We’re David and Lois McBeath. We live in Point Pleasant, WV – a small town along the Ohio River on the western side of the state. We have 2 sons. Austin is 15. He’s a sophomore at Pt. Pleasant High School. Darrell is almost 12. He’s in the 6th grade at Roosevelt Elementary.
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!


Leila Ann McBeath, formally known as Shun Xi Yi, was born on Oct 29, 2007. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate. The lip has been repaired, but not the palate. (We'll have to do that when we get her home.) She's in the Children's Welfare Institute of Shunde District of Foshan City, which is located in the Guangdong Province, in the southern part of China.

Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.

Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

School

Leila started pre-school right after Thanksgiving.
Her pre-school is thru the public school system.
It's all day, 4 days a week.
We're not doing that yet though.
Leila has severe attachment issues and separation anxiety.
It's not that she's NOT attached - rather she's TOO attached.
And it seems as though, she get worse the older she gets.
The only people she will stay with willingly now is the 4 of us and my mom.

The school is wonderful though.
They are really bending over backwards to work with us.
So far, I take her in late (she's not a morning person).
We leave early.
My plan was to gradually stretch her day, and go in a little earlier and leave a little later until she's there all day.
My plan was to also leave her there. So far that hasn't happened.
The school lets me stay there with her. (I'm the only mommy that doesn't drop and leave.)

She likes school.
When I ask her if she wants to go - she always says yes.
She grabs her little backpack and is ready.
However...since school started, she hasn't been sleeping.
Leila has ALWAYS been a good sleeper - 12 hrs at night, and then a 1-2 hr nap.
She now wakes up almost every night and cries for hrs.
We've even cut out naps in at attempt to makes her sleep all night out of sheer exhaustion.
I took her to the doctor too.
We thought that maybe there was a medical reason for this (like an ear infection). Nope.
The doctor thinks it's anxiety related.
She's been home now for over 2 years, she was so young when we got her, and she didn't have any adjustment issues back then - so I didn't think her 'unique situation' (as the doctor calls it), should be causing issues now.
Not so.
The doctor said that studies have shown the 1st year is so very, very important and that it can/will cause issues for years.
Her recommendation is to give it till Christmas and then re-evaluate.
If she's still not sleeping, maybe we need to cut back on school rather than increase the time there.
After all, she is still a very young '3'.
I don't think we should 'drop-out' though. (Wow, a preschool drop-out!)
If nothing else, maybe she should just continue to go one day a week.
That way, she would still get speech, still get some socialization with kids her age, and get her more and more familiar and comfortable for next year.
I'm just not sure right now - this has been very stressful for all of us.

1 comment:

E said...

Ack! So hard to know what to do! Poor little thing, you just wish you knew what was going on in their little heads. Best of luck as you muddle through, esp. with the sleep issues--NOT fun!

December 23, 2010 at 3:19 PM

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