Four months together and the holidays are here….

…well today is our 4 month anniversary. Malia has been with us only a short time, and she has made great strides, though we are still struggling in some areas.  Today was not a particularly good day….sometimes a slight change in routine can disrupt the flow of things…but today was a challenging one…..(I am finishing this a few days later)….anyhow better weekend, two steps forward one back I guess…..it's the tantrums that make it so hard…and just when I think I've got her figured out, I learn more….she is changing anyhow it is amazing to think that we are finally a family….over the next few days before Christmas if I can, mostly photos to show how busy we have been so do check backwards as I'll try to date them when they happened.  As usual, as with Matteo, Malia too is happiest when we are out and about…of course there is so much that is still new to her so her curiosity makes her much more cooperative and of course amongst strangers she sticks closer to me which is great….

Anyhow Malia is so smart, very sensitive, has a great sense of humour, can be as silly as her big brother, loves to colour and use markers (always asks me to tell her the colour of marker she's using and shows me the colour on clothing or in a book but has trouble naming all the colours when I ask), loves to look at books and pretend she's reading, loves her bracelets and necklace, loves stickers and glue and often asks me about colours…is determined, is already choosing clothes she likes and doesn't like, favourite books, stuffies, though gets frustrated easily if she can't do something or get her way,  and is picking up language skills daily..though I think it is really her inability to communicate and be understood is what leads to her frustration and tantrums/screaming….…yet her one word vocabulary is vast and she is working on sentences which are mostly two words, like "mor pees"(more please) or "teo skoo" (Matteo school) or  "bice uptare" (Bice (our cat) upstairs)…she can count to six.

At our second CHEO appt. all went really well.   Wee are being referred to CHEO's speech therapy dept. so they can assess how she is forming language and advise on how best to help her…otherwise, other than her eyes and her need for glasses,  she is healthy and thriving and at this 4 month mark we are definitely doing much better.

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks to show off some of her personality.

Enjoying her new Reindeer hat.

Being silly before making cookies.

Decorating cookies

Looking at and pretending to read a book

Wearing her brother's Santa hat.

Snuggling with a small bear given to her by Santa at a Christmas party where she was too afraid to sit on his lap but did accept his gift.