Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Collins' Gymnastics Video

Ok, here's the youtube video:

Our Funny Girl

Oh, so many funny moments with Collins in daily life....She went to a birthday party this week of a friend at school. I was telling her that they were going to JUMP at the party, and jumping on a trampoline is probably her favorite thing to do. When I told her, her eyes lit up, she ran over to hug me and said, "Mommy, I'm SO proud of you!" Even though she is pretty much fluent in English, she gets things a bit mixed up! Today we were at Walmart getting groceries. She loves jello and I was letting her pick out the color she wanted. When we spotted the green one, she jumped up and down, grabbed it, hugged it and said to the jello, "You're just so cute". Now how CUTE is that? Recently we were in the car and she said, "Mommy, I'm swinging my sucker in a circle." Pretty amazing considering she didn't know a word of English when we got her 6 months ago. She's going to school everyday at a Lutheran church, and learning so much. She's started gymnastics and I definitely think this may be her thing because she is built like a gymnast, is very strong and has no fear. I'll try to post her attempt at a backbend that didn't quite happen....Spencer has put it on youtube thinking it'll get so many hits we're gonna make some $. Its pretty funny. When she gets mad at any of us, she'll still say, "I'm gonna tell EVERYBODY!" as she cuts her eyes and points her finger. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around how far we've come in 6 months. We've had hard days, but her progress in learning how to behave has been amazing to me. She hasn't had one behavior problem in school and now goes to her Sunday School class or Awanas and just fits right in. We've had another little adopted girl come over for a playdate as well so life is beginning to resemble what would be normal for a 5 year old child. A friend was trying to tell Collins the other day that her brothers name was Conner not Tonna. She said, "Cowwins no like Conner. Cowwins likes Tonna!" I guess she can call him whatever she wants. The other day we were riding in the car in silence and all of a sudden I hear her little husky voice, "Mommy, you make Cowwins happy." That was a precious, precious moment for me. Being the main disciplinarian because I'm with her all the time, we've had some tough moments. She has very strong will. She can get so mad at me, and yet she rebounds quickly and turns into this sweet little buttercup. We are blessed beyond reason with this child. I had wondered if she was aware of her cleft lip scar, and just this week she told me she wanted to get her lip fixed and have a lip like mine. It saddened me that she even knew that she was "different", and I know it will be painful to have it all restored. We are going to Chapel Hill to meet with a cranio facial team very soon to begin the process. Overall, Collins is blooming and its a lot of fun to watch.