China Hope

Wed. morning and at 8:20 Hope is still asleep. Hurrah! I actually got about six hours of sleep last night and I have a head start on Hope this morning. She looks beautiful sleeping so peacfully. It won't last long though.

It is almost killing Becky to have to be away from her during the day, but Hope is handling it pretty well. Every so often she will just call out "Mama", but she doesn't get upset. I tell her that Mama is at work and will be home soon. I repeat it the same way each time hoping that she will begin to understand some of what we say.

Hope is learning several words in English and using them some, but not in sentences very much yet. She calls out "horsie" when she looks out the window and sees one and she calls our dog "Timber" by name but not our other dog, "Abby". Most of her communication to me is grunting and pointing still. Sometimes she uses words that I am sure are meant to be in her Chinese dialect. Very cute and sweet, but we can't figure out any pattern yet.

I am listening closely for sounds that she is waking because she panics very quickly if she gets fully awake and one of us is not in sight. She generally doesn't want us out of her sight at any time. We will know that she is really getting adjusted when that changes, and are prepared for it to take quite a while maybe. We figure that in her mind she was abandoned by the only people she had ever trusted, (her aiyas or nannies) and now we are all that she has, imperfect as we are. She is learning to love and trust us and we know that time is a healer.

We also know that Jesus is a healer, so we continue to depend on Him, and the prayers of friends, family, and church.

Ronnie