold and then the colour of her plastic arm cover that wraps around her ears.  Either way, the store kept proclaiming how good she was and she only had to sit for a total of 2 minutes (three times with different widths of glasses and twice for the pupil distance measure).  At this point, she was asking for the ice cream I promised her for good behaviour.  HAHAHAHA!  We did get a pumpkin pie blizzard to share, but we also walked away with the order of glasses to be delivered in a week and a half!  SO EXCITING!  Seriously, like, beyond exciting to think that she will really see for the first time because she was worse than I had thought!  She won't have to stop and work to see things and will be able to catch things at a glance or in dimmer lighting!  WOW!  I can't wait!  I can't even explain to her what she is about to experience!  HOLY MOLY!

Mother's Day and 1 Year

March had us beginning our long stretch of annual celebrations.  The next stretch of dates is May 11: 1 year from when we left for Russia the first time, May 13: 1 year to when we met her, May 17: 1 year from submitting our official paperwork for court, and May 19: 1 year from the end of our first trip.  Yeah!!!!

How did I celebrate?  I got her photo taken for her citizenship application!  Yeah!  Hopefully that whole package can be mailed off shortly.  Have to double check everything and pay the fees and then as long as everything is good to go, she will be Canadian officially!

We had dinner with our new friends who also adopted from Russia.  Dania was much more talkative this time around.  She really took a shine to their middle son, aged 7 or 8, and is so happy she can say I's name!  We got to watch their video they made of her trip and look through the photo book they made.  The city they adopted through, Kazan, was sooooo different from Sterlitimak.  It was a big city and had touristy spots and lots to see.  It was okay for them to stay in a hotel and go out on their own hahaha.  Such a different experience that way!

We have had our 6-month followup visit to the eye doctor and now he isn't happy with how her muscles have failed to develop with her.  She is definitely nearsighted now.  She is worse in the right eye.  He had thought it was slight enough before that it would grow with her, but I guess not.  It's funny because I feel like she has fine eyesight now... she sees things far away (like the book the lady reads to the group at the library) and doesn't lean in as close to books now.  He referred us to the kids hospital (again) so we now await an appointment with their eye doctors.  At least she won't need a barrage of blood work for this!  I did forget to submit her requisition at her surgery to double check for rubella and chicken pox vaccinations, and I've been waiting for a reason to go back to the hospital to get it done... eye appointment is a PERFECT reason.

We are also going to be seeing the speech pathologist every 3 to 4 weeks now.  We go again next week.  We shall see what happens now.  We are very much working on getting her to blow with her mouth (working with bubbles, harmonicas, noise makers) and the 'B' sound.  I am curious if it is someone else doing these activities with her if she will be less frustrated; she should benefit from your classic student-teacher relationship.

On top of it all, we just had our first week of big change with Mike back at work.  It went okay.  I need to learn to relax a bit more.  I see a mess and if I can't clean it right away I start to get upset.  For example, Leia was sick on the floor and I had to let it sit there until I could ensure Dania was happy and distracted and Leia was okay.  It sat there for about 45 minutes before I could get to it to clean it thoroughly.  GUH!  I just feel very hurried when it comes to anything not Dania related.  All my time with her though?  HILARIOUS!  She wants to be outside as much as possible and I am SO okay with that.  I love heading out right after breakfast and playing in the sun.  I've been on a few stroller walks with her too (thanks again to everyone who helped gift us that gem!)  Last year I didn't get to go on really long walks but she is okay with it now for sure!  As long as cars pass us every once in awhile lol!  She gibbers away about everything, reads to herself aloud now, tries to sing, pretends to be the dog in more ways than I like, and makes me laugh and feel soooo happy to see the light in those brown eyes.

Oh!  We got her ears pierced!  I was sick of her being called a boy (even with the frilly red coat with the butterfly broach).  I had thought about after seeing a friend's cute pictures of her daughter.  The extra sparkle was just adorable with the round face and cheeks.  I mentioned it to Mike and we went the next day.  She sat there quietly and suspiciously while the lady marked her lobes.  They kept commenting on how small and dainty her features were.  I had never noticed before, but she doesn't have a lot of lobe!  Mike sat on the chair and held Dania on his lap while the ladies lined up the piercing guns.  1...2...3 BANG!  Done.  She gasped, did the silent cry while tears welled, let out the cry, I picked her up, they showed her a bucket of lollipops and she was done crying.  It was about 6 seconds of crying in total.  She then kept pointing to her ears and then to mine.  I really think she understood what had just happened.  I take mine out every night so sometimes in the morning I don't have them in and she will point out the difference, but all in all, she is so fine with it that I'm not even worried about infection from hand transfer.  She did take one out while refusing to go down for a nap.  These are the standard piercing studs that snap into place so she must have pulled HARD!  I woke her up and she pointed to her lobe and said "OOOWWwwwwWWWW."  Right away I knew where to look, the window ledge.  Sure enough, both pieces were on the floor by the window ledge.  She likes to stand and look out her window while she poops or is anti-sleep.  She was a little pissed about having it put back in but that, so far, was the only bad instance of her handling them.  The lady had mentioned they can get pinched too tight and I'm wondering if she did that and then counteracted... she just looks so cute!!!

Oh, also, she is shooting up in height again.  She has grown almost 2 inches since her birthday!  That's almost an inch a month!  GIANT!

Zombie Hands and Mindless Chatter

It was a loooong, long month.

THE FUN:
We met another family in Halifax who adopted from Russia.  Absolutely wonderful to hear their story, see the similarities and differences.  Their little girl, I,  was brought home a month before Dania.  I really liked hearing the difference between staying in small-town Russia (as we did) and a bigger city, like where we drove for court.  So many differences and yet, sooo much the same.  It was too bad Dania cowered in my shoulder in shyness.  Big phase right now!  Although, she did exclaim the next youngest's name over and over because it was the same as her BFF: E's.  That was funny to me, but she would bury her face in me as soon as she said it and pointed.  Neighbours are laughing because last year she would dash across the lawn to be lifted up by them and now she won't pass their driveway if they are standing in it!  It makes me feel good that I know she feels safe with me and knows who our close friends are.  Although, I have this underlying feeling nagging at me that she will be a pushover and not assertive in social situations.  Hell, she's 2!  I know she will go through a gajillion phases!

Mum came to visit too.  What a cute visit for Dania with her Gramma.  She recognized her (slowly) thanks to Skype and was looking for her the morning after she left.  I loved watching mum warm Dania's hands and tell her that she used to warm mine the same way - I have also been warming Dania's the same way too.  *tear*  It was short and sweet but I love when anyone can see Dania as Dania and not a short excerpt.

Spring is here (I hope it stays) and we are outside more.  She is running around the big circuit in the neighbourhood (as long as no one is in their driveway) and completely halts to point at and follow every single car that passes us.  She has been enthralled with the kids on bikes and scooters and met a few other little kids that I didn't even know lived here!  Okay, so I met them and she hid behind my leg until she said she wanted to eat and walked away...

THE BAD:
Holy illness, Batman!  She had a diaper rash that we were treating with Penaten until it started to get pebbly and then I thought it was a yeast infection spreading.  It didn't get better when treated with antifungal or antibiotic cream.  She also had what I thought was a staph infection on her nose (I had one there in grade 3 and remember it vividly) and was treating it with antibiotic ointment.  BUT! when she woke up with sores around her mouth and on her hands I knew something was going on.  I was told by a friend that hand, foot, mouth was going around the city so, I read up on that and her symptoms matched... except the sore throat.  I didn't know if she wasn't eating because of feeling ill or sore throat.  Either way, I knew we had to hit up a doctor that morning.  We did and I said how I first thought it was staph on her nose and yeast on her diaper area and now I think it's something else... He took one look at her face and said staph infection for sure.  He wrote a prescription.  He asked to see her diaper area.  Now, as of that morning, it had totally migrated away from any area that lead me to think yeast or diaper rash... it was now all around the outside of the diaper and the onesie and diaper leg holes kept rubbing the sores.  He said it was definitely the same staph infection there because it wasn't on her privates but on the outer edges.  Sheesh.  I felt awful.  She wasn't sleeping and it had to be because she was uncomfortable every time she shifted.  Ugh.  I'm so sorry Dania!!!  So, 10 days of oral antibiotics and 15 days of topical antibiotics was what we went home with.
     The next morning she looked worse.  It was spreading on her face and her hands were covered in blisters.  I said they were zombie hands.  My sister said they looked like octopus tentacles - which I totally agree with- but we had already taught her to hold her arms out and walk like a zombie... Anyway, I called 811 to talk to the nurses and they said it would be 3 days before we saw any improvement in the actual sores.  Her face cleared up within 24 hours, her bum stopped spreading but scabbed up, her hands looked awful and she is SO a picker like me and keeps pulling the loose skin off and handing it to me... which makes her look more like a zombie.
So, Easter weekend hits and we are to host dinner.  On Good Friday, Mike wakes up feeling crappy.  He has spots on his hands.  Holy zombie jesus!  (please don't take offense, I'm just working the zombie/raised from the dead plus her zombie hands connection - no insult intended!)  I tell him to call 811 immediately and find out whether we need to get him to a doctor or if we can treat at home knowing what Dania has and if we should cancel dinner plans because of contagiousness.  Well, he is suspected of hand, foot, mouth according to the nurse.  He goes to a walk-in that thankfully said they could fit him in on the holiday (yeah! no ER!) and the doc confirms the hand, foot, mouth diagnosis and the only thing he can do is ride it out.  His mouth and throat became SO sore-filled and bad that he could hardly swallow.  We had to cancel all of our dinner plans... and I was already exposed so there was nothing I could do but I was probably okay if I hadn't been exhibiting symptoms.  I went to the movies everyday and spent a lot of time in the basement.  Man, oh, man!

All is good now.  Hahahaha.  Dania looks as if she has scar tissue where all of her sores and blisters had been but I know it won't in time because the ones on her face didn't scar and her diaper area is clearing nicely.  It is smooth skin on her diaper-leg line but pink like a peeled sunburn.  Her hands are still slightly zombie-like hahaha.  She still pulls skin off and the healing pink spots are there but she can bend at her knuckles without the fluid-filled blisters being on the joints to hurt her.

Man, I felt so bad.  I felt like I should have known sooner that it was something else.  I felt like I should have gone with my gut that it was staph and gone to see a doc before the weekend.  Sigh.

Oh, well.  She is that little bit tougher because of it.  She also chats up a storm now.  I laugh so hard at her talking because it just sounds like, 'ga la, na, la, ga, la, laaaaa.  Maa, NAAAA,' over and over again in her postsurgery adorably high-pitched voice.  I think she was actually talking to the dog ont he walk today and telling her to hurry up and run with her.  It is a hoot and she put on a show for Aunt Kitty yesterday so someone else has witnessed this hilarity too!

Ok, that is all now that the storm has passed...well, this storm.  We just found out Mike is being posted to a ship (by just, I mean, 2 weeks before he goes back to work and a year ahead of planned schedule since he was told last year he wasn't getting on a ship) and will be sailing for weeks at a time.  I fear for Dania because she doesn't get a big transition from both of us 24/7 to no Daddy at all... I fear for me because I seriously don't know how I can do this without him coming home in the evening so I can do my transcription and the cleaning.  I am having full-on panic attacks because I had become okay with staying home with her - but she was a year older and a year more adjusted and able to tell me what was wrong or what she wanted.  Now?  she throws herself on the floor and hits her head as hard as she can... eek.  I know I won't be able to keep my job at Shoppers Drug Mart while he is at sea and that makes me sad.  I didn't want to be in management there again, but I enjoyed what I did there now.  We are also on too-short of notice to find day care and also couldn't afford it...if we had known this was happening we would have saved for it.  Man, oh man.  So much in such a short (feels like a forever-lengthed) month.

On a completely different note, anyone who has read Divergent will enjoy that movie - I loved it - and Oculus was actually freaky.  I am a huge scary movie snob and this one still has me hesitating in mirrors (but I always found mirrors a source of scary! lol).  It didn't over-show the ghost/monster and had a story and suspense and the ending did not suck!  YEAH!  LOL

Until next time...

Week 7

Can you believe that is all it has been???  I'm soooo antsy for that permanent resident card!

Well, this is a big week coming up.  We have our social worker 'play date,' (we've been calling it that because we both know that there aren't any issues and this added first report is unwarranted) tomorrow.  We have the eye doctor on Tuesday and the pediatrician on Thursday.  I'm hoping the pediatrician will have a better idea for a timeline for the ENT doctor since my GP said he really doesn't know or have a patient reference.  He just sent the referral to the hospital at the same time he sent the pediatrician and eye doctor. 

We've been putting sunglasses on her to try and get her used to wearing something.  It will be interesting as I'm sure she will need glasses... Oh!  My favourite is when I get her dizzy during our prebedtime dance parties and her one eye goes all wonky from being unable to focus!  WoW!  The first time I saw that I kind of had my heart jump into my throat!  Hilarious now, though!

Ok, so this week we took her to the community pool to try her out and she loved it.  I had a HUGE round of "oh, she's so small," in the women's locker room.  Sigh.  Just the beginning.  I told them the quick version on her story and she pointed out her eyes and they all forgot how small she was.  Beautiful.  I suspect we will get a lot of that now that we are going out more with her.  Just have to say that aunt Candy made her a monkey hat and it was almost too small so she's not THAT small!  (Such a cute hat too!  Dania could pull the ears when asking where her ears were!)

We also had our first round of strangers mentioning genetic looks too!  LOL!  We went to vote and she received a future voter sticker, which she was completely enthralled with, and just sat quietly and played in a chair off to the side with whomever wasn't in the booth, and the lady running our poll was so impressed with Dania's calmness.  Then Dania started 'flirting' a little - her definition of flirting is to show you where her hair is and ask for a fist bump.  The lady kept telling her how pretty she was and made comments about whose side the looks came from... we just smiled and laughed.  As I buckled Dania into the car I conspiratorially stated how we were going to fool a lot of people in the future and it will be our joke to giggle at afterwards!  I think that's the angle I'm going to go with for those situations where we don't bother explaining since it really doesn't matter to a 2-minute stranger.

We also went to our first party with her.  This was a birthday party for our friends' daughter turning 3.  Dania had met 3 of the kids that would be there and we dressed her up in a cute outfit (now that some of the bigger clothes are fitting!) and went over wondering how she would react since it was the first big crowd of little kids since the orphanage.  Well, she spent the night trying to kiss the dogs (3 of them ranging in size from 6 pounds to 85 pounds), slowly circling the whole scene, and playing beside a kid who would sit still for a few minutes.  I was soooo happy and, again, impressed with how well she did!  She honestly did not seem upset in the least and also didn't seem like she was out to please anyone (a coping mechanism I'm on the look out for) and just had fun!  She had no problem going to sleep after and also didn't shy away from people.  She is so amazing.  Yes, I'm biased, but I really have to wonder what's going through her head, and I know others think that too, but she is just so chill!  She also expressed an affinity for the kid-sized foam chairs so we had to go get her one.  I was looking up where to buy them and at one place they happened to be on sale so we just went for it and I am so excited for her to find it in the morning!  She sat and bounced herself in it for a long time.  I'm hoping she will sit with her books in it. 

She is starting to point to thinks in her books now.  She loves flipping pages and is pretty rough with the cardboard books but she will point to something specific and say, "ghka-ghka," and wait for me to say the name of the picture and then turn to another.  Things like that make me antsy to get to the ENT doctor but I have to remember that she was losing her Russian and then gaining her English.  A normal human, on average, wouldn't start the 'ga-ga-ing' at specific thing like she is saying what it is at 7 weeks.  She really could still just be absorbing.  She makes the L, M, K, G, H, sounds so it's just a matter of practice and exposure.

Ok, That's all for tonight... well, it's morning now, but we spent the Sunday night at our friends' playing board games and we put her down there and then do the sleep transfer after a few hours and I just HAD the need to blog right now!  I wanted to get this stuff in before all of the appointments.  This will be a big week for entries, I'm sure.

xoxo

 Her new "uh-oh" face.

 After swimming.

 Daily walks with sunglasses now.

 

Being pulled around by Erik at the party.

SO Many Good Developments!

In the last few days I finished Dania's adoption memory box. We really wanted to show Dania that we recognize that she came from elsewhere and has a history before us..even if we may not know much about it.  Hopefully she will appreciate it one day.  Inside, I've included three envelopes for each trips' plane tickets, an envelope of ruble coins, packaging from different foods she and we ate (I wouldn't normally keep food, but it's all crazy russian writing and the yogurt one is creepy!), important documents (our acceptance letters for international adoption, from the province dated Oct 2011; CHOC's application and timeline with all of my handwritten notes; our initial email and pictures from Russia with her info; our court application in English and Russian; the court procedure outline; certificate from CHOC for Russian specific adoption training; certificate from the orphanage for a donation in Dania's name), and a HUGE stack of cards from people all over Canada and the states wishing her a welcome! The memory book won't go in because I plan to read it to her frequently!

I also logged the geocaches that we found, or didn't find but were close to, while in Moscow.  For those who don't know geocaching, it's a worldwide treasure hunt.  People make caches of all different sizes and log the GPS coordinates on an official site.  Every cache has a log that is to be signed and some can have items put in.  Some even have trackable items that can be moved from cache to cache by different people.  Every find or move is recorded on the official website. I had made a trackable item, called Dania, that I wanted to leave in a cache over there that could be seen as her possible route if she had stayed over there.  We could have tracked its every move until it stopped.  Every cache in Moscow was micro sized and I couldn't leave the trackable item (an army tag-like item) inside.  I think I will wait and see what she wants to do with it one day!

We went to Growth Spurts consignment for some shoes and pants and jackets!  Thanks to all who contributed for the awesome credit there and the owner was so excited to finally meet us!  We found some shoes, a denim jacket, and a warm vest that can be worn with her sweater for the cooler weather!

 We also tried Dania at other people's houses this week.  She's never been off her own turf and on another kids'.  She was sooooo good!  After one cranky day, we went to a neighbour's for an adult birthday party.  She was the only kid, so I thought this would be an easy transition to going elsewhere.  She was just like she was at the airport (minus the being tired); she watched everyone for a bit and then started walking around, reaching out to some, and 'talking'.  

We also tried her at a friends' house where there is a boy, E, who is 3 months older and a mountain of toys!  She was quiet for an even shorter bit.  She sat and played with toys while watching everyone else.  She would only walk to me or Mike... but less than an hour later she was EVERYWHERE!  She watched E walk around and (as I'd hoped) decided she didn't need to walk from object to object as much as she has been.  She was going up and down their hall and turning around without even holding her arms out for balance!  It was great!  E even thought she was chasing him! LOL!  Soon, I'm sure of it!  They played together and she felt comfortable going to our friends' arms and was SO proud of herself walking around.  I felt proud watching her!!!  They even bathed together and she kept flipping herself under the water, as per usual, and I think E thought she was crazy.  They did enjoy splashing together though!  That felt good to see all of this because it's 'routine' for us to go over here on Sundays and play boardgames.  For us to continue this, she would have to feel comfortable enough to go down for sleep in her pack 'n' play.  We wanted to ease into it, of course, and will try for even longer next week - as long as she doesn't have a cranky day tomorrow!

 She has also started making a face that looks like Leia (our dog) who has a major underbite because she is missing her top teeth in the front!  I first saw Dania make this face after looking at Leia so I figure she is mimicking the dog! LOL!

 Playing with E!

 

Doing the 'Leia' in her new denim jacket.

 

7 Nights and 7 Days

Well, it has been a whole week since landing in Canada.  What a flipping great week!

After getting over the sickness, we have a rough routine that we follow.  I say rough because she still will need more sleep sometimes.  Her train is her favourite toy and she plays with that nonstop.  She likes to 'dance' to the music it plays.  She also has been meeting new people, experiences, food each day and taking it all in good stride.  She has only one 'big' new event each day, or every other day, and she has been enjoying it.  Sometimes, she takes it all quietly and just watches, but other times she will just walk right up to the person and babble. 

After visiting our neighbours' kiddy pool I realized she must miss little kids.  She crawled right over to J, our neighbours' little guy, and started interacting.  She also watched our other friends' little guy when he came over and rode her train all over the place.  The next day she started getting on it on her own and can almost maneuver it around - her legs are just a tiny bit too short.  She does seem to be overwhelmed a little when parting from the kids, but she is such a remarkable kid that she continues to impress me with her resilience and acceptance. 

She keeps trying new food and simply spits out what she doesn't like or what she cannot chew properly.  She likes steak, oatmeal, yogurt, and soups.  She does try to eat a lot with her hands now, which is so great, but she also needs to learn to put her cup down after she drinks instead of pitching it over the side! hahaha!

I crocheted her a little hat that is similar to the ones she wore in the baby home, and it's so cute.  That's my one self-promote thing this entry! 

I made her a photo-book about her journey to us. Only her part as opposed to the many years before her.  This will go in a box I am compiling of her experience.  A memory box to show we appreciate her beginnings to us.  I will also put copies of what is not 'confidential' documentation.  We had to copy all of the documents we brought home, the certificates, the court decree, the application for adoption...everything, and will send it to CHOC next week to close our file!!!  CLOSED!  Other than post-placement reports (at 6 months, 1 year, 2 and 3 years), we do not have to deal with the agency anymore.  That seems crazy!

We also applied for her provincial health care card.  We can do that because we have declared her a permanent resident as of right now.  She will receive her permanent resident card in a few weeks and we will be able to apply for the actual card as opposed to just the number and papers that we have now.  When we receive that card I will also start the next steps in the immigration process.  I am going to call them (now that I have a file number and can get through!) to clarify if I need to resend the forms we already filled out because we didn't have any specific information for her at that time and she was just Child Miklos Bathurst.  I hope not because it's just more chances for it to be mailed back for silly reasons like no signature from my 18-month-old. 

18 months old!  Tomorrow!  That's how old she is!  WOW!  She has probably had more firsts in the last week than she has had in her previous 17 months!  We love her.

She has had one freakout, but we bathed her early and got that calmed down.  Otherwise, a normal day has her waking up and breakfasting, then playing for about 3 hours before a nap.  She will then wake up and have lunch and play.  She might have an afternoon nap but she usually sups around 5:30 and then bathes around 6:30 and to bed around 7:30.  Oh, there was the one night when neither Mike or I heard her cries!  Mum stood in our bedroom door and asked us if we were going to get up or if we were just playing a game with each other to see who would get up first... we didn't hear her either.  We both felt bad when we learned about that!  Hasn't happened since, thank goodness!  That was also the only time she woke up for real during the night.  Thanks Mum!

Her baths are the best!  She throws herself backwards (the first two days had her hitting her head on the tub bottom but she didn't care!) and then rolls over and sits up with water dripping all over her face and she LOVES it!  She does this over and over and it is hilarious!  I will get it on video soon.  We also took her to the lake today and she liked that!  I could tell she was a bit colder but she definitely liked it!  She was squealing and she was trying to walk instead of throwing herself backwards.  I am so glad she liked it because I love swimming and we have that perfect lake right close by!

That smile, when I first walk in in the morning, sets my mood for the day and it is fantastic!