Stephanie is the oldest girl in my home, but she is also the most overlooked. If you were to walk into my apartment Leah would bombard you immediately while screaming some exciting Hindi phrase. After you got past her, my three little ones would be jumping towards your waist and reaching for your hand. Chelsea would scream "HI!!!" (It's the only English word my 3 year old knows, so naturally she uses it ALL THE TIME.) Heidi would give you a look so full of attitude that you would probably start to laugh, and Angel would drag you towards the kitchen to see if you can reach the cookies she's been trying to sneak all day. Then you would see Naomi who is a little timid at first, but now that she's seen the other girls interact with you, she has probably decided that you're ok. She'll come up and hold your hand and really be content doing anything as long as she can cuddle up next to you. Paula will dazzle you with her award winning smile and really capture your heart. She will just be so excited that you are there to see her and be by her side. Then once you make it past the other six, you'll see beautiful Stephanie sitting in a chair patiently awaiting for you to say hi.
Stephanie is estimated to be 13, although personally I think she might be around a year older. She is blind and probably due to her past before coming to SCH, she is extremely quiet and timid. She is a really smart girl who understands English really well and can speak quite a bit. You wouldn't know that unless you spent a lot of time around her though. She doesn't talk very much and it is extremely rare for her to speak unless she is spoken to. She is afraid to lead herself around most of the time. She will usually just stand and wait for someone to lead her, even if it is small distances within our apartment. Normally she won't engage herself in what others are doing and seems to be pretty content just sitting there in her own little world.
Stephanie is normally defined by everything I just said. Other foster moms, volunteers, staff members, and me before I became her foster mom usually describe her as a happy and quiet girl who probably has some self confidence issues due to whatever her past may be. But she is so much more.
Stephanie is a young teenage girl who loves to music. She loves when I sing to her (which is saying something because I am far from a pretty singer); she loves when I play music in the apartment; she loves to sing songs along with me. Her favorite song to sing in English is Jesus Loves Me which she always requests when I ask her what she would like to sing.
Stephanie is amazing. Lately as I have been trying to teach her new things, she has gone above and beyond and learned them in a matter of minutes. A couple weeks ago I worked with her on pushing the little ones in the baby swing that hangs in our living room. I started by standing behind her with my hands over hers working on pushing the swing forward and bracing for when it came back. After awhile I had her try it on her own and the first few times she didn't really get it. She would catch the swing and kind of walk back and forth with it. But we kept working and honestly I thought it would probably be something we would need to work on for several weeks before she fully grasped the concept and built up enough courage to let go and have a 4 year old in a swing flying at her that she couldn't see. But she surprised me.
This was after just 20 minutes of pushing the girls! She began pushing them on her own! And as you can tell, she is SO happy. This girl amazes me. She is becoming SUCH a different person than she was even just a month ago. She is really starting to come out of her shell and try new things. She is gaining so much self confidence each day, and I am so proud of her.
Yesterday I started working with her on using her guide cane. This was the very first time I had introduced her to it, so naturally I expected our lesson not to get much further than just learning how to hold it. Stephanie surprised me once again! We spent around two hours up on our roof practicing and by the end of our time she was walking all the way across the roof by herself!
Stephanie is estimated to be 13, although personally I think she might be around a year older. She is blind and probably due to her past before coming to SCH, she is extremely quiet and timid. She is a really smart girl who understands English really well and can speak quite a bit. You wouldn't know that unless you spent a lot of time around her though. She doesn't talk very much and it is extremely rare for her to speak unless she is spoken to. She is afraid to lead herself around most of the time. She will usually just stand and wait for someone to lead her, even if it is small distances within our apartment. Normally she won't engage herself in what others are doing and seems to be pretty content just sitting there in her own little world.
Stephanie is normally defined by everything I just said. Other foster moms, volunteers, staff members, and me before I became her foster mom usually describe her as a happy and quiet girl who probably has some self confidence issues due to whatever her past may be. But she is so much more.
Stephanie is a young teenage girl who loves to music. She loves when I sing to her (which is saying something because I am far from a pretty singer); she loves when I play music in the apartment; she loves to sing songs along with me. Her favorite song to sing in English is Jesus Loves Me which she always requests when I ask her what she would like to sing.
Stephanie is amazing. Lately as I have been trying to teach her new things, she has gone above and beyond and learned them in a matter of minutes. A couple weeks ago I worked with her on pushing the little ones in the baby swing that hangs in our living room. I started by standing behind her with my hands over hers working on pushing the swing forward and bracing for when it came back. After awhile I had her try it on her own and the first few times she didn't really get it. She would catch the swing and kind of walk back and forth with it. But we kept working and honestly I thought it would probably be something we would need to work on for several weeks before she fully grasped the concept and built up enough courage to let go and have a 4 year old in a swing flying at her that she couldn't see. But she surprised me.
This was after just 20 minutes of pushing the girls! She began pushing them on her own! And as you can tell, she is SO happy. This girl amazes me. She is becoming SUCH a different person than she was even just a month ago. She is really starting to come out of her shell and try new things. She is gaining so much self confidence each day, and I am so proud of her.
Yesterday I started working with her on using her guide cane. This was the very first time I had introduced her to it, so naturally I expected our lesson not to get much further than just learning how to hold it. Stephanie surprised me once again! We spent around two hours up on our roof practicing and by the end of our time she was walking all the way across the roof by herself!
We began by learning how to the hold the cane. I was doing hand over hand with her as she learned how the cane felt. Then we began walking slowly with the tip of the cane touching the ground. I showed her how if felt when the cane bumped into objects, then we learned how to go around them. Within the first hour Stephanie was walking by herself, but I was still beside her and giving her many verbal directions.
Then she began to surprise me! Paula was also on the roof in her wheelchair. She has a long way to go in building up strength to wheel herself around all day. Imagine living 12 years of your life without a wheelchair then having to learn to use it all at once! It's a completely new way of life. So I took a break with Steph and began working with Paula. I kind of expected Steph to just stand there until I came back to her, because well that's normally just what she does. Once again, she amazed me. She continued to walk around independently with her cane! I wasn't even prompting her. She was so excited to be able to explore on her own! The joy on her face was absolutely radiant as you can see in these photos!
After I finished working with Paula, I came back to Steph and decided to try something new. I told her I was going to walk to the other end of the roof and start talking to her. I wanted her to follow the sound of my voice and find me on her own. I cried as she walked across the roof completely independently for the very first time. The smile on her face lit up the world and joy was overflowing from her. My girl did it. She did something that so many had deemed impossible for her.
We worked for another hour as Steph walked to me independently again and again. She went around obstacles and walked to the sound of my voice with a smile on her face. I cannot express to you all how proud I am of her. Stephanie is the most amazing thirteen year old I have ever met. She has been through so much in her life that I cannot even imagine. She's grown up in a place that rejects her and sees her as worthless. She's spent the majority of her life just sitting around because no one ever saw the need to invest in her and help bring her life. She is overcoming all of that. I wish everyone who's ever written her off could see her now. I wish they could see the beautiful and amazing young woman she is becoming.
Stephanie is AMAZING. I am so proud to be her mama.
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