To Tell of His GRACE: Sweet Kaylee

We had another great day of playing around here! Kaylee has SO much fun with her big brothers and sister! She plays non-stop with them...I have to break up the fun to give her a nap :) She plays with me too...but really it just seems like she wants me there near her or in the same room and she'd really rather play with the kids! All 3 big kids are SO great with her - so patient and helpful...it's fun to see how God is using their little sister to form such AMAZING hearts in them! Each of the big kids had to get some of their school work done (from missing 2 weeks of school while in China) - so they all did their work as quickly as possible in order to get back to playing with Kaylee....I'm not really sure what Miss Kaylee will do next week when all 3 big kids are in school! She won't know what to do with out the FUN MAKERS around!!!

This is what I get to look at each night as I watch Kaylee fall asleep:

Tonight I was just staring at how beautiful she is...her perfect little lips and beautiful long eye lashes. I was praying that one day she will come to know the truth about who she is - that God knit her perfectly together in her mother's womb for HIS GLORY! I was praying that her sweet beauty on the inside would always shine for Him. I know that He has amazing plans for her precious little life!

We had the sweetest evening with her tonight. My brother and sister-in-law had our big kids and it was just us and Kaylee all afternoon. She had so much fun playing with us (not quite as much fun as she has with the big kids - she didn't get as rowdy). But she had us come to her room where her play kitchen is and she "fed" us with a play spoon. Then she took the play knife and used it as a comb and brushed our hair (funny how she thought it was a comb - it looks like the comb I use to brush her hair after her bath each night). So she went back and forth for a while giving us each a turn to have our hair brushed :) She was so soft and gentle when she "brushed" our hair - she barely even touched our hair. Then we went into the family room where her toy basket is and she got out her musical toys (she LOVES music!!!) She would push the button and start clapping to the music and we would copy her and clap along. Then she would pat the toy box with her hands and we would pat along with her...she loved that we would copy each thing that she did. From all of the reading I have done, we know that playing where we copy her is a great form of bonding!

Later in the evening when it was time for her bedtime bottle she seemed to get sad. We keep everything the same each evening, so she knew that it was bedtime. At first she tried to get silly and play (like to avoid bedtime) and then she decided to just refuse taking her bottle. I read her book to her again (Goodnight Moon - which is what seems to be her favorite) and tried again. I tried to get silly and make a game out of giving her the bottle by pretending like I was drinking it, then pretending like the bottle was going to get her tummy, then her nose, etc. She thought it was funny at first and liked the game but still would not take the bottle. I kept trying to be silly and then she had finally had enough...she just started crying and got so sad. I knew exactly where her pain was coming from and that she is still grieving a significant loss. It made me think of when I was little and would go to a friends to sleep over --- I'd be fine all day while we were playing but at night I'd get sad and miss my parents and my home. That's where I feel like sweet Kaylee is right now - she has so much fun playing and getting to discover things she has never seen before during the day. But at night I can see the sadness in her and I know that she is still grieving the only life she has known for the first 2 1/2 years of her life. I just held her and told her I am so sorry for her pain and sadness and I couldn't help but cry right with her - I was really trying not to because I know she reads my reactions. I told her, "I know you're so sad, but Mommy made this really great bottle for you and I know you will love it...will you just try it?" And I put it to her lips and she took it! I know she didn't understand my words, but I think she knew that I understood a bit of her pain and she allowed me to see a glimpse of her feelings... and that may have helped her give in and take the bottle.

I feel like overall she is doing SO WELL! She loves to play and is really happy so long as things go her way...she has her moments of tantrums when I have to pull her away or not allow her to do something, but she lets me comfort her and usually gains control within minutes. She still has not said any words but tonight she started using the sign for "please" (we just started showing her this a few days ago!). She waves "hi" and "bye" and will blow kisses when we tell her to ;) She understands SO much of what we are saying - it really is amazing how quickly she is learning!

She really has such a sweet side to her...she can also be so strong when she wants to be! It reminds me of her Big Sis and Bros- a wonderful mix of both sweet and strong! A great combination for leading people to Jesus!

This is how she was laying when Sissy came into my room this morning - she just had to snap a picture...Kaylee got all turned around in the night! She has been letting me roll her off of me to sleep - usually about 45 minutes after we go to bed and then stays on her own most of the night!

We went to the dentist today to have her teeth checked - good news! The layer on her teeth is most likely just build up and plaque so it doesn't look like he will need to pull any teeth! He didn't see any visible cavities (although he couldn't get an X-ray to tell for sure) so he thought a good cleaning is all she will need. We will schedule that for another time :) She wasn't happy about him looking in her mouth but he let me hold her the whole time and she was fine as soon as he let her lay on my shoulder. She was happy to get a balloon when it was all over!