The initial findings on Gabriella's MRI have caused her doctor to be concerned that she will struggle with gaining language, that she will probably be ADHD, and that school will be a challenge.
I have to smile because she came to us on Gotcha Day, opened up her photo album and pointed to each of us and called us by name: "Mama, Baba, Jie Jie, and Gu Gu." By the grace of God, and truly another miracle, she has absolutely understood everything we have ever said to her. It is almost like she was a little Chinese princess (or empress) learning only English.
By the end of the two weeks in China, we were convinced that not a single word we spoke was missed. We are still convinced.
By her first week in America, she was repeating EVERYTHING we said, and she could say many words: potty, bottle, nigh nigh, so so pretty, wo ai ni (I love you), shoes, Starbucks, coffee, juice,
She also could point to and name her body parts: ears, nose (nosey), mouth (mouthy), toes (toesy), and eyes.
By the second week, she could also close her eyes if asked, wiggle her toes, raise her arms when you said, arms up/arms down, etc. She also knew what her foot, knee, belly button, head, hair, and legs were.
This week, thanks to Leap Frog's Letter Factory DVD, she knows the Aa says a and the Bb says b. She also repeats most of the motions and sounds to all the letters of the alphabet, but I think her favorite letter is Nn because they say "no"... which actually isn't a word she currently says... but, she sure does shake her head "no" when you ask her if she wants to go "nigh, nigh."
The first DVD of Your Baby Can Read has also helped Gabriella. She has learned to clap, wave, say elephant and tiger, and many other things.
