A Year, Grounded

It has been a year of Covid-19 shut-downs for the whole world and a year in a new home for us Rosenbergs. What a stressful kick-off we had to the Pandemic! We moved house the weekend after a stay-at-home order was issued in North Carolina. Bare grocery shelves, the kids' first and fourth birthdays celebrated alone, an Easter in isolation, and a crash course in becoming all of Adelyn's therapists through virtual instruction at once made for an extra challenging transition!

No one in our household has gotten sick with Covid-19 so far. Adelyn was in and out of the ER a few times, and she was hospitalized for a week after an infection got into her bloodstream, but she's recovered well. Owen's preschool shut down, then re-opened. James never was able to return to China to retrieve our belongings--instead we closed up our apartment there virtually with the help of friends. (That was months ago--our boxes are still being held by customs in a shipping warehouse in Shanghai.) Both James and I have gotten our second vaccinations (because we're caregivers of a "medically fragile child.")  We continue to take Covid precautions seriously, as Adelyn is in the high risk category (and we just want to take care of our fellow man in general too). A year in, we're still a family, the house is still standing, and we're all the more grateful for God's grace on our lives.

In January 2021, Adelyn began crawling. She is now pulling to stand with the help of braces! She has so many words now! She calls all of her family members and cousins by name, her comprehension is great, and she's so cute when she sings along to her favorite songs. She very much wants to do everything Owen does, which means she is determined to wash her own hands, brush her teeth, and put on her shoes by herself (with varying amounts of success depending on the activity.) Though eating continues to be a challenge for her, she can feed herself cheerios and is spoon fed her homemade purée meals every day. Then she gets the remaining 50% of her nutrition via her G-tube after she falls asleep at night. To put this in perspective, a specialist once told us Adelyn wouldn't live more than three days, and if she did she wouldn't be able to see, eat, or move on her own, much less be capable of language or walk. Our girl is a wonder, she's a miracle, she's a joy, and she's a fighter. We are so so so proud of her!

Owen has grown up so much! He continues to be a nature-loving animal enthusiast, is on the cusp of reading, and he just recently began creating sheets upon sheets of drawings on a daily basis. His room is a sea of paper sharks, anacondas, caracals, piranha and birds of every feather. We're so grateful for preschool, for the close proximity of some of his cousins, and for masked outdoor playdates with our cul-de-sac neighbors. Owen's an amazing big brother, a sweet human being, and just so much fun.

James and I are still making sense of all that has changed in our lives over the course of two years. What a difference! Adelyn will turn two in April. At that age, Owen had visited five different countries and flown more than 60 times. Addie, on the other hand, has rarely left the house, except to go to the hospital. We lived on the other side of the world, spoke a different language, and spent as much time as we could with an impoverished minority people. Now we encourage and equip those who will go where we can't from afar, try to understand a home culture that is in some ways unrecognizable, and focus on helping each other survive and thrive another day. There is purpose, there is beauty, and there is pain in being remade. As we look ahead to April birthdays and Easter, we give ourselves over to God, knowing He is good and faithful. He makes all things new!