Three weeks

Well, we're a little over the three week mark of having Victoria in the United States with us.  These three weeks have not been without difficulty, but things are gradually progressing in the right direction.  Our sickness is virtually gone - just a tired daddy and mommy taking care of children with the after-sickness crabbies.  (Are mine the only children who are crabby after they are sick?)  Victoria has not been sick (she's the only one!).  She does tend to tattle and whine quite a bit now, which gets to be frustrating for those listening (often me, I confess).  I think that is because she doesn't feel totally in control of the situation.  However, as a whole she is adapting well to our family and we to her.

John has been back to work for about two weeks now.  Victoria at first really pouted when she woke in the morning and found that Daddy had gone to work.   She would ask about him several times during the day and pout then too.  Thankfully, she has changed quite a bit in a couple of weeks.  Lately, she asks about Daddy when she wakes up, after I tell her that he is at work she says calmly "later" (in Bulgarian) and proceeds through her day.  Tonight we're going to give her one more challenge.  John and I are going to try to go out on a much needed date (we haven't even celebrated his birthday yet), and the girls will stay with a very capable sitter.  We hope that Victoria will trust us enough to let us go for a while.  We've tried to prepare her a little bit for tonight in whatever language we speak now (English with some Bulgarian mixed in).  Never have we faced a date with such anticipation and dread in the same moment!  This is worse than leaving a newborn baby!  We'll see what happens...

As far as learning the English language, Victoria seems to be doing well.  She has picked up many English words.  During her early exploration of our toys she found the Alphabet song.  That is, by far, her favorite English song to sing.  She doesn't have the letters exactly right, but I have a feeling she will before long.  She also has learned how to count to ten in English with very little help.  She has copied her name in English letters and has done very well for a five year old.  What is funny is that Jocylin and Cherith have done some of their own learning too.  It is not uncommon for them to come to John or I and ask for something with a Bulgarian word thrown in!  It makes me laugh every time!

We have several doctors appointments scheduled in the months of April and May that we would request prayer for.  The most important ones are to confirm her diagnosis and form a plan of care for her.  There are some things that are largely resting on this appointment (i.e. physical therapy, procurement of a walker, our own knowledge of her needed care, etc.) that will make it easier to help her in the days/months to come.  However, we anticipate the appointments to be fairly traumatic for her, which will be hard to bear.

Thank you all for your concern and prayers!  We appreciate them more than we can say.