The First Autumn

All is well with the Stewart clan with fall well under way. I figure it's been long enough that I should let y'all in on the latest happenstances & goings on.

The family is continuing to bond, a process that will take the better part of many years. Amissa & Galyna get along pretty well most days, although there is some friction between (rules-oriented) Tierney and (still-learning-the-rules) Galyna. We look at it as a great opportunity to teach Tierney grace & compassion while continuing to help Galyna adapt to her new family/culture. It's been a wonderful thing to see how the bigger family has led to growth in all the kids, not just Galyna. Seeing Tierney & Amissa, for instance, get upset at the local water park when some boys were teasing Galyna showed a deep compassion and love for their sister. (And seeing Tierney NOT deck the boys showed a growing patience on her part; there was a time in daycare - years back - where she hit a boy who was teasing Amissa. She was promptly put into a timeout. Later that afternoon, the daycare provider came along to see Tierney once again in the timeout spot. When asked why she was sitting there, Tierney said something along the lines of, "I hit again for teasing Amissa and then put myself in a timeout." I probably shouldn't have been as proud of her as I was.)

School continues apace, and Galyna is starting to pick up some reading skills. Her verbal English has long been ahead of her written English, which is natural. It's fun to see her starting to catch up. She's also popular at school and we see her giving (and receiving) many hugs from classmates when we pick her up at day's end. The only downside is she's on phy-ed & recess restrictions while the implants are in. It's a blessing to have teachers willing to be creative in helping her remain engaged anyway. Her favorite subject is art, and she's said a few times now she wants to be an art teacher. (Heh - as I type this she's pulling out colored pencils and paper. Call me Nostradamus.) If patterns hold, we'll have Tierney as our dramatic/performing arts daughter, Amissa as our gymnastics/swimming daughter, and Galyna as our visual arts daughter. Which should make logistics fun when they're all involved in actvities.

Galyna's treatments continue to progress. Her last hospital appointment went well, and it looks like the surgery to remove her implants will be December 28. That lines up well as it allows her to get through Christmas, as well as to recover in time to not miss any school. Of the four implants, we've finished filling two, and the other two are 1/2 - 2/3 full. To my untrained eye, the net result of this should be an improvement of hair coverage of 50%+. She's tolerating the saline injections much better now that we're finished with the two ports on her neck, which were always the painful ones. What I find myself wondering about is whether she'll want to go back for a second set of procedures when she sees the results of this one.

This is not to say there aren't still challenges, although things are smoothing out. The experts tend to agree that after 6 months you start to see real breakthroughs in bonding and we certainly have. She is starting to feel more comfortable, although there are still times it seems she's not sure of what's going on (or what's expected of her.) We have managed to work through some of the ... "survival habits" she picked up in the orphanage. As we come up on the one-year anniversary of the trip to Ukraine to bring Galyna into our family we remain grateful for the opportunity God provided.

As always, we thank you too for your prayers and support.

God bless,
Ron

Adopting a Sibling

Our eldest daughter, Tierney, wrote an essay for school on adopting Galyna. She gave me permission, as proud papa, to show off her writing chops. So, without further ado...

Adopting A Sibling
by Tierney Stewart

Adopting a sibling can change your life. It can change your life because they don't know your family ways or how they act. It also changes your life because there's another family member to be with and love. It can also change your life because there's another voice laughing when there's a joke. That's how your life changes once you adopt a sibling.

She has to learn our family ways. One time she dug her chin into my arm, and lots of times when she's upset she makes mean glares and faces at Amissa and I. Sometimes she STOMPS to her bed when she's upset and just lays there while she cries. And whenever she has a straw, she slurps and makes bubbles in her drink. That's why she needs to learn our family ways.

There's an extra family to love. Because there's another person in the house, there's another person to live with, and one other family member to snuggle with. And another person to laugh and have fun with. Now there's another family member to love.

There's lots more laughter. She's funny and makes funny faces. There's another voice laughing when something funny is going on. And somtimes she says funny words or talks in a funny voice. That's how there's lots more laughter.

It's hard work adopting a sibling. There's another person to live with, another voice laughing when there's a joke. And there's another person to snuggle with and love. It's rough and lots of hard work, but I'm so GLAD she's in MY family!

***
I like this essay because it gives some insight into what Tierney felt about the adoption. I typed it as she wrote it; this is unvarnished eight year old. And like any good writer, she left the best for the very end.