Four months ago we adopted our precious girl Kiana from China. After about 15 months of "process" we finally had our girl! However, our adventures in China weren't the end of our adoption adventure, but just the beginning! So, I am reinstating our adoption blog for a more in depth viewing of the realities of post-adoption life. Plus, there are so many different things that are happening as Kiana is growing and changing that I don't want to forget any of them!
One of the many pieces to the adoption process is adoption education courses. I am SO thankful for these! During our "training" we learned a lot about the importance of food in the lives of adopted kids. It provides a feeling of control for kids who otherwise have absolutely no control on their life whatsoever. This could look like kids refusing to eat, overeating, and hoarding food. We were taught that it's okay to let them overeat, even if they get sick. There is a place of trust that they need to arrive at, one part being that they will from now on have enough food in their bellies.
The first few days in China Kiana was pretty much a bottomless pit. At meal time she would eat and eat and eat. Finally, on the third day as we were having dinner we finally saw her slow down and eventually take a sigh from being full. After we arrived back at Kona we gave her the bottom shelf of the fridge and the bottom shelf of the pantry so that she could get food whenever she wanted. While we try to limit her sugar intake, pretty much nothing else is off limits, like letting her put gobs of butter on her bread or rice.
Have you ever seen the Lord of Ring movies? I'm sure if you haven't you have at least seen pictures of the infamous Gollum. In a nutshell, that was Kiana in the beginning. When she laid down on her back her stomach would concave WAY in compared to her chest. I could fit my hands all the way around her waist and have my fingertips touch.
In the last couple months she has FINALLY begun to fill out a bit and put on a little weight. (About 2 pounds so far which is a lot for someone so small!) Just a couple days ago I was sitting on a bar stool with Kiana on my lap and my hands on her waist. And what do you know... my fingertips couldn't touch anymore! It is so exciting to see her growing and changing so much and so fast. Most of the time we don't even realize it as we live our day to day, until we have moments where we reflect back to the beginning and remember "oh yeah, she used to do that!" or "hey, life's not like that any more!" I'm thankful for this tangible moments that remind of how far we have come!
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