Pure Joy

Jean said she wanted to know more about Joy and what Jean wants, Jean gets. After all, I like to say that this is all her fault, our China connections. Jean was obedient in caring for widows and orphans when she put up a certain little boy's picture on the sidebar of her blog. I will never forget the moment I saw his picture. How many times this past year I have remarked that I am a better person for knowing our Joshua. I cannot imagine life without his precious smile. Jean, I am sure, would covet your prayers for her family as they work to bring three new daughters home from China.



One of the things Jean had posted awhile ago was how she started at the beginning with each of her children (newly adopted and learning English as a second language) no matter their age. We took that to heart when we realized that Joy hasn't had any exposure to simple problem solving skills. We went to the local stuffmart store and bought a classic toddler toy which can be used in all sorts of learning like size, shape, colors, and toss.

Joy has begun to let us know her needs and wants. She decided that she wanted to conquer the escalator. And she did!



When we went to the safari park, she seemed to enjoy it. She wasn't particularly scared nor was she overly excited about seeing all the animals.

One of our first appointments after the cardiologist and the pediatrician will be the eye doctor. We are wondering if she has some depth perception issues. She has a hard time with stairs and when the texture, color, or type of flooring/street changes. She hesitates at the curb and asks to be carried down stairs.



We celebrate that she has begun to point and letting us know her needs.

Did I mention that Joy is tri-lingual? She understands Mandarin, Cantonese, and her own native dialect. I think that is making communication difficult for her. It is hard to know what she understands when she is asked to do something (even by our guide for instance).

Hopefully learning English will level out the playing field and allow Joy to reach her own potential.



She enjoys FaceTime with the kids. About the third day she connected the talking faces on the IPAD with the pictures in the photo album we had sent her. We practice all the names a lot. I don't think she realizes people, specifically adults, have their own individual names. It has been a struggle to get her to call us Mommy and Daddy. That will change quickly when she has serious competition for my attention.

What pure joy it has been to spend this time win our daughter.

As my friend Anya said, "Have fun introducing Joy to the world!"

I love that! I really do!

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