Jadelyn (Nadia) was adopted to Southern California in mid December and this is an update from her family. I have not written about the adoption yet. I am behind in that department. Thank you Mark.
Hi Amanda!
It's been a whirlwind since we arrive home on Christmas eve. I'm sorry for not getting an update out to you sooner, but the holidays hit us on top of returning home with a new family member who needs lots of love and attention.
Jadelyn is doing so well and we are enjoying her thoroughly. I have given Xiao Lu a few updates and have told her whenever she would like to set up a
Skype session, just let us know. We don't want her to worry about your English... she can speak to Zao in Chinese and we'll communicate as much as we can in English. I'm sure she would like that.
We have been having lots of fun with Jadie. She is getting more comfortable with us everyday and becoming more relaxed. We had some struggles in China with her eating (as you know) but she has learned to sit in her high chair through the entire meal and eats most everything we put in front of her. We assumed that restaurants would be off limits for at least a year and had visions of dealing with temper tantrums or screaming fits during meals. But we're happy to report this is not the case. We even went to a nice restaurant for Debbie's birthday this week and she was very well behaved for
the entire meal (until Jake started making silly faces to make her scream with laughter at the table). She did a great job. She loves pizza, noodles,
Mexican food and just about anything spicy. She won't eat eggs in the morning without salsa on them.
Nap times and bed times have been difficult at times with some crying and screaming. She's getting better and tonight I gave her a bottle, and put
her down without one tear or whimper. She said "wo ai ni" and blew me kisses and went right to sleep... Very precious. She's sleeps through the night without any problem and seems to be adjusting well to US time and a new schedule.
She is very friendly to most everyone she meets, waving and saying "Hi". She also likes to wave goodbye, say "bye bye", and blow kisses. This melts the hearts of just about everyone she meets. We have had many people comment on how beautiful she is. We heartily agree when we hear this. She is learning more English and seems to understand almost everything we say. When we ask her to do something in English, she will typically do it right away. I am still using some Chinese and English when I speak to her (usually if I have to ask her to do something twice). Sometimes I know she understands but is choosing to ignore me... We have been working with her on this and she becomes more obedient everyday it seems.
We still call her "Zao Zao" most of the time. We also call her "Jadie" or"Jadie Zao" so she continues to hear her name. I love her Chinese name and
want to continue to use it as a family nick-name. We took her to our pediatrician last week to have her checked out and get the referral for our Cardiac surgeon at CHOC hospital in Orange County, CA. The doctor said she looks really good and has given us a date of 1/20 to meet with the cardiologist at CHOC.
We shared the Christmas story with Jadie and she liked hearing about the birth of baby Jesus. We have some small figures of the Nativity Scene and
she likes to play with these.
Jadie is learning so much right now. She is a little "sponge" just soaking everything up. I'm so glad we were able bring her home before Christmas
and that she didn't have to go through the trauma of another move at the Starfish home. She loved the home and all of her friends and caregivers,
but with most of her friends already gone, the timing seemed to be perfect. Thank you again Amanda for loving and caring for our daughter so well.
Keep us posted on the move and all that's ahead.
Thanks again,
Mark
