This crazy girl has been with us 7 months! I can’t get over that! The time really is flying by and she is changing SO much! I would say this last month was her biggest month of growth yet. She is a completely different girl from the scared, timid, bug-bite-covered girl we met on June 29th. The last 5 weeks she has really started talking SO much more, attaching so well, and just overall is doing amazing!
Here are a few facts about Miss Lila Mei at 7 months post-adoption:
- TALKING! ALL THE TIME! Her new thing is to say “Oh, do-rreee (sorry)” when she drops something. It is the cutest ever! She now says so many things spontaneously instead of just when we ask her to. Here are a few of my favorite phrases- “Night, y’all” (yes, our Chinese daughter has a West Texas drawl), “Nooooo Mommeeeeee (when I try to tickle her)”, “Oh no!”, “Wov Wu” for “Love You”, “Hi, Mei-Mei!” (her baby doll), “brush teeth” (one of her favorite things to do)– and so many more!
- Her receptive language is incredible. I can ask her to take off her pajamas and she will take them off and go put them in the laundry or back in the pajama drawer. She knows where everything is in the house and knows when it is getting time to go somewhere. She finds her shoes and tries to put them on!
- She LOVES school, church, and Bible study. I drop her off with zero tears..she walks right in and starts playing. And picking her up is the BEST- she runs, points, and screams “Mommeeeee” every time- so sweet! Her teachers say she is doing amazing- she loves to sing, dance, and go outside with her friends. We are so thankful she has transitioned so well to school and we can already see the impact it is having on her language!
- She is still a tried-and-true Clemens when it comes to sleep- she sleeps 12 hours at night and a 2 hour nap. She goes right to sleep and is so happy to wake up! She is still sleeping in our room {I know, crazy considering the other two didn’t sleep in our room when they were newborns much less at 2 years old!}, and it is just the best set up for us right now. She sleeps until after 7, and if she was in Chloe’s room, Chloe would wake her up at 6:30. This momma needs her coffee and quiet time, so it just works best for us right now.
- She is still the best eater! She is also getting much better about chewing and not putting too much in her mouth. Not a meal goes by that we don’t have to remind her to bite, chew, wait, and then have more, but I am hopeful that it is starting to sink in that she can’t put 100 Cheez-its in her mouth at once!
- She has slowed down on her weight gain- after gaining 9 pounds since we got her, she hasn’t gained in about a month. Her food intake is leveling out- instead of eating everything on her plate like she used to, she is ok with leaving things uneaten if she is full.
- She loves her daddy. We went to see him at work and the whole way there she kept saying “Daddeee, work!” over and over. She gets so excited when he gets home- runs to the front door screaming “DADDDEEEE!” and then says “hold me, Daddy” over and over.
- The kids are bonding well with her- Jack is her best buddy and Chloe is her other mommy! They both seem to have adjusted to having a little sister and they are always so sweet with her. I will say Jack is happy to have someone to boss around, but Lila thinks he hung the moon and will do anything he asks!
- Our “hard” moments are fewer and far between these days. She is just such a different person- she responds so much better to redirection, the Lila Mei scream is almost nonexistent, and she is just overall doing amazing. I am so thankful, because around months 3-5, I wasn’t sure if she would ever stop the screaming and use words to communicate. Thank you Lord for bringing us through that season and now we are experiencing mostly FUN and JOY with our sweet girl!
- Her favorite thing in the WHOLE WORLD is to be outside. She wants to be outside from sun up to sun down! And she cries and cries when we have to come inside. I am thankful the weather hasn’t been too cold for us to be outside a lot!
Here are a few pictures from month 7!
{trampoline fun with big brother}
{say “cheese, smile!”
{looking for daddy long after he drove away to work}
{build-a-bears from sweet friends were a hit!}
{she loves to play Star Wars with Jack!}
{that smile. can you even? the change is truly unbelievable!}
Comments
This is so awesome!