2 Months With Laila

Two full months.

62 days this little girl has been with her forever family.

And what an amazing two months it has been!!

 

From frightened, grieving baby to happy, joyful little firecracker with one heck of a stubborn streak!

She is just such a little firecracker!! We are still figuring her out a little bit more day by day...

 

Her smile is BIG!! It can just light up a room!! :)
She gives hugs & kisses to everyone in the family.

Knows the first two lines of our 'night night' song.

Loves to take a bath.

Loves to have Mommy fix her hair, but prefers Daddy for getting dressed, putting pajamas on, and for 'eeeee' (brushing her teeth).

Has a preferred person to put her shoes on (still calling them "zee hihi"), but will really allow anyone to do it so that she doesn't have to.

Follows Mommy around at the busiest moments insisting she needs picked up.

Enjoys playing with both Katie & Chengbin.
Chooses someone who should help her eat at each meal because seriously, it is too much work to feed herself ALL of it... lol

Does NOT want to take naps (but still needs to).

And if any of these things she enjoys aren't handled to her exact princess specifications she WILL let you know about it.  And if you try to make her take a nap the same... Cue the scream then tantrum. ;)

 

Daycare is finally starting to get better after three weeks.  She's become more secure that Mommy will come back.  She also got a new teacher that she really likes this week so I think that is helping.

Thalassemia treatment is going well.  She has received three transfusions since coming home and her body is starting to settle into them so that she can soon go to a 3 week transfusion schedule.  We've also seen the pediatrician to get our oh, so many referrals and had an echo & EKG for her heart.  So far, we know that this little one is teeny, tiny and delayed yet is also smart and capable.  Most of her delays are due to the extreme exhaustion that comes with non-transfused thalassemia major.  When every breath is a struggle, things like walking & talking become far less important.  Her Nanny clearly loved her and carried her around, knowing that she was just too tired to do much else.  We are SO grateful she's home!! 

We still have eyes, ears, endocrine, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, & a trip to Atlanta's blood disorders clinic to go... (Sigh). We just want to make sure we are covering all our bases to ensure she is tracked and intervention can be made, if necessary, to help her reach her full potential.  In the meantime we are enjoying family time, keeping life small, and enjoying getting to know this sweet little girl.

 

And language, I know many people have asked us if she talks and what she can say...

Well- she can repeat almost anything word for word, but so far speech has come slowly.  She knows most of what we say, but only expresses a few words on her own...

Her favorite is 'no' (of course), but she also says bath, shoes, hot, kitty, hi, up please,  bye bye, & see you soon.  She is starting to say more words just over the last few days.

We are blessed!!!  Amazingly blessed!!!  And wondering what God is up to with this little one.  What plans does he have for her?  I have no doubt they are going to be great!!

Happy two months of forever baby girl!!  Your forever family loves you SOOO much!!

Thanks for stopping by,
Fannie, Matt, & the Wilks Kiddos

2... 3... 4... How much longer??

I'd like to share a story about a little boy.  A boy who was "almost" my son.  A boy who has been waiting for over 2 years for a family to choose him.  To be his forever.

You see, when he was 2 his paperwork was filed.  And we read his file and saw his sweet face.

 

And as we looked at this sweet boy, so young and adorable, we thought FOR SURE he would find his family.  And our Chengbin was already turning 5 years old and might not.  So we prayed and felt confident that we should submit LOI (letter of intent to adopt) for Chengbin.

 

A few months later, a fellow thal mama visited his orphanage and took this heart-wrenching photo of him.  He was nearing 3 years old.  And still waiting...

 

 

My heart shattered.  This sweet boy.  This beautiful boy.  Those eyes.  The sadness.  It overwhelmed me and I promised myself I wouldn't forget him and would do all I could to find his family.

 

And then his file disappeared.  My agency no longer had it.  He wasn't on the shared list of waiting children either.  No other US agencies had his file.  It was gone...

And I prayed it was because a family somewhere in the world had chosen him.

I prayed that he was about to become someone's son.

And I continued to wonder what happened.  I thought about him and prayed for him for 1 1/2 years.

 

Then, a couple weeks ago, one of the caseworkers at our first adoption agency sent me the file of a little boy new to the agency's list.  She was hoping I'd help advocate for him since he had thalassemia.  So I scrolled down and read the name on the file...

 

It couldn't be!  I recognized that name.  I opened the picture and there he was again.  The sweet little boy who I thought was SURE to find a family.  The one who had disappeared from the list.  The little guy I have been praying for for a year and a half.

 

And now he's 4 years old.

 

And still waiting for his family to come...

2 years old, 3 years old, and now 4 years old and still waiting for his family to come.  How much longer will he wait?

I am continually praying for this boy.  Many times each day.  His picture is on the lock screen of my cell phone, so many times a day I see his face and say a prayer.  A prayer that this time he won't be lost.  A prayer that this time his family will say 'yes' and run to him.

Are you his family?

 

There is a $4,000 grant toward his adoption.  I'm happy to talk to you about beta thalassemia major and life with a thal major child.  Please ask me about him at mepscoastie@yahoo.com or contact Lindsey with WACAP at LindseyC@wacap.org.

Blessings,

Fannie