Her hair is growing out some, although some people still mistaken her for a boy.
There are days when Iryna tries to control her impulses - and days where she doesn't. I don't know how to motivate her to WANT to overcome the impulses. I hope in time that she will find the motivation from within herself. She truly is a GOOD GIRL who has to overcome herself to improve. Such a struggle!
She seems to like her new school here, especially riding the bus with Keith. They are both in the same class, which I'm not exactly thrilled with - I think they might learn better being separated from each other as Iryna tends to baby Keith somewhat.
Iryna has her own room, which I am thinking is a must for her. It consists of a queen mattress and box spring set in the middle of the room, some curtains - up high so she cannot reach them, a picture of Christ and the temple, a closet (with an alarm so she won't go in and break all the hangers or change clothes multiple times throughout the night) and a door alarm, so she won't go roaming the house unattended during the night. I recently bought The Clone Wars wall decals for the boys room and Iryna was very jealous, so I bought her some Super Mario wall decals for her room. She. Loves. Them. In fact, she asks to go up to her room so she can look at the wall decals - they are up high on the wall so she cannot reach them, otherwise she would try to remove them.
Iryna still enjoys puzzles. Sometimes she rips the puzzle pieces apart, which is irritating. She has also removed the Mario sticker from our wii remote. It's not that she wants to keep the sticker or the tops of the puzzle pieces...she just wants to destroy them. Such an oddity that I still don't understand after six years.
She loves Calvin AND is incredibly jealous of Calvin. Everyone in the room can be wearing shorts - or "leggies" as she calls them - but she will pout and say, "Only CALVIN!" and stick her chin out at him. It is bizarre. Now Silas is picking up on this habit. Ugh.
Iryna is still underweight, despite my feeding her as much food as she wants. We are making an appointment with an endocrinologist to see about growth hormone. Anyone have any experience with that?
Iryna is still very oral and enjoys sucking on metal or hard plastic objects. I need to get her some more items to chew on. Any suggestions? Right now we have a few barrel of monkey monkeys that she likes. I took this video of her chewing on the monkey the other night.
I think Iryna is making some progress. There are some things she has grown out of and I have learned how to prevent things from happening - like no more items in her room other than what is absolutely necessary. Motherhood can be challenging, but whenever Iryna runs up and gives me a hug? That is liquid gold. I love my Ukrainian princess!
5 comments:
She's one of my favorites! She gives me a hug every Sunday, how did I get so lucky?? I'm so glad to be part of her life 😊 and I love it when she sings her heart out! Music to my ears 😊😊
Thank you for the detailed insights, Jill. I have often wondered how things are with these kids. Iryna is a cutie pie, and I hope she can get a grasp on some of her issues, but for SURE, I'm excited about the hugging. Super great sign. As she gets feeling that stability again in your new place, I'm sure some of these issues will simmer down. You CAN do this, Jill Warrior! Love you.
I have an 11 year old son with PTSD and RAD. We have been having rocking time almost every night. He sucks on a caramel while I hold him and we rock. Sometimes I read to him, others we just talk about the day.I read on a post that it simulates breast feeding and triggers the sugar reward with love, cuddling and affection. From what I see, this has really helped him a lot. It may help your daughter's need for oral stimulation, as well as help her with affection. Wishing you and her continued healing and progress.
We're currently being followed by endocrinology for Alex. They did bone scans, tests for thyroids, CF, gluten allergy, etc. and came up with nothing so we're going to do the growth hormone stimulation test next. According to our endo, a child has to fail the stimulation test twice to be covered for growth hormone by insurance (but that might be different since you guys are military). It's a daily shot if we do the hormone injections and Alex has said he wants to do them if the doctors say he can. I'll keep you posted if we end up on growth hormone!
Oh, and Google "chewelry" for Iryna. It's marketed for kids with autism but is good for any kids with oral fixations. At least it's designed to be chewed on so you don't have to worry about small pieces breaking off. (And be glad she's a girl--I've had a hard time finding something I think will work for a 12 yo boy!! ;) )
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