How is Sefan doing part 2

Food

Sefan is not really having a lot of trouble with food. She does not like anything with sugar. So for breakfast she like to eat plain oatmeal. She doesn’t like milk at all so this is the only time I can sneak it in. We still serve milk at dinner and she tries a tiny bit of it each time but won’t drink more than a TBSP full. She LOVES banannas and apples which we let her eat as much of any time she wants them. She also likes whole wheat bread (not a big fan of white). We have not really had any trouble with the food adjustment as she loves spaghetti, pizza, enchilladas, and ….ummm afraid to admit KFC (this is one she recognizes by sight unfortunatley) She also likes to keep clean at all times so if she happens to get food on herself she gets very upset and demands that she be changed immediately…but she doesn’t want to wear a bib. Overall food is going well. She will try the things she doesn’t like initially so eventually I think she will develop a taste for more foods like cheese and milk products.

What she learned at Kunkeet

I was pleasantly surpised that she learned to count to 10 (skipping 8) and understands the concept of 1 to 1 …i.e. counting a row of things. She also can sing the alphabet song with her cute little accent. I was happy to see this since in the videos of the other kids singing she was usually quiet. We are also blessed with a set of videos from another adoptive parent and ones I took on my own of the children singing songs in Oromo. I can’t thank the head nanny enough for initiating this songs for me to record. Sometimes I hear Sefan singing them and I am so glad that we will be able to keep this part of her language and culture.

What she has learned so far as far as language

She continues to gain about 2-3 words a day in expressive language (words she uses on her own without prompting). Her receptive language (understanding what is spoken to her) is getting better day by day. Today she pointed to the bread and said “bed” and I was like “huh” then she said “bed” again and I said “bread” and she said “bed” and I said “bread” and she said “bed” this went on a few more times and I said “Brrrrrrrrrread” with a rolled R and she finally got it “bRead”. In the car on the way to the Y she was thirsty and said the Oromo word for I think “water” (she changed it on me btw….she used to say boochonaye)….then she said Woooha (water in amharic) and then water (she must have been very thirty btw). At bed time we say “I love you” in 3 languages! Amharic “eh wad ee shah low” and in Oromo “Sin ja la da”. She is very very interested in learning her colors right now. This started with the beads and string bracelets we made in ET. As we put a bead on we would say its color. She had Yellow, Pink, and white down with no problem Her favorite sentence is “Where’s Yellow?”

TV

Sefan likes to watch Barney. We have a Barney Colors DVD that she begs for all the time. We let her watch it once day even though she begs for more! It is nice that she will sit (or dance around) to the video so mommy can have a little bit of time to catch up on the housework.

Attachment to daddy

Sefan is very very attached to me and has not been very receptive to attaching to Torrey. He has been very patient about it though and continues to gently care for her and try to show her that he is a super fun daddy. They play together very happily as he gives her “donkey” rides and as I write this is letter her dunk him under the water in the pool. However, Sefan still has to have me in her sights at all times or she freaks out a bit. Even when all of the kids are playing on the main floor of the house with daddy and I am taking a break in my room she will come up every 15 minutes or so to make sure I am still there. Also when we are getting in the van to go places she watchs me like a hawk to make sure I am coming….if I have to go back in the house to grab something she will often start to freak out and cry for me until I come back out. Torrey is always there trying to gently remind her that mommy will be back and she is coming with us. Torrey is trying so hard to win her heart and little by little she is letting him in but it may take longer than we expected.

BEDTIME

With the craziness of our final journey home we really didn’t have a lot of trouble getting back on Eastern time. Sefan slept with me for the first 2 days but I don’t sleep well with children in my bed so we started to make the transition to the girls sleeping together in their room together. At first she was resistant to the idea and did fuss for awhile before she fell asleep. Wubitu was a such a good sport through it all as she lay beside her trying to go to sleep as Sefan fussed in her ear. At nap the next day she was equally upset because I had not enforced a nap time up until then but it was quite evident that both girls needed a nap that day. Bed time was much better because Torrey worked his daddy magic and somehow had Wuby show her that this was the routine every night and there was not a single fuss out of her that night or since. Sefan is afraid to sleep up in their princess lofts so we got out the 2 toddler mattresses and put them side by side under the lofts for the girls (Luckily they are both still little enough for the toddler mattresses!) After awhile I am sure that Sefan will start to become more adventurous and will soon be enjoying the lofts with Wubitu but we are taking baby steps for now.

BROTHERS

Sefan has a very special bond with Noah. Since that first day that he played with her in the car while we came home from the airport he has been her favorite. She likes to snuggle up to him on the couch and watch TV and give him big kisses on his cheeks. Noah dotes on her just like he does on Wubitu. He likes to tell the girls that they are “sooooo pretty”. One day Noah told Sefan she was cute and Wubi was like “I am cute too Noah, right…..Noah….tell me I am cute…..NOAH!” Carter has been a pretty good sport about this all. Sometimes Sefan is overly affectionate for his liking and he call for me to try to tell her to calm down a bit. He is all about pretend play and he and Wubitu like to play baby or puppy which Sefan finds HILARIOUS.

PLAY

Sefan is very different compared to Wubitu with regards to play. Wubitu is all about people and RARELY plays with toys at all. Even when we try to play with toys she will usually just climb on your back to wrestle. Sefan likes to build with legos and the big mega blocks, and play cars. She is quite content to sit and build a tower or make a bead necklace to keep herself busy. She is however SCARED stiff to see baby dolls and stuffed animals. Not sure why with the baby dolls but she won’t even go near them. I had to put the stuffed animals (which are Wubitu & Carter’s favorite…they like to play zoo or pet shop) in a tub and cover them with a blanket for her. She LOVES anything with buttons so her favorites are the little cash register and Wubi’s Disney store cell phone.

More to come!!!