Shirley And Goodness And Love

This afternoon I was listening to Josiah recite some Bible verses he's been working on for Awana and I was surprised by his recitation of Psalm 23:6. He said "Surely and goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life...". I asked him to say it again to see if he just said it wrong, but no, that's the way he thought the verse went. I'm not sure who he thinks "Shirley" is and why he thinks she's following him.

In other news, Libby is doing very well. Her sleep issues seem to be getting better. She's now sleeping in a pack and play in our room and I think she feels secure with this arrangement. She still wakes up crying sometimes during the night, but if I rub her back and talk to her for a few seconds she goes back to sleep. Yesterday she had an appointment with the International Adoption Clinic at the University of MN. The doctor was pleased with how well she's doing and how much progress she's already made since getting back from China. When we got Libby she couldn't get into a sitting position while laying down and she couldn't get into a standing position when she was sitting. She can now do both of these things which confirms to me that she just didn't have the opportunity to practice these kind of movements while in the orphanage. The only recommendation they had was that we work on getting Libby to crawl as this will strengthen her back and tummy muscles. We've seen no evidence that she knows how to crawl so we'll be working on this.

This coming Monday she will be going in for her heart catheterization. They were able to move her into the early slot which means we need to be at the hospital by 6am. I'm glad we were able to get the earlier appointment because there's a better chance she'll be discharged the same day instead of having to spend the night. I'm still packing an overnight bag just in case! I've gotten stuck at the hospital overnight too many times when I wasn't prepared for it. I at least want to have a toothbrush with me.

We're still trying to figure out what we're going to do about the CT scan of her head. The doctor we saw yesterday would really prefer that she have an ultrasound instead so she isn't exposed to the radiation, but Libby's cardiologist wanted the CT scan. She was going to talk with the cardiologist and find out why we can't just do the ultrasound. I really hope they'll decide that the ultrasound will work. In addition to not wanting to expose her to radiation I hate to have her be sedated again. We'll do the CT scan if it's necessary, but we're hoping it's not.

We've been enjoying the beautiful fall weather the last few days. I think October is one of the nicest months in Minnesota. Today I took Libby outside where she played in the leaves and followed Josiah and some of our neighbors around. It's obvious that Libby is bonding with us more and more everyday. She's started calling me "mommy" once in awhile and I really think she understands that she's part of our family now. When we were outside she kept looking for Josiah and saying "JoJo". She also seems to be happier overall. She's getting less needy and is able to play on her own a little more. I think she's feeling more secure in our home and in our care for her. I can't even begin to express how much joy she's already brought to our family. When I think about how God worked everything out for her to be our daughter I'm in awe.

We would ask for prayers as Libby has her catheterization next week and as we make decisions about her surgery date and other healthcare. Thank you for walking this journey with us!