The dogs - oh the horror she experienced! Dogs are NOT your friends in Uganda, and children are taught that practically from infancy, so this was an enormous challenge to overcome. Maggie would act like Satan himself walked in the room anytime the dogs would enter - eventually we got past the screaming and crying and she managed to co-exist with them - meaning if they were out, she was as high up on the furniture as she could get. This went on for months and we began to question if the dogs (mainly the golden) would have to find a new home. Then one day, out of the blue, she got up in the morning and told me she wasn't scared anymore. And gave Tucker (the golden) a hug, and that was that. ?!?!? Crazy! Now both dogs are her buddies - she hauls them all over the house and bosses them around all day long. It's amazing.Food. Initially, she wouldn't eat anything processed - from a can or box - mainly just plain, simple food (which is what she was used to). She's progressed from that (not sure if that's good or bad? haha) and her favorite is pizza. :) She LOVES vegetables and fruit and I have learned to "sneak in" all manner of smoothies - the ones that include veggies like spinach, pumpkin, squash, etc. and she loves them all. As a result of all this amazing nutrition, she has GROWN - almost 2 inches and 4 pounds since we came home. Two funny things: 1) she will NOT eat breakfast, and I've decided not to fight it - it's a losing battle; and 2) milk - which I knew she drank at the orphanage, but she wouldn't drink here. Once she learned enough English, she explained that it was too cold. :) They BOILED their milk at the orphanage and drank it hot. So once I learned to put it in the microwave, she drank milk. She's now adjusted to it being cold.
Sleeping - this has been interesting. The biggest miracle is that she sleeps through the night - 11ish hours, with no problem. Her sleeping hours at the orphanage? 10:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. !! I have no idea why they kept such crazy hours. When she first came home, she would only use the blanket on the bed - no sheet (she'd shove it down to the bottom of the bed) - and would wrap that sucker around her body like a burrito - head included! It took some serious effort to unwrap her and check on her! This remained a mystery until I read that kids in Africa will sleep like that to protect themselves from mosquito bites. We started explaining to her that there weren't any bugs in our house and she didn't have to sleep with her head wrapped up like that - so then she quit. But still no sheets - she even had to lay a blanket down underneath her so she wouldn't feel the bottom sheet. Once again, learning a little more English helped this mystery as well - she said the sheets were too cold. Just like the milk. Ha. :) She is slowly overcoming that as well - sometimes is ok with the sheets - but it's not a battle we feel we need to fight. One thing she is ADAMANT about is sleeping with her lamp on. We initially decided this wasn't a big deal and let it go - but now thinking we need to fix that because when we all sleep in a hotel room together - or in our camper - we have an issue. Lastly on the sleeping - this girl is a FANATIC about having everything on her bed and in her room in PERFECT condition before she sleeps. She will fuss and arrange and fuss and arrange and fuss and arrange her pillow, blankets, comforter, stuff on her nightstand and dresser until all is in PERFECT ORDER. It's really interesting to watch, but it also worries me a little that she has OCD. Whew. I get tired watching her.
Stuffed animals - this has been crazy for me, a huge stuffed animal lover (yes I still have some on my bed and I'm over 40!). She HATES them. She doesn't like them "looking" at her. ?? Before she came home, I bought her a huge, totally adorable giraffe that sits in the corner of her room and it has caused a significant amount of distress - one minute she can't stand it in her room, so then Jack and Noah try to adopt it, but then she wants it back. I've tried telling her we'll get rid of it, but she doesn't like that solution either. So each week is a question as to whether the giraffe will remain in her room or not. :)
Speech - her English is amazing and she caught on incredibly fast -with no outside help. She's even ahead of herself, if that makes sense. She says phrases that she hears us saying, but doesn't know what they mean. :) She communicates perfectly for the most part - but still has an accent, which is adorable, but it gives her trouble with "ha"and "ho" sounds - and in general words that start with H are difficult. It's interesting. We aren't too concerned yet - she'll start preschool in the fall and if they think we need to get her some assistance, we will.One of the big struggles for me is her age - not knowing when she was born, and knowing that I will never know. This is harder than I ever anticipated. We truly have no idea how old she is, and that has been a challenge, setting a birthdate. How does one do that?!? I have to believe it will all work out, but it's hard for me mentally. Looking at her, she's tiny - definitely the size of a 3 year old, but her intelligence level (and attitude!!) make her seem a lot older. My own brain is having difficulties in figuring out how to handle her - like the 3 year old we've determined she is, or like the 8 year old her maturity level points to (or even the 16 year old attitude!). But in the big picture, this is a small thing to overcome, much smaller than many other adoptive issues.
Maggie has told us a lot about life at the orphanage - something we didn't expect. It's amazing what she still remembers for such a little person. She's told us about her bed, her food, her friends, described washing the floor, and washing clothes (yes, she did those things at 2 years old!) - told us she got spanked if she didn't finish all her food, and would also get spanked if she got up during the night to go potty. She showed us how she was spanked, which was with a STICK. :( But she acts like it was no big thing. She still names her friends by name, and talks a lot about "her baby." (Even the littlest kids there took care of the babies - it's amazing to see). Evidently, there was one in particular she was attached to, and she still refers to him as "HER baby." It breaks my heart because I know she wonders about him, and she will likely never see him again.Overall, this little girl is a complete riot - she is FULL of life and energy - talks and talks and TALKS some more, and laughs and giggles and teases her brothers and is always ready with hugs for us. She has a huge personality which comes with some big highs and some big lows as well - she still questions authority but we are slowly winning that battle - but mainly has adjusted beautifully. We do still have bumps in the road, things certainly aren't perfect, and we still have a journey ahead of us but we are THANKFUL for how far she (and we!) have come. We have a court date for July 10th, on which a judge will hopefully declare her a Roisum. :) Can't wait.
Updates on our other two precious babies coming next week . . . on their 13th birthdays!
