REGARDING ZOIE
THIS is what Adoption can do. THIS is what it's done for this child. THIS is why I have adopted twice and I am going in for a third. Full speed ahead.
I want to tell you about my little Zoie Love Mi. Isn't that the name to beat all names?!!
I had named her Zoie when I first started her adoption in the Fall of 2006. It means 'life' and seemed so very appropriate. I gave her the middle name Love while I was waiting for her referral in 2014.
Her second middle name would be whatever her Chinese name would be.
To be honest I was waiting for a referral of a child missing an ear or a limb or something similar to that. Then I got this random referral for a child not missing any body parts. They weren't supposed to do that...send me random referrals like that. It was just too heartbreaking for me to say no.
But of course I had to look. I opened the file of this child that was supposedly mentally and developmentally delayed.
I recognized her immediately. She was my child!! What confirmed it to me was her Chinese name.
Mi. Zoie Love Mi. LOL. Seriously though I couldn't have planned that better. I was in Love.
We were prepared for the worst of course because what does delayed really mean? It could be severe or not. We had no idea but I knew she could bond because her report said she was close to her foster mother. That was all I really cared about. She had experienced failure to thrive in the orphanage where she spent a full year from the time she was abandoned at 6 months old. So thankfully they moved her into a foster home where she finally learned to walk at age 2 1/2.
We met Zoie in the 'room' and she was not a fan. She screamed and clawed for at least an hour but I didn't let her go. I wanted her to know that this was no mistake. I was the one she could count on from this moment forward and I would accept and love her exactly how she was, screaming and clawing included. Oh how happy she was when she finally calmed down and I passed her off to her older brother and sisters. She loved them so much. Partly because they weren't me.
She warmed up to me though and by the third day when I took her shopping for food and put her in the cart I was the real maMA. She pointed to everything she wanted.
She is fascinated and obsessed with food. Especially bread and meat. I can relate.
I have much experience with children and have run my own Childcare/Preschool for more than 17 years. I know delayed and I know sharp. She was not delayed. Well at least not to the extent that that diagnoses suggested. She was delayed because she lived in an Orphanage for much of her young life. She was delayed because she had definitely not been taught many things and experienced even less but that was all I saw. There was nothing slow about this child.
So the experiences began.
I have to mention that she has an amazing adopted brother, Ziggy, who I brought home at 14 months old from Ethiopia. He is a very unique individual. I really have NEVER met any child quite like him.
I will tell you about Ziggy in another post but Ziggy is a big huge reason why my Zoie may very well start college at age 16 like her older sister.
Zoie loves to do everything that Ziggy does. She can't always of course because she is 2 years younger and there are things a 5 year old has earned the right to do that a 3 year old just hasn't but for the most part she doesn't miss a thing. It started in China when she didn't want to brush her teeth. So I told Ziggy to open wide and started brushing his. Well needless to say she couldn't wait for her turn at that.
After we got home she payed very close attention to everything Ziggy. He just turned 5 last summer and was learning how to read and write. Of course now Zoie is starting to write too.
I am NOT kidding.
Let me back up a little.
When Zoie came home she was almost 3 years old. She knew no English and had just learned to walk so she was not yet running. It was more like a half trot and she tried so hard. She was completely flat footed. As a board. But she was potty trained. Even overnight.
That was last May 2015.
Now it is March 2016. Zoie is just over 3 1/2 years old and has been home just over 10 months.
She is fluent in English and pronounces her words better than Ziggy did at age 4 after 3 years home.
She dresses and undresses herself including socks and shoes.
She knows ALL her colors.
She knows ALL her ABCs both upper and lower case.
She knows what sound each letter makes. EVERY ONE.
She knows how to write both the upper case and lower case of about 1/2 the ABCs and and the others when guided.
She can sing the ABC song and Twinkle Star too.
She can recognize ALL her numbers up to 10.
She can count to 10 by herself.
She takes apart and puts together puzzles designed for a 4-6 year old with a speed I have never seen.
She LOVES to play the 'matching game'.
She is running now, albeit a bit tippie-toed but it's like REAL running!! This is good news because she so badly wants to keep up with Ziggy.
And she has arches in both her feet!! YES. REAL arches. Her flat feet are gone!! I have NEVER seen anything like it in my life. I thought kind of thing was permanent. Maybe they are sometimes flat from lack of walking on them. I don't really know.
My late husband had very flat feet but he had them all his life. He had been severely malnourished and then adopted at about 6 months old from Germany.
Zoie is a great big helper. ANYTHING I am doing she wants to help me. ANYTHING. And this includes getting the toilet paper for me when I am going potty. Yes I am not kidding.
She is a born Nurturer.
She loves to cook and she loves to eat even more.
Because of both the kids' obsession with cooked food and food in general about 70% of our diet is in the form of fruits and vegetables. And these are mostly RAW. This way I can give them as much as they want to eat without fear for their health or weight. She especially loves to graze. There have been days where she will finish her breakfast smoothie (1/2 the blender filled with greens and 1/2 filled with fruit and then water, maybe a splash of juice) and graze on peanuts that she peels by herself for the next couple of hours until lunch. She just takes her time and she feels in complete control. She loves to do that.
She is starting to leave food on her plate when she is full. Cooked food which she especially loves. That is a VERY good sign.
She is starting to trust that she will always have food to eat and enough of it too. Trusting.
Today while we were grocery shopping she ate several stalks of Kale from the bunches I bought for our salad. Just plain. And she just loved it. She does the same with Spinach. She loves her greens.
Her body absolutely CRAVES them.
Zoie is bonded. She loves her brother and she loves her mama. She loves her Babi and he Aunties and she loves her older brothers and sisters and Skype days are a highlight of her week.
She is such a Light. She is such a Love.
We don't know how we ever got along without this girl.
God has truly blessed me over and over.
I am Truly One Blessed Mama!!
THIS is what Adoption can do. THIS is what it's done for this child. THIS is why I have adopted twice and I am going in for a third. Full speed ahead.
I want to tell you about my little Zoie Love Mi. Isn't that the name to beat all names?!!
I had named her Zoie when I first started her adoption in the Fall of 2006. It means 'life' and seemed so very appropriate. I gave her the middle name Love while I was waiting for her referral in 2014.
Her second middle name would be whatever her Chinese name would be.
To be honest I was waiting for a referral of a child missing an ear or a limb or something similar to that. Then I got this random referral for a child not missing any body parts. They weren't supposed to do that...send me random referrals like that. It was just too heartbreaking for me to say no.
But of course I had to look. I opened the file of this child that was supposedly mentally and developmentally delayed.
I recognized her immediately. She was my child!! What confirmed it to me was her Chinese name.
Mi. Zoie Love Mi. LOL. Seriously though I couldn't have planned that better. I was in Love.
We were prepared for the worst of course because what does delayed really mean? It could be severe or not. We had no idea but I knew she could bond because her report said she was close to her foster mother. That was all I really cared about. She had experienced failure to thrive in the orphanage where she spent a full year from the time she was abandoned at 6 months old. So thankfully they moved her into a foster home where she finally learned to walk at age 2 1/2.
We met Zoie in the 'room' and she was not a fan. She screamed and clawed for at least an hour but I didn't let her go. I wanted her to know that this was no mistake. I was the one she could count on from this moment forward and I would accept and love her exactly how she was, screaming and clawing included. Oh how happy she was when she finally calmed down and I passed her off to her older brother and sisters. She loved them so much. Partly because they weren't me.
She warmed up to me though and by the third day when I took her shopping for food and put her in the cart I was the real maMA. She pointed to everything she wanted.
She is fascinated and obsessed with food. Especially bread and meat. I can relate.
I have much experience with children and have run my own Childcare/Preschool for more than 17 years. I know delayed and I know sharp. She was not delayed. Well at least not to the extent that that diagnoses suggested. She was delayed because she lived in an Orphanage for much of her young life. She was delayed because she had definitely not been taught many things and experienced even less but that was all I saw. There was nothing slow about this child.
So the experiences began.
I have to mention that she has an amazing adopted brother, Ziggy, who I brought home at 14 months old from Ethiopia. He is a very unique individual. I really have NEVER met any child quite like him.
I will tell you about Ziggy in another post but Ziggy is a big huge reason why my Zoie may very well start college at age 16 like her older sister.
Zoie loves to do everything that Ziggy does. She can't always of course because she is 2 years younger and there are things a 5 year old has earned the right to do that a 3 year old just hasn't but for the most part she doesn't miss a thing. It started in China when she didn't want to brush her teeth. So I told Ziggy to open wide and started brushing his. Well needless to say she couldn't wait for her turn at that.
After we got home she payed very close attention to everything Ziggy. He just turned 5 last summer and was learning how to read and write. Of course now Zoie is starting to write too.
I am NOT kidding.
Let me back up a little.
When Zoie came home she was almost 3 years old. She knew no English and had just learned to walk so she was not yet running. It was more like a half trot and she tried so hard. She was completely flat footed. As a board. But she was potty trained. Even overnight.
That was last May 2015.
Now it is March 2016. Zoie is just over 3 1/2 years old and has been home just over 10 months.
She is fluent in English and pronounces her words better than Ziggy did at age 4 after 3 years home.
She dresses and undresses herself including socks and shoes.
She knows ALL her colors.
She knows ALL her ABCs both upper and lower case.
She knows what sound each letter makes. EVERY ONE.
She knows how to write both the upper case and lower case of about 1/2 the ABCs and and the others when guided.
She can sing the ABC song and Twinkle Star too.
She can recognize ALL her numbers up to 10.
She can count to 10 by herself.
She takes apart and puts together puzzles designed for a 4-6 year old with a speed I have never seen.
She LOVES to play the 'matching game'.
She is running now, albeit a bit tippie-toed but it's like REAL running!! This is good news because she so badly wants to keep up with Ziggy.
And she has arches in both her feet!! YES. REAL arches. Her flat feet are gone!! I have NEVER seen anything like it in my life. I thought kind of thing was permanent. Maybe they are sometimes flat from lack of walking on them. I don't really know.
My late husband had very flat feet but he had them all his life. He had been severely malnourished and then adopted at about 6 months old from Germany.
Zoie is a great big helper. ANYTHING I am doing she wants to help me. ANYTHING. And this includes getting the toilet paper for me when I am going potty. Yes I am not kidding.
She is a born Nurturer.
She loves to cook and she loves to eat even more.
Because of both the kids' obsession with cooked food and food in general about 70% of our diet is in the form of fruits and vegetables. And these are mostly RAW. This way I can give them as much as they want to eat without fear for their health or weight. She especially loves to graze. There have been days where she will finish her breakfast smoothie (1/2 the blender filled with greens and 1/2 filled with fruit and then water, maybe a splash of juice) and graze on peanuts that she peels by herself for the next couple of hours until lunch. She just takes her time and she feels in complete control. She loves to do that.
She is starting to leave food on her plate when she is full. Cooked food which she especially loves. That is a VERY good sign.
She is starting to trust that she will always have food to eat and enough of it too. Trusting.
Today while we were grocery shopping she ate several stalks of Kale from the bunches I bought for our salad. Just plain. And she just loved it. She does the same with Spinach. She loves her greens.
Her body absolutely CRAVES them.
Zoie is bonded. She loves her brother and she loves her mama. She loves her Babi and he Aunties and she loves her older brothers and sisters and Skype days are a highlight of her week.
She is such a Light. She is such a Love.
We don't know how we ever got along without this girl.
God has truly blessed me over and over.
I am Truly One Blessed Mama!!
