SEVEN Months Ours & ONE Year Since LOI!!

On this day we have twice the things to celebrate...seven months ago we held Eva in our arms for the first time and it was also a year ago that we sent our Letter of Intent to China that Eva was indeed the child for us; this officially began our journey to bring her home.



We had received her file, along with two others, to review on Feb. 5, 2010.  It was a VERY emotional 6 days of asking God to reveal to us which one, if any, of these three beautiful little girls was indeed the child He had planned for us all those years ago!  I know without a doubt that Eva was the child of God's plan, and I am SO thankful that He answered our prayers making that abundantly clear, still there aren't many days that go by that I don't think about the two other little girls that we were not able to bring home.  I just pray that they too have found their forever families.

I opened my computer this week to the email that we received from the agency with Eva's referral information, and I thought this would be a neat post to reveal some of the things we know about her from then and now.  This post may be a little longer than others but it is something I want to document and make part of Eva's book when I print this blog out for her.  Also, a few of the pictures posted are from her original referral or from the disposable camera we sent in one of her care packages while we waited. 

 

I also hope that this post may be helpful to others that are in the process of adopting.  As you will see when reading, Eva's referral had a lot of pieces missing and when looking at by just what boxes were checked and which were not, you would have thought she was very delayed.  Actually on February 9, 2010, during our discernment period, our agency was able to contact the orphanage and ask for updated information, the email we got back stated that she was a "higher risk referral" than originally thought...she could not stand by herself, was not walking independently or talking.  The truth was that she just wasn't the "squeaky" wheel and was often left alone because she didn't seek the attention.  As I am now reading through her referral and watching her run and play in the house with her brothers, I am still saddened at all that was locked inside her for two years while she just sat and waited for her family to come get her.  We have been so blessed to watch her blossom and are so grateful that we followed our hearts in choosing her.



This baby was found on June 26, 2008 at the front gate of Pingjiang Hospital,  Moye Road, Pingjiang District, Suzhou at 3:58.  The hosptial is currently being renovated and not in use, but we were able to drive over and see her finding spot while we were in China.

Her date of birth was estimated as June 20, 2008 by doctors according to her development after physical exam. She was brought to the Suzhou Social Welfare Home where she would live for the next 2 years.  Now she is home with us forever in Southwest Louisiana, USA!!

There she was given the name Su Zi Yu.  Su means she is a child in the Social Welfare Institute of Suzhou City; Zi means she was enrolled in our SWI in 2008 (the year of mouse); Yu bears the hope that she could grow into a lady as beautiful and strong as a jade.  Today she is our Eva Elizabeth...named Eva after my grandmother and means "Giver of Life"; we gave her the middle name Elizabeth after a special person we truly feel God used to make it clear to us that she was indeed the child we were meant to adopt and it means "Consecrated to God".  She is truly strong and beautiful!

Her physical exam upon admission states that she weighed 3 kg (6.6 lbs) and was 47.5 cm (18.7 inches) long.  Diagnosis on admission: congenital ptosis of both eyes, small eyes.  At 15 months old she weighed 6.3 kg (13.8 lbs) and was 68 cm (26.7 inches) tall.  Currently she is 31 months old and weighs 24 lbs and is 32 1/2 inches tall!!  She has gained right about 5 lbs and grown 2 1/2 inches since we brought her home.

She was described as a moderate sleeper and having a routine life every day: get up at 7:00, nap at 12:00, and go to bed at about 20:00.  The word routine stands out to me here, because she still really likes to follow a daily routine and to know what is going to happen next.  As I've said in other posts, her sleep issues have gotten so much better and once she's asleep she is usually out for the night.  From the first night we had her we noticed that she makes a sucking sound with her mouth when she is falling asleep and that is still our clue that it's okay to put her in her crib or to leave the room.

She is bathed twice every week in spring and autumn, once everyday in summer and once every week in winter. She is cleaned the hips and feet per day in a bath tub. She does not cry when bathing and is cooperative when putting on clothes.  This one made me cry the first time I read and still does today...Eva loves a bath and especially playing with bubbles in the tub.  She is still very cooperative when putting on clothes...sometimes a little too helpful!



Eating staple food: nutritional congee, 3 meals and 2 snacks meals per day, about 90g per meal (shrimp, minced meat, tofu, eggs and vegetables), snacks (steamed eggs and fruits).  As I have stated often on this blog, Eva still loves to eat!  For the first few months home she would eat non-stop, often making herself sick, but in the last two months we have definitely noticed that she takes more time when eating and has even left food on her plate when she's had enough.  I believe that she now understands that she is not going to run out of food and that she can have a snack when she is hungry.  She has also developed something of a sweet tooth!  At times, we have to hide the dessert or use it to get her to eat the vegetables (I know...bad mommy!)



Motor Development:

Out of 16 possible boxes only two were checked...crawls on hands and knees (age 11 months) and walks with his/her hands holding onto handrails (age 15 months).  Now at 31 months, she is not only walking independently but running!  She has the cutest way of swinging her arms when she runs...almost as if she thinks the faster her arms go the faster she must be running!  Her greatest accomplishment since being home with us is jumping with both feet off of the ground.  You can just see the sheer joy in her face each time she does it and she does it multiple times a day...I think she just wants to make sure she doesn't forget how!!  She also likes to twirl around and make herself dizzy until she falls down giggling.  She is still trying to manouver stairs, right now she will either crawl up or sit on her bottom and go down.  She also loves to draw and color and will often try to imitate what we draw.



Adaptability:
Not one of the 11 boxes were checked.  Out of everything, we know very well how "adaptable" this child is.  She has come into this new life of hers and really hasn't missed a beat.  She has faced each new adventure with bravery and courage that it's hard to imagine a 2 year old having.  She truly inspires us!

Language & Sociality:
Only 4 of the 16 boxes were checked...imitates words; knows what "no" means; responds to others asking for her object and being cooperative when putting on clothes.  As I said earlier in post, she was not speaking when we received her referral.  To say she is now a parrot is an understatement!  She talks all of the time; puts 3-5 word sentences together, and asks "why" about a 100 times a day! Since being home she can also point and name the major body parts...eyes, ears, nose, etc and she is learning the alphabet, counting, shapes and colors.  Her first response is to guess everything red and if that not right then it has to be blue.  Lately we have started hearing more yellow and black guesses too.  She can also name animals; tell you what sound they make and she also loves to sing...her favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me".

Personalities:
Out of 17 boxes, 6 boxes were checked...Active; fond of playing with toys; having a ready smile; getting along with others well; fond of playing games and fairly extroverted.  I think it's some of these boxes that surprise me the most because when you compare these to what is written in the journal that we were given you don't find a child who is extroverted, several times she is described as a "loner" and it is only towards the end of the journal that she was starting to interact with other children.  I'm also surprised that the boxes referring to music weren't checked.  Listed below this section on the referral asks what her favorite toy is and it says "musical toys" and several entries in the journal state how much she loves music and likes to dance, moving and rocking to the beat.  This is still very true today...in her car seat we see her nodding her head to the music on the radio and trying to sing the song; while shopping and riding in her stroller if we pass a store with loud music she will start bobbing to the beat and she loves to pull out the musical toys and dance to them all over the living room. 



Lastly, the referral states that her favorite activity is outdoor activities...this is very true.  She loves to be outside and we can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can spend alot more time outdoors!





Thank you God for this beautiful, intelligent, resilient little girl that we are so proud to call our own!!