Jade’s sight

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” I Corinthians 2:9

Every day just gets better. She is getting less nervous as we leave the room. This is good. As she lay down to take her nap, she didn’t cry for her foster family. Praise the Lord! Thank you for your prayers of comfort for her. It is because of the power of prayer that she is doing so well.

When I came to China last year, He always amazed me here in ways I have never experienced before. This journey is no different. I never knew I could love someone so much. I expected to love her and enjoy every moment but not to this intensity. She continues to amaze me.

When you adopt a child, you expect that they will be delayed. The common expectation is 1 month for every 3 months they lived in an orphanage. Reports vary for how long Jade was at the Tianjin Social Welfare Institute. I was told that she moved to a foster home in March but the note from the foster mother says she had Jade for a year. Minimally, I expected at least a year’s delay. I am not seeing that at all. Today, she started counting and was able to count to 25 on her own. We counted some objects in the hotel and she was able to get to 19 on her own. She is already imitating me in English. She has accurately answered a variety of questions my guide has asked her. Yesterday, our guide was teaching Jade how to say “Hurry up mama!” After a few times, Helen said it in English and Jade turned to me and said it in Chinese. There were a few other instances today where someone said something in English and she said it in Chinese. I may have a very smart little lady on my hands.

Another amazing thing is her sight. Granted, I am no neuro-opthamologist but her vision is not as impaired as I expected. She is able to find things in the room with no difficulty. She is able to identify things that are within 2 feet of her without a problem. She loves to look at the pictures I take of her and is able to identify who is on the 2.5” screen. She has more difficulty with dark objects on dark backgrounds and distances. She appears to be using her peripheral vision when focusing on things across the room, like when she was kicking the beach ball to me. Things that are written she holds closer to her eyes. No matter what, we will figure it all out.

One thing was unexpected though. On the first day, I went to take her to the bathroom and found a spot on her leg that is the size of a large egg that has course hair on it. It looks very familiar to a hairy nevus. I’m not sure if it is or not so I will have to wait until she sees the pediatrician the week we get home to find out. This too, we will figure out.

While on this trip, mom has been sharing with me things I used to do as a child that I had never known about. I guess Jade and I are very similar as Jade lays in bed talking about a variety of things. Sometimes she is singing, sometimes just rambling or so it sounds and sometimes it sounds like a conversation. Mom says I used to rerun my day as I lay in bed retelling of all the day’s events. Lord, you never cease to amaze me.

I still think that the sweetest thing to my ears is her voice and her laughter. The sweetest thing to my eyes has been her smile. I can’t thank Him enough for this gift He has given me in my daughter. I love that God has put two people together and both of our love languages are touch and words of affirmation!