Kara is recovering

She is still sleeping a lot, but she feels so much better, her antibiotics are working. She is eating better and no longer running a fever, so I am praying she is on the mend. Thank you for praying for our girls.

Still sick here

Kara has been spiking a fever all day, though she seems to feel better; she did not sleep all day like yesterday, she has a runny nose, congestion, and is very dehydrated. All the girls got electrolyte water today.

Meghan is better, she is actually standing up now, but she looks so thin and you can tell she was sick. She actually ate solid food today, Kara had two days of limited to no food, she ate like a horse today.

Their oldest brother was sick this week too, seems we spread the love. :o)

So far Amanda is avoiding the cud, I pray that continues to be the case.

Tom and I are a little better, I finally am headache free, PTL.

Poor Kara has the flu

She woke up crying this morning and is so miserable right now. Please pray she gets better soon, poor baby, she never cries, it is so sad to see tears on her face. Thankfully she is resting quietly now, I hope she can sleep this off. We have a chair to shampoo already from Meghan.

In memory of two special girls

Katerina and Margarita needed a family, and they would have been home already if Ukraine had not changed their adoption laws concerning single women adopting. I know it is up to Ukraine to set their adoption laws, but I am so sad right now, and heartbroken for L; they were her daughters in her heart.

Both girls were 7 and both lived in one the many institutions in Ukraine. In terrible sadness I report that they both passed away after a flu epidemic.

You can see them here
http://puderbaughfamily.blogspot.com/2009/02/their-mission-here-was-finished.html

Please pray for all of the children still waiting for their forever families.

Some new pictures and a mommy vent

We are all recovering from stomach flu, it has been a bad two weeks here, I am weary of whining and moaning, and so grateful to have happy girls back again, or somewhat happy...LOL

Kara is a little ham, no question she loves having her picture taken, so it makes taking hers so much more fun, Amanda drops her head and ignores me half the time, and Meghan has to be in the right mood, but little Kara loves it! I got this picture trying to take one of Amanda, Kara saw the camera and walked in front of Amanda. LOL

Yes, she is pretty dirty, we trimmed our overgrown trees and all of a sudden Kara has realized that our yard was bigger than she thought at first and has many more wonders to explore. Dirt, dog poop (gross), plants, bits of bark, etc.

Bath time is something else Kara loves, and she truly needs quite often, she plays hard in the dirt and comes in smelling like a wet dog, ugh, yuck. Good thing she likes getting cleaned up, first thing is a shower to wash off all the dust, then a nice bath with her sisters.

Another one stepping in front of the camera when I was trying to get Amanda. She is behind Kara in the blue dog..no I can't see her either, but she was there.

Kara is so funny, she also wants all the attention and we have had some sibling squabbles lately. Meghan is fed up with Kara pushing her off the sofa, pulling her hair out by the handfuls (Meghan has alopecia, her hair comes out easily), they had a slapping fight the other day, it was upsetting to me as I do not like it when children hurt each other. Part of me was relieved Meghan learned to stop her sisters behavior BUT, we do not allow hitting, so not only did Kara get in trouble, but Meghan as well. I have never been one to sit back and allow this type of sibling check and balances.

Kara needs to stop being such a bully, even docile Amanda had a whack at her, something we never expected, but she growled at Kara and dove for her scratching and attempting to slap her. Now Kara outweighs Amanda by 13 pounds, so it was no contest brawl, but Amanda was that angry with her sister is telling of the issue we face with her behavior. Kara gets sent to time out a lot. I also saw the same behavior at Kara's orphanage, so this is something she has done for a long time.

At times she seems unaware she is doing anything hurtful, but sometimes she celebrates knocking Meghan or Amanda (even her big brothers and sister) off the sofa laughing and she throws her arms in the air in a "Touchdown" motion. I can imagine that comes from a orphanage mentality too, survival of the strongest kid so to speak.

Meghan and Amanda ignore her. Kara is a sweet and sensitive little girl and when her sisters ignore her, it hurts her feelings, but she has no idea it was her doing, she gets whiny and clingy with us when her sisters decide they have had enough.

Amanda gets mad at Kara for sitting with HER mama and comes over to be held. Kara pushes Amanda down, Meghan runs to Amanda's rescue and yells at Kara, and mama has to separate all the girls then. Seems pretty normal to me, they want attention, except Kara gets mean. We do a lot of reminding.

Her behavior wears me (us) out, by the end of the day we are very ready for her to go to bed.

I go in and check on her after she has gone to sleep, her angelic face serene, and I wonder how such a cherubic child can cause so much angst, life is a journey that is never boring, isn't it?

Blog makeover

I would love to have a designer blog like so many others, but can't seem to upload it, can someone who has already done theirs post a comment on how I do it? I would love for Kara and Amanda to have prettier blogs.

Yes, we are still here

We have been pretty busy, blogging was not on the list of to-do items. I thought I would add some new pictures of the girls today. The dry weather her really gets Kara's lips, they get so chapped, does not help that she bites her lips either.

Looks like Amanda is in trouble, but Kara was actually laughing as she was moving in to kiss her. Amanda pulled her hair and slapped her...so much for sisterly love. I was trying to get a video of Kara saying I love you in sign language, but she just stared blankly at me. Instead of Kara, Meghan interjected that she loved her Barbie Dolly, which is true. Sisterly love, foiled again. I do think they like each other though, so that is a good thing. LOL

School is exhausting, how about a snooze in the playhouse after I get home. This is what Kara did yesterday, I went to check on her because I could not hear her, and this is what I found? It was 80 degrees yesterday, and 79 today.
Kara blowing raspberries at me. She was either really happy or really grumpy today, no in-betweens.

Meghan and Kara on their swing, I am bummed that it tore away from the base. It was not overly expensive, but the girls love it. We are thinking duct tape should fix it, may not be pretty, but it will be functional. Amanda was on the rocking doggy when I took these, she manipulates it all over the patio, it is pretty funny to watch.

Kara's good news for today is her graduation out of SMO's; her foot and ankle orthotics. She saw her orthopedic doctor today, and he said she should be barefoot as much as possible, something I already was doing with her when I could. I know it is important for her to develop the muscles in her feet and ankles. With 79 degree days, it will be very easy to do. Her doctor was also impressed with her walking skills. way to go miss Kara.

Khrystos Razhdaietsia

Khrystos Razhdaietsia Christ is Born

Tomorrow is Orthodox Christmas, many Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on January 7. Merry Christmas to all of our friends in Ukraine.

Kara, Amanda, and Daddy had some fun together last night, our gift to our daughter, a loving family. her gift to us, the honor of being her (their)parents.

Language development norms and delays

i was looking through my files and found this, it helps to reread it, especially now, Kara is trying to speak, but she really does not know language like she should.

Language development norms and delays http://www.bgcenterschool.org/CourseLibrary/Courses.shtml

It is a well known fact that children do not reach the same milestone in their language development on exactly the same schedule. Their developmental rate can vary by several months or even a year and there is no evidence, for example, that "late talkers" end up as less fluent than "early talkers". Nevertheless, between ages 2 to 5, a child will begin use language as the primary means of communication, self-regulation, and cognitive operations. General norms that exist in this country are roughly applicable to children adopted from Russia or any other country. For example, a child speaks a few words at her first birthday, six months later her vocabulary increases at least ten times, by two a child is routinely stringing words into simple sentences, and only a year later a child may have a repertoire of a thousand words and is understood by strangers. If a child at three can produce only about three dozens words that only his mother can understand, and grunts, points, and gestures to get what she wants - we consider this child as having language problems.

Language problems, unfortunately, are the most common deficits in children from overseas orphanages. The common picture for many orphanage' children at the age of 3 is incomprehensible speech with only a few phrases used, very limited vocabulary, poor understanding of what was said, and slowness in learning new words. At the age of 4 the same problems persist with attempts to use somewhat longer sentences usually with faulty grammar. Our colleagues in Russia suggested that this situation is not only due to a severe lack of quality and quantity of verbal interaction between a child and an adult during the so-called "critical periods of development", (ages 1 to 5), but mostly because of the very context of the communication. For babies in an orphanage the goal of communication with an adult is physical contact and attention from this adult. Mutual object-related activity and cognitive learning activities are very limited. And this has a detrimental impact on the language. In fact, a child does not need language to attract a smile, a hug, or a pat on the shoulder: for this it is enough to approach to an adult and establish eye-contact with her. It is when a child wants your help and cooperation in mutual activities when language emerges as a means of communication and regulation of behavior.

It has been found in children from immigrant families that those who - for their age level - have well-developed first language skills usually acquire the second language faster and easier. The reverse is also true. So it is apparent that the majority of post-institutionalized children are weak in their first language and, therefore, they are "at-risk" in learning their new language. The most "at-risk" group is children between the ages of 4 and 8. Children adopted before the age of 4 have at least several years of development mediated by their new language before they enter school. Children older than 8 in many cases have learned to read and write in their native language and they have an opportunity to transfer some of their cognitive language skills into their new language. Also, language problems in children older than 8 are relatively easy to identify and remediation strategies are likely to be straightforward. Those between 4 and 8 really fall between the cracks. Their language problems are difficult to pinpoint because they are disguised by the dynamic of second language acquisition, which is mostly in communication, not in the cognitive area. Adoptive parents are usually amazed and pleased by their children's progress in mastering basic communication skills and they see no apparent reason for any extra language remediation. The problem is that when it becomes apparent, it may require "heroic efforts" and may result in a lesser degree of success.

Kara has piggies too

Kara still has issues feeding herself, but today she was so hungry when she woke up, she just did it. LOL Yes, she makes a mess, but she is so cute when she purposefully puts that spoon in her little mouth!

I know you can't see their faces, but these two little toddlers playing together is a miracle to me.

Doesn't she look sweet with her pigtails?

I loved seeing piggies on Cammie's Addy, she is such a doll baby, and today after the girls bath, I decided to try to put some in Kara's hair, I was able to get some pictures of her this morning before my batteries died in my camera. I hope you enjoy them.