A little more about Vivian

I wish this post was to announce we have received our Travel Approval, but no such luck.  Unfortunately, as of Friday it didn't appear the computer problems had been resolved, so it is not looking good.  However, the CCCWA did work all weekend long, so maybe they got it figured out.  We will find out this week.

In the meantime, we continue to prepare for our travel.  This weekend, we checked another item off of our "to do" list --- we bought a blanket for Vivian.  Let me back up.

When we received our referral for Vivian, we were sent her "file".

He file includes the basic information about her health, her bloodwork, her immunizations, her physical development and some information on her daily life.

-she sleeps alone in her crib
-she takes two naps a day
-she has milk mixed with rice cereal in the morning and evening, meat porridge once a day, and mashed vegetable and porridge once a day.
-at 4-5 months she can laugh when teased
-at 6-8 months she can roll over, distinguish familiar people and strangers, and likes to sit on the baby walker
-at 9-12 months she can crawl, clap and feed herself her bottle
-she walked somewhere between 17-19 months old

Also included in the file are some small glimpses into her personality.  We cling to these little pieces of information, as they are gifts to us.  Some are funny, some are cute, and some are sad.  Here is some of what is said in her file (these are direct quotes):

-she likes to be cuddled
-she is afraid of strangers in particular
-she looks tiny and weak, but she is strong in heart
-she is strong and doesn't admit loss
-when it's time for sleeping she would cry, and adults come to her bed and ask her stop, she would stop crying, sometimes when adult leave, she would cry again.
-she is a clever child and is lovely

There was one thing in her file that really caught the kids' attention.  It was this:  "She likes to take a quilt in hand when sleep".  All 3 of my kids have "blankies".  They LOVE their blankets and we do not go ANYWHERE without them (my 10 year old will love me one day for this).

So they were thrilled to hear that it sounds like Vivian likes to sleep with a "blankie".  We have been talking about buying her a special blanket for weeks.

This weekend we set out to find a blankie for Vivi.  The kids were in agreement that she should have a purple one. They wanted it to have satin around the edges, like their own blankets.  We weren't sure what the store would have, but this is what the kids wanted.  Luckily, they found a  perfect, purple blanket.

  Everyone was happy with this choice (except maybe Daddy when he saw the price!).

On one hand we are happy and grateful to have this information on her from her file.  On the other hand we are heartbroken about some of the information on her from her file.  For example, the day she was abandoned.  The place she was abandoned.  The date she entered the orphanage.  Stuff like that.  Stuff that is really only for Vivian to see, and only for Vivian to share should she ever decide to, so I won't go into any more detail about it here.

We are also sad about is all that is NOT in that file.  Vivian has been alive for 2 1/2 years, and all that we know about those 2 1/2 years is wrapped up in  6 pages of information and 3 pictures.  I think of the baby books I have for my children that are pages and pages long, and the photo albums packed with pictures of their first years, and I feel so sad for all that we will never know about Vivian's beginnings, and more importantly, all that she will never know.  So many questions and so few answers.

That is why we do not want to lose ONE MORE DAY of time with her.  That is why it is driving me CRAZY that one little piece of paper is keeping me from getting on a plane.  We NEED to go get her.  We are hoping and praying that our TA arrives this week, so we can go get our girl.

Vivian, December 2012