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Natasha at Home - A Post-Adoption Journal

More of this Feature • Adopting Natasha (the adoption journal)

Related Resources • Adopting from Ukraine • Meet Natasha (photo) • Single Parent Adoption

06-May-2001

My daughter Natasha has been with me for about 5 months now. I adopted her from Kharkiv, Ukraine. She will be 4 years old on May 20.

When she first arrived in the country she was 3 feet, 1 inch tall and 31 pounds.

Five months later she is 3 feet, 3 inches tall and 32 pounds. Her skin looks much healthier and she is very active. She is a joy.

She doesn't use many Russian or Ukrainian words anymore. And her favorite way to start a conversation is to ask, "Whatcha doing?"

It does look like she is thrusting her tongue, which is interfering with the clarity of her speech. She will be getting some testing and therapy on this soon.

Natasha had her crossed eyes fixed within 1.5 month of being in the US. N's crossed eye issue was called squinty eyes in Ukraine. She gained depth perception with a simple outpatient eye surgery. This helped her immensely.

Here is an example of what no depth perception meant. Natasha dropped a raisin on my black pants. She was unable to see the raisin because it was black on black.

Natash hasn't had a major temper tantrum in about 2 months. She responds very well to various forms of discipline.

• sitting her in a corner or against a wall and counting to 10 with her. I hold my hands out in front of her and fold my fingers as we count. She likes watching my fingers..
  
  
• holding her in my arms like a baby until she is ready to listen
  
  
• giving her to the count of 3 to correct the problem such as pick up her toy. When I reach 3, I will go help her with the issue if she has not fixed it.
  
  
• time out toy

I never leave Natasha alone when I am disciplining her. This scares her. This is why her time outs are always done when I am present.

She is also afraid to sleep alone so we are doing co-sleeping.

Natasha can play alone for short periods and enjoys reading books to herself.

If anyone is looking for an activity to add attachment, I highly recommend swimming. Natasha has greatly enjoyed her swimming classes for the last month. She and I also swim together twice a week. (Susan Ward, thanks for this suggestion.)

Angie and Natasha



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2001 © Angela W.

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