{"id":4188,"date":"2014-01-18T00:25:38","date_gmt":"2014-01-18T05:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?p=4188"},"modified":"2014-01-25T22:12:40","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T03:12:40","slug":"all-about-delia-one-month-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?p=4188","title":{"rendered":"All About Delia (One Month Home!)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been so hard to know, these past couple weeks, where to begin to share an update. \u00a0We have had some really rough days (and nights!) with Delia, and I haven&#8217;t wanted to share only the hard parts. We&#8217;ve also had some truly encouraging progress in some areas, but I haven&#8217;t wanted to gloss over the hard and share only the good either. \u00a0It&#8217;s taken me a little while, but I&#8217;m now feeling confident that the good is indeed winning. \u00a0Things will undoubtedly get worse in some ways before they get better, but they <em>are<\/em> getting better, and we are praising God.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Diagnosis. \u00a0First thing&#8217;s first. \u00a0It is time to finally type out the word that has stricken fear into my heart since we first began considering adopting Delia. \u00a0Autism. \u00a0I confessed one of my more ludicrous objections to adopting Delia in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?p=4097\">this post<\/a>, but I didn&#8217;t tell you that one of my very real concerns was her tentative diagnosis. \u00a0I was so very at ease with adopting a child with obvious physical special needs (especially one who has, in practice, ended up hardly seeming &#8220;special needs&#8221; at all), but a child who looks completely typical but is in fact extremely delayed and possibly autistic? \u00a0Scary. \u00a0Perhaps you&#8217;ve heard the reluctant missionary&#8217;s song <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yyEDrwLIzC4\">&#8220;Please don&#8217;t send me to Africa&#8221;<\/a>? \u00a0Well, I was singing &#8220;Please don&#8217;t send me to autism.&#8221; \u00a0And here I am.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Delia has had her first appointment with a psychiatrist at the Children&#8217;s Hospital now, and he is fairly confident to let that diagnosis stand. \u00a0We are, too, now that we have lived with her for over a month. \u00a0Now that things are feeling more official on that front, we are beginning to learn the ropes and discover a wonderful community of parents ready to support us and offer their collective wisdom. \u00a0But it&#8217;s a pretty steep learning curve!<\/p>\n<p>Delia is fully weaned off her medication now, and although she is still generally happy, she is very full-on, and her behavior has been intense. \u00a0I think I had been mentally preparing for the developmental delays and focusing my research on helping her learn to communicate, which will certainly be useful and has been already. \u00a0I was a bit less mentally braced for the behavioral side of things, which has definitely taken the front seat for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>This verse has come to my mind often, and I&#8217;m clinging to it!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.&#8221; 1 John 4:18 (ESV)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sleep. \u00a0At her first meeting with her psychiatrist, we brought up sleep as one of our primary issues (for now). \u00a0He recommended melatonin, which we had been thinking of trying anyway, and it has definitely helped. \u00a0Although Delia is still an extremely light sleeper, causing us to live in fear of a middle of the night potty trip or coughing spell (it is very tricky to sleep quietly at seven months pregnant!), she <em>is<\/em>\u00a0now able to get back to sleep most of the time if woken up. \u00a0This has been huge both for our sanity and for her ability to function during the day. \u00a0 We are still not at the point where she is sleeping well enough to share a room with our littlest three girls, but we are praying for continued improvement in this area in time for baby&#8217;s arrival in March.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4189\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?attachment_id=4189\" data-orig-file=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"433,480\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon PowerShot A590 IS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1389365652&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.8&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.033333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"032\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032-288x320.jpg\" data-large-file=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4189\" alt=\"032\" src=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032.jpg\" width=\"433\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032.jpg 433w, http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032-288x320.jpg 288w, http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/032-270x300.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 433px) 100vw, 433px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Niko. \u00a0The number one question on everyone&#8217;s lips these past few weeks has been, &#8220;Do she and Niko remember each other?&#8221; \u00a0I love the idea of this as much as the next hopeless romantic, but we&#8217;re pretty sure&#8230;. not really. \u00a0She does seem to really remember Trevor, though, and she lights up for her daddy like no one else.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4190\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?attachment_id=4190\" data-orig-file=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"640,480\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon PowerShot A590 IS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1389365735&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.8&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.033333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"042\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042-320x240.jpg\" data-large-file=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-4190\" alt=\"042\" src=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042.jpg\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042.jpg 640w, http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042-320x240.jpg 320w, http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/042-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As an aside, we have been so struck since Delia&#8217;s homecoming by how very far our little man has come in just under two years. \u00a0You know how when you have a newborn, your toddler suddenly seems like an enormous genius? \u00a0Well, same effect when you adopt another child. \u00a0Suddenly his lingering difficult behaviors seem like completely typical 7-year-old boy stuff (and if he&#8217;s even still doing them, we&#8217;re hardly noticing!), and he&#8217;s speaking perfect Queen&#8217;s English. \u00a0Or near enough, anyway. \u00a0He has done so well with Delia&#8217;s transition into our family so far, and it seems to be doing him wonders to be one of the old, established members of the family. \u00a0Love that boy so very much.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Progress. \u00a0So much! \u00a0Delia signs &#8220;more&#8221; enthusiastically now both for food and for her beloved Miss Mary Mack-type clapping games with her sisters. \u00a0She also says her own name. \u00a0Loudly and often, and sometimes accompanied by a clap on her chest for extra emphasis! \u00a0And we always respond either by saying it back to her or by saying our own names. \u00a0She also attempts the word &#8220;hot&#8221; when being reminded about the stove in the kitchen, though she still prefers to get as close as she can before being shooed away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>She understands a huge amount of what we say to her, whether by true receptive language or just by learning our routines, it&#8217;s hard to know. \u00a0She responds to commands like, &#8220;Hands down (off the table, which she sometimes shakes in her enthusiasm for mealtimes),&#8221; &#8220;Use your spoon,&#8221; and &#8220;Let&#8217;s go brush your teeth&#8221; like she&#8217;s been speaking English her whole life. \u00a0She also now patiently waits until everyone has their food at mealtimes and happily holds hands while we pray. \u00a0A few short weeks ago she just looked at us like, &#8220;You guys just do your thing; I&#8217;m going to go ahead and eat!&#8221; \u00a0She definitely thrives on routines and structure, which may just force us to build more of those things into our lives.<\/p>\n<p>We have also learned that her behavior is greatly improved by a structured time out of the house each day, which has given us a handy excuse to do some visiting this week. \u00a0It does us all good, and is definitely helping things to begin to feel &#8220;normal&#8221; again.<\/p>\n<p>We have truly felt the prayers of friends and family since we&#8217;ve been home. \u00a0God is teaching me a whole new level of patience and dependence on Him, but He\u00a0has given us peace and laughter in the midst of the crazy. \u00a0His grace is sufficient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been so hard to know, these past couple weeks, where to begin to share an update. \u00a0We have had some really rough days (and nights!) with Delia, and I haven&#8217;t wanted to share only the hard parts. We&#8217;ve also &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?p=4188\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[141,144],"tags":[145],"class_list":["post-4188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adoption","category-special-needs","tag-delia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yiBw-15y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4188"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4211,"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions\/4211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}