Day Three
Things are progressing nicely ... Addison is getting used to the thought of having a brother and a sister. :) I think letting her observe them playing within the same room has eased her comfort level with them. I even caught her smiling and waving at them today ... huge progress!
Payton continues to think that Addison is her little baby doll ... I know, you are probably thinking, "No wonder Addison is overwhelmed!" LOL. When we first got home, Payton wanted to get Addison dressed. Yesterday, I was telling Payton to say goodnight to Addison before I took her up for nap. Payton had a baby wipe in her hand and proceeded to wipe Addison's face and hands ... I guess she thought they were dirty. Addison's two fingers that she sucks are a mess and she has a perma-dent on her one finger from her tooth. Payton saw the dent and got sad that Addison had a boo-boo. So cute. BTW ... anyone have any ideas as to how to heal chapped little fingers that get vigorously sucked on? Sigh. I put vaseline on them today, but I'm not sure if there is a better alternative.
Mason continues to be the endearing big brother, although I think he has backed off a little since he continued to get a negative reaction from Addison. :( He is bound and determined to get Addison to walk ... it is so cute.
Gross Motor Skills
When we were at the baby home in Russia, we noticed that there were no stairs to give Addison the opportunity to learn how to walk up and down them. Her entire grouppa area was one level and if they ever went outside, they took the elevator. I had tried to get Addison to use the stairs on some playground equipment, and she seemed to have no idea what I was trying to do. That led me to believe we had some work to do on stairs.
Fast forward to bringing her home ... we walk up and down stairs in our house every day, several times a day. From the get go, Addison has been climbing the stairs ... she can get a little unsteady, but she does great. Today, I was able to get her to step up 8-10 stairs with two hands assisted ... holy smokes, she surprised me!
Speech and language development
Well, she definitely is saying "dada" ... and I am pretty sure she is associating "dada" with Kyle. I was holding her at one point today when he walked by and she said "dada". She is also doing well with repeating B's ... like "ball". I'm not sure that I've heard her say any M sounds yet ... hence the lack of "mama". Haha ... grrrr.
As a way to entertain Nika in the hotel and on the airplane, I started singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider to her, and showing her the hand motions. This little Russian princess is so smart ... it doesn't matter that she doesn't speak English, because she understands! I was doing it with her again tonight and she made the hand motions for when the spider crawls up the water spout and for when the spider gets washed out. Are you singing the song in your head now to figure out which motions I'm talking about? LOL. Anyway, I was super impressed that she has picked up the hand motions so quickly ... in English, nonetheless!
Bonding
Nika definitely likes to be held and I'm not sure that Payton is too hip on this, but we make it work. At first, I wasn't sure we should hold her so much for fear that she will never want to be put down ... but, I also realize that this is part of her attachment process, so we are trying to find a happy medium. Today Nika has been quite attached to Kyle ... I guess she got mad at me for cleaning her little nose out. Sigh ... I can't win. LOL.
Payton continues to think that Addison is her little baby doll ... I know, you are probably thinking, "No wonder Addison is overwhelmed!" LOL. When we first got home, Payton wanted to get Addison dressed. Yesterday, I was telling Payton to say goodnight to Addison before I took her up for nap. Payton had a baby wipe in her hand and proceeded to wipe Addison's face and hands ... I guess she thought they were dirty. Addison's two fingers that she sucks are a mess and she has a perma-dent on her one finger from her tooth. Payton saw the dent and got sad that Addison had a boo-boo. So cute. BTW ... anyone have any ideas as to how to heal chapped little fingers that get vigorously sucked on? Sigh. I put vaseline on them today, but I'm not sure if there is a better alternative.
Mason continues to be the endearing big brother, although I think he has backed off a little since he continued to get a negative reaction from Addison. :( He is bound and determined to get Addison to walk ... it is so cute.
Gross Motor Skills
When we were at the baby home in Russia, we noticed that there were no stairs to give Addison the opportunity to learn how to walk up and down them. Her entire grouppa area was one level and if they ever went outside, they took the elevator. I had tried to get Addison to use the stairs on some playground equipment, and she seemed to have no idea what I was trying to do. That led me to believe we had some work to do on stairs.
Fast forward to bringing her home ... we walk up and down stairs in our house every day, several times a day. From the get go, Addison has been climbing the stairs ... she can get a little unsteady, but she does great. Today, I was able to get her to step up 8-10 stairs with two hands assisted ... holy smokes, she surprised me!
Speech and language development
Well, she definitely is saying "dada" ... and I am pretty sure she is associating "dada" with Kyle. I was holding her at one point today when he walked by and she said "dada". She is also doing well with repeating B's ... like "ball". I'm not sure that I've heard her say any M sounds yet ... hence the lack of "mama". Haha ... grrrr.
As a way to entertain Nika in the hotel and on the airplane, I started singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider to her, and showing her the hand motions. This little Russian princess is so smart ... it doesn't matter that she doesn't speak English, because she understands! I was doing it with her again tonight and she made the hand motions for when the spider crawls up the water spout and for when the spider gets washed out. Are you singing the song in your head now to figure out which motions I'm talking about? LOL. Anyway, I was super impressed that she has picked up the hand motions so quickly ... in English, nonetheless!
Bonding
Nika definitely likes to be held and I'm not sure that Payton is too hip on this, but we make it work. At first, I wasn't sure we should hold her so much for fear that she will never want to be put down ... but, I also realize that this is part of her attachment process, so we are trying to find a happy medium. Today Nika has been quite attached to Kyle ... I guess she got mad at me for cleaning her little nose out. Sigh ... I can't win. LOL.