Adjusting to a New World

As I sit in a quiet house with Eliab and Sidney asleep upstairs, I cannot help but smile. We have much to be thankful for when considering it has only been a month today since we first met Sidney. Eli is the reason we have seen so much of Sidney’s personality. He thinks of things to do with her, bringing out the joy in childhood. One day Eli wandered up to me asking, “Where is the stapler.” “On the counter I muttered,” obviously occupied with something else. “Where is the colored paper? I am going to make my sister a crown.” This gesture was hilarious as Eli precariously balanced the crown on Sidney’s head, and Sidney tried to figure out what her brother was stuffing on her head.

Though Eli is going through the typical attitudes and issues associated with gaining a sister, including taking his frustrations out on his mother, he has been wonderful with Sidney. It is obvious Sidney has such a love of older children, because she lived with and spent time playing with children. This is very obvious when she allows her brother to fly her like an airplane.

Sidney continues to explore the world around her. Everything is foreign. Tom is back to working his regular schedule. If he has an evening job for our business, we call him at bedtime. Sidney looks at the phone like it is some kind of alien device. Dad’s voice is coming out of the phone, but he is not standing there. She turns the receiver over and over again, looking for him to somehow pop out. I also have Tom as a screensaver on my laptop. She sees the picture and starts talking to the screen saying, “Dada?” Her tone of voice indicates she is waiting for his response from the screen.

Animals are also a new concept. No one is more than our 15 pound cat Ralph. She is slowly learning after her initial terror that she is to give the cat, “nice pets.”
Our adventure continues and Sidney’s world will continue to expand over the coming weeks. We continue to pray for her positive adjustment to our family. We will continue to blog over the coming weeks as Sidney begins to receive medical treatment for her hands. We found out today, she will see a pediatric orthopedist in Iowa City on August 28th. We are on a list for a geneticist in about a month.