It has been nearly three months since we met at the Civil Affairs office and Anliya (Jasmine) was placed in our arms. That was a hard day for all of us...but especially for her. Thank goodness for bubbles and M&M's. However, the scared and grief stricken little girl that we met on adoption day has blossomed into such a spunky, joyful, and charismatic little girl.
Anliya (Jasmine) is doing fantastic. She is a joy to us and is such a happy and playful little girl. She wakes up with a smile on her face and laughs and plays all day long. She adores her big sister, Jada, and is constantly trying to imitate her. Jada has been a tremendous help in Anliya's transition to our family. Anliya looks up to her and Jada takes her role as big sister very seriously. And as I told you in my first update, Anliya attached herself to my husband Roger right from the start. She still runs to greet him with a big smile when he comes home from work everyday. They are great buddies.
Anliya is talking up a storm. Even though there are many sounds that she cannot make until her palate is repaired, we can still understand much of what she says. Her most used word right now is "Barney" (the name of the big purple dinosaur on her favorite tv show). She has also learned to use sign language to help her communicate her basic needs. She has learned the signs for eat, drink, more, bath, brush teeth, sleep and several others. She is very good at communicating her needs. She points and babbles and then if that doesn't work she takes us by the hand and leads us over to whatever it is that she wants. Most of the time we can figure it out just fine.
Our house sits on four acres of land with a lot of room to run and play. Anliya's favorite thing is to go outside. She loves riding in her sister's pink Barbie car and swinging/sliding on the playground. She also loves our pool. This summer she would often go and get her swimsuit and point to the back door, letting us know she wanted to go swimming. Last weekend we took the girls to the Pumpkin Patch. Anliya's favorite part was getting to ride a pony. They also had hayrides, face-painting, a corn maze, pumpkin painting and a magic show. She got to do it all, and she had a ball.
On November 2nd we will travel to St. Louis for Anliya's palate surgery. I'm anxious for her to have the surgery so she can begin to catch up on her speech skills, but I'm sad that she has to go through the pain that comes along with such an invasive procedure. Say a little prayer for her that the surgery goes well and she has a quick recovery.
Please tell Mrs. Cao and Anliya's other caretakers that she is doing great and adjusting well to our family. I know it must have been hard for her to say goodbye to this precious little girl. Let her know that Anliya is safe and happy. We appreciate the love and nurturing your staff gave to Anliya. She is who she is today because of the excellent care she received at Starfish.
I will try to send another update after she has had her palate surgery.
With Thanks,
Roger, Lisa, Jada and Anliya
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