Waiting for Hari

4 months home

January 4-11, 2007

Wow. Hard time getting back to the blog There never seems to be time and when I find some time, I want to veg out and sleep. Still, so much is happening with Julia that I must continue but I have to go back to Christmas.

David and Julia came home after my father’s funeral and I stayed in Jersey for a few days more. We were finally all together the Thursday before Christmas, and I was able to work from home for the end of the week which was good for us all. We prepared Christmas – bought a small tree, decorated it with unbreakable figures and all the things that Julia has been making with us, at school, and with her tutor, Dottie. She enjoyed the decorating, she enjoyed having a tree in the house – toy dinosaurs have lived inside the tree and the decorations have been rearranged many times. I am very happy that I took the advice of others to make the tree totally accessible to Julia. It has worked well and no one worried about the more precious decorations that we own. I also didn’t worry about whether she pulled the tree over.

Because of our stay in Jersey, we could not do so many of the things we had planned to get Julia ready for the holidays. The question is would she have understood or appreciated any more for the preparation and I have no idea. She did not expect presents, in fact, it was hard to get her to come downstairs after we made our coffee and readied the camera for her entrance on Christmas morning. She seemed amazed by the boxes and gifts but did not attempt to open anything until we started it.

We gave her a play kitchen and a slinky. Jan, who was staying with us, gave her dinosaur books. These were plenty for her to receive and she was very grateful. Julia has not used the kitchen as much as I expected but it might take time to get use to it being in the house. She can be seen regularly sitting by herself and paging through books and the dino books are a favorite. Sometime she lines up her toy dinosaurs and they "read" the books with her. She also like to mix her horses (3 from my childhood and the new one my sister gave her) with the dinosaurs. She does not really play as if the animals (or dolls for that matter) talk to one another (like Cheshire did), but lines them up, dresses them in doll clothes, and moves them out and about in the house. Generally her play with dolls is to dress them, do their hair, and have them dance or parade about. It reminds me more of boy play than what Cheshire did. While she is playing, Julia is always singing – today it is a few lines from a song in the musical Beauty and the Beast.

We went to see a performance of Beauty and the Beast right before Christmas. Julia knows the story and music from watching the movie, but this was a first live performance. She loved it. She spent a lot time on one of our laps, she also spoke out in the beginning quite loudly, but her behavior was no worse than other kids her age or the woman beside me who sang all of the songs just loud enough for me to hear. I was very happy with Julia’s attention to the play.

We have attempted to do two violin lessons with Julia but she is much too busy investigating the room, writing on the erasable board, and acting very silly. Her teacher, Ginny, started with the traditional foot chart. Julia saw no reason at all to do it at the lesson or to practice it at home. She did listen to what was said and she can do the foot positions because she did it once. Julia did sit quietly on a lap when Ginny played her violin but it was the only time that Ginny had Julia’s full attention. I don’t think the traditional pre-Twinkle Suzuki exercises are going to work for us. Maybe Ginny can modify the system, maybe we need to find a kindermusik.

In the pool, Julia continues doing better and better. She now goes underwater and blows bubbles. She had a great time one day when the guards put a divider in the lane were played in and she went under it over and over. She is not quite kicking enough or using her hands in the right way to move herself but we are in the JCC pool a few times a week and I’m sure it will all come soon. Another two months and the JCC will allow her to take lessons. By then, will she need them?

ShaDiamon and I took Julia to get a hair cut. We went to a kids’ salon with all sorts of toys and movies at each chair, and cars instead of chairs. In truth, Julia needed none of that. Once the woman starting combing and then cutting Julia’s hair, she was all eyes in the mirror. She wanted to see what was being done.

Julia can be very intensely interested in her reflection in the mirror. She watches herself dressed and naked. She checks out when she makes faces and when she poses. She likes to watch as we interact. I have no known any child like this. I know there were large mirrors at the orphanage – we have two pictures of her in a room that looks like a dance studio. I wonder what she is looking to see.

Julia doesn’t like my traveling for work. She ignores when I leave and tries to push me away when I come home. It’s just few hours on each end, but I don’t like it. I wonder if it is delay her development somehow – too much energy spent too negatively.

Right now, Julia is Daddy’s girl. She hates to see him go to work and loves to see him come home. David does spoil her a bit, picking her up whenever she wants it and buying her treats. It does melt my heart when she calls, Daddy at the top of her voice.

posted by Suz @ 10:02 PM