Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

THIS CLARIFICATION IS NOT DIRECTED TO ANY OF OUR FRIENDS OR FAMILY BUT RATHER A BLOGGER WHO TWISTED MY WORDS AND USED THEM INAPPROPRIATELY ON HER OWN BLOG:
Some clarification...it appears that someONE read my last blog entry and took off with the idea that our daughter will not come to us...quite the contrary...she will come to us fine and is becoming more attached to us daily. Our issue is with her willingness to go to others and her confusion as to who her primary caregivers are. Of course children who have lived in an orphanage are used to various caregivers through out the day and possibly different ones from day to day...it is only natural that a loving child and one who attaches easily would be accepting of anyone who holds, plays and gives constant one on one attention. Our goal is not to keep her from bonding with others but help her understand that her bond with us is different than a bond with her anyone else. I share this information on my blog so that others in the process do not feel so alone when they read blogs that talk of nothing but the good stuff...there is "stuff" that needs to be dealt with in any adoption...I appreciate those out there that share the good, the bad AND the ugly...That out of the way...

Ellie has made great strides this week! We have stuck pretty close to home since Sunday but of course, we have had to go out a few times. I took her into the preschool that my son goes to and she was quite shy toward the ladies there...turning her head away and burying it into my shoulder. So, dependence is starting to rear it's head...now that we have had several days where I am the only adult she sees for long periods of time...she is constantly at my hip:0) We have had NO temper tantrums since Sunday...we have had tears, of course, but no tantrums!

She is so curious and so active...she puts everything, I mean everything, into her mouth! And, we are starting to make strides with Houser...poor boy...he just cannot understand why she is allowed to pull on him, crawl on him, and lay on him but as soon as he looks at her she lets loose with the scream of all screams.

The bonding between siblings is progressing very wellish...The newness has worn off for Ruthie and Rusty...Ruthie will engage her if there is not something more interesting for her to be doing...she is 8 so playing with a 2 year old is not the bright spot in her day but she continues to be affectionate and helpful...Rusty, 6, is the defender of all that is weak...so, he spends a lot of time defending her from Flip, 4, who never really thought she was very cool at all. In fact, wanted to know if "she has to stay forever?" He is of course having some normal jealousy...everywhere we go people talk to her and exclaim over her while the other three stand by as if invisible...I explained that the attention will eventually wear off and she will be "just"another Jerger kid...

So, life continues...