Genetics?!

I may not share a single chromosome with my daughter, but I swear there are some genetics at work here! We were getting ready to walk out of the house the other day and Cadence glanced at the "shoe rug". She noticed that one of the shoes wasn't on the rug, so she deviated from her path out the door to go back and put the shoe on the rug. As she turned and started to head back out she noticed that one shoe was on it's side. Again, stopped in her tracks to place the shoe right side up! Call it Type A, anal retentive, OCD... whatever it is, she IS my daughter!









They have to be "just right"!













And the girl likes to clean too! Can't wait til she can handle a vacuum!

Ponderings

I don't know how the conversation evolved tonight, but the girls and I sat at the dinner table and we were talking about Sierra and Laurels' behaviors while I was pregnant. Sierra was a mover and shaker and occupied every inch of space she could, all the while searching for more. It seemed that she got the hiccups everyday and continued to for about two months after she was born. Laurel was a much more subtle and quiet child as she grew inside me. I LOVED feeling them move, even when it made me uncomfortable, and almost felt a bit robbed of this experience with Laurel because she was such a chill little fetus. I had horrible sciatica and Brad says I wasn't the most pleasant pregnant mama, but I look back on those 18 months with only good, wistful thoughts. I loved it! How can you not feel complete awe when you consider that a whole, entire human being grew inside of you?!

Then I looked at Cadence. Did she move, punch, and kick her mama as she grew? Did her mom love to watch her belly ripple as Cadence changed position? Did Cadence get the hiccups? I suddenly felt so sad for her that she will never be able to ask these questions. Granted, these aren't life altering answers that will change her life, but she will never know. One day, as she grows a whole, entire human being inside of her, this fact won't be lost on her. She will never know about her earliest days and there is nothing that will change this. It doesn't matter how much we love and support her, she will always have a void.

Before and after

This is my girl.... goofy as they get! I think her motto must be "If I made you laugh my job is done!" She truly gets joy from cracking herself and others up. This was the activity that brought down her wall in China and continues to warm our hearts to this day!

On another note, particularly of interest to parents of children with cleft palates is her "before" and "after" picture below. Cadence had a VERY significant cleft palate. As kids grow, if they aren't repaired, their cleft continues to grow. She got along pretty well despite it all. She never had any issues eating or drinking and obviously was growing well when we met her. Obviously her speech isn't where it should be, but there's a few factors behind that. Her cleft palate extended through her gumline and you could see up to the top of one of her nares. Quite interesting to look at with one of her many belly laughs!







BEFORE








You can get a general idea of how things looked pre-op....















AFTER

















And here's a good look now. She's had one surgery in November for her cleft palate and one in January for her cleft lip. She does have a small fistula (hole) just behind the gumline that the doctor constructed. It's about the size of an eraser and we haven't met with him yet to see if we will do anything about it before her hard palate repair when she's older. It doesn't seem to cause her any problems so far.

Just wanted to share this with someone who might be standing in our shoes 6 months ago. It's always nice to see what the outcome will be!