14 day report
Report
of the
14th March 2000
– by the
Copenhagen
Social Services
I visited the family following their return from
China
on the 5th March 2000
with their adopted daughter,
born on the 10th October
1997
in
Jinchang,
China.
She is to be named Yanmei Maak Bloom. Both applicants and Yanmei were present at
the visit, and Yanmei’s older brother also participated during part of the
meeting.
The trip went well. The applicants travelled with their biological son Thomas
and met up with two other Danish couples. Yanmei was handed over to them after a
couple of days. She did not cry when she was handed over to them, but she was
very sad. However, fairly shortly thereafter, she gradually started thawing out.
Today, Yanmei is 2 years and 5 months old. She weighs
10.5kg and she is 82cm tall. Her right eye ‘droops’ or squints slightly,
which will be checked by the applicants when in a short time visits the doctor
for a check-up. She scratches her ears, but the applicants cannot find any rash.
The health visitor (nurse) visits tomorrow.
The applicants experience Yanmei as somewhat younger than her age, as regards to
her size as well as development. She is generally happy, and she seldom cries.
However she may grumble when she is dissatisfied. She is curious and attentive,
and the applicants feel that she learns new things quickly. They say that she
has a sense of humour, likes to tease and is very determined. Already in China, Yanmei was very
much aware that she belonged with the applicants and Thomas. She has grown more
attached to all three of them, but most of all to the female applicant. She
likes to sit on their laps, but is clearly not used to kisses and hugs. She is
afraid of having a bath, so the female applicant must take a bath with her.
Yanmei is not afraid of strangers, but needs to take a look at people for some
time before she will smile at them.
Yanmei was very silent the first couple of days after she
was received by the applicants. Now she talks a lot, and the applicants have the
impression that sometimes there are real words. She has started understanding a
number of Danish words. When the applicants received Yanmei, she could only walk
supported by a hand. After a couple of days, when she had also been given a pair
of fine, red boots, she learnt to walk on her own. The applicants experienced
that she was very proud and happy about this ‘victory’. She still walks a
little unsteadily though. She cannot crawl and has difficulty coming from the
prone position into the sitting position. However, she learns a little every
day. Her fine motor function is good, and she has started eating on her own with
a spoon.
Yanmei is not especially interested in toys yet, but in general everyday things,
e.g. the contents of the kitchen cupboards and drawers. She copies a number of
things that the applicants do, e.g. sweeping the floor. She can busy herself
with things for fairly long periods of time. She likes being outside, but does
not like the wind.
Yanmei eats everything that the applicants serve for her,
but she is not good at chewing meat. If food is in her field of vision, she
wants to eat it. However she is able to leave food on her plate if she is full
up. She is not toilet trained yet.
Yanmei
sleeps from about 21:00
until 7:30
without interruption, plus
approximately 2 hours at lunch time. The applicants read or sing for her before
she is put to bed, and sit next to her bed until she has fallen asleep, which
usually happens after about 10 minutes. At first she did not like to be left
alone to sleep – the applicants felt that it could be because she felt that
they might disappear whilst she slept. Yanmei sleeps in her own bed in her own
room, but the door is open to the applicants’ bedroom, which is next to
Yanmei’s room. She sucks her right index-finger and covers her eyes with her
left arm when she is going to sleep or relax.
The female applicant is a housewife, but will probably
find a part-time job in the future. The applicants will take their time to see
when Yanmei will attend a kindergarten. Under all circumstances, they expect to
wait at least until her third birthday, and preferably until she is as developed
as a 3 year old. Until then they imagine that they will join a play group if she
needs to be with other children.
It looks like Yanmei has settled down well and is doing fine with the
applicants. At the moment she is slightly behind children of her own age, but
she is developing well and trying to catch up for lost time. Her contact with
the applicants seems normal. The applicants feel that things are going fine, and
are very fond of her. They treat her with love and care.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Things we
remember:
We had some pepper nuts in a bowl on the
table whilst the Social Worker visited.
Yanmei was only interested in eating as many as possible and was annoyed when we
took the bowl away.
We'd
brought a CD back from China with children's songs. Yanmei loved to hear this CD
- especially the first song which starts with the sound of rain. She'd get up
and dance whenever she heard this song.
It
snowed shortly after we returned Yanmei did not like to be out in the snow. She
also didn't like being out in the wind.
Yanmei
fell down the stairs to the cellar and had a big bump on her head. We put up
gates across the stairs.
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