Continued from September 25, 2006...


Thursday, September 28, 2006

I haven't felt like writing anything at all. It has been very hot and humid--zapping all of my energy. On top of that, Georgia has decided to show her true colors. She definitely has attachment issues. Worse than that, we feel concerned about her in other ways. I find it so upsetting, I can barely talk or even think about it. In July we met her for the first time. Prior to meeting her, we were concerned, from various accounts about her behavior, that she was deaf. In July, we were relieved to discover that she can hear. We were still worried about her then, because she was very small, unresponsive in most ways, and it just seemed like something was wrong. We attributed it to her being shy. She did not make eye contact, and would sit where we put her, until we moved her to a new spot. This time, we're not so sure. We've been able to spend more time with her. On the second day with us, she started playing power games. She was comfortable enough to defy us, and yet she does not talk at all. She screams, occasionally laughs, and sometimes says something that sounds like "Aye," when she is bothered. Her laugh is so unusual. I want to call the sounds she makes, "guttural".

She doesn't walk well, and yet she is three years old. Her movements are awkward and sometimes seem unnatural. She likes to stroke Tim's chin, and then she'll try to put her fingers in his mouth. He'll stop her and tell her "no," but she will continue to do it. Once he stops her for good, she'll hit at him. She has also done this to me a few times. She will stand in front of the window, staring at the curtains. Then she will put her hands above her head, stroke the curtains as she slides onto the bed and then onto the floor. She does the same thing with the headboard. Sometimes she will just stare at the wall or the ceiling for 15 minutes or so.

We are just so concerned about her and we need to find out more about her. (We did end up talking to a 14 year old girl that is in the same orphanage as Georgia via an interpreter. This girl told us that Georgia does not talk. No one has ever heard her talk. She does not play, but rather wanders around by herself. Sometimes they will try to get her involved with their play and she will mildly participate, but never laughs, smiles or talks. I was very distraught when I learned of this.)
It has been an emotional trip.

Talley is a dream baby. She is so sweet and charismatic. Ryland has been a real trooper. I've been so impressed with him the whole time.

This is all that I wrote while on our trip. I was upset over Georgia's issues and it took a toll on me emotionally.