I found an old journal entry about my darling Natasha. She had been home for 1.5 years when I wrote the following. I was looking back at the first 4 months home.
The picture is Natasha standing front of some Azaleas. She had been home 4 months when this was taken.
Notice the position of her hands. When she is nervous she holds her hands. When she is stressed she chews on her fingertips/nails.
=========================
The first 4 months were the worst emotionally for my darling daughter and me. She was 3.5 years old but developmentally a 2.5-year-old child.
She had some sensory integration issues. She would push so much food into her mouth that it would all come back out. She was ping-pong girl for the first year home. Everything overloaded her senses. She had no reaction to pain.
She had the attention span of an infant. She could focus on something for about 2 seconds max.
She did not understand cause and effect. Did not know what family was.
Food was a strong draw. We go to a restaurant and she would try to beg food from strangers. In her book anyone with food was worth knowing.
Natasha did not know how play. She tried to wash her clothing in the bathtub. She swept and washed down the walls. She would bus tables in restaurants. She had an intense need to be needed. She did not care who needed her, as long as they did need her.
She had no control over her emotions and had no idea how to regulate them. If she displayed emotion it was typically anger during the first 2 months. In anger she would try to hit, spit, kick, bite, pinch, or lick me.
She is and continues to be a very strong willed child and a very strong extrovert. On a scale from 1 to 10, she is a 20. She was/is manipulative. (yes.. all human beings are but she takes it a step further)
To be continued……
Want to chat or share your experiences? You can email me at adoptukraineblog@adoptionmail.com or comment below.