Maleah Yí Townsend
 
 

Getting to know Maleah

 
2005.0906 - We received more info about Maleah from Chris. Chris lives in China and works with our Adoption Agency. He will be our facilitator while we are in China.

As of the beginning of September, she weights 7.5 kilo (16.53 lbs.), is 69 cm (27.17") tall, has a head size of 43cm (16.93"), chest size of 43cm (16.93") and a foot length of 10cm (3.94"). She is healthy and she lives in the orphanage. Her name means thinking jade.

Maleah's Story - Information about Maleah from the Orphanage
Maleah - Name History -
What is the history of the name
Maleah -  Name Decision - How we chose the name Maleah

 

Maleah's Story (Chinese Version)
 

Yí Sī Yù’s Growth Report

From:  Yichun Social Welfare Institute, Jiangxi Province
Date:  May. 30, 2005

She was born on January 13, 2005. On January 14, 2005 she was taken to the Yuan Zhou District Hall orphanage. The orphanage is located in a city called Yi Chun (meaning of city name is "suitable for spring", spring being the season) in Jiangxi Province, hence the Surname of Yi. She was found with a red piece of paper stating her birthday. The workers in the orphanage gave her a physical examination, height 48cm (17"), weight 3kg (6lbs 10oz), chest and waist 32cm (12.6"), all four limbs present. Her parents and relatives have not been located. They named her Yí Sī Yù and put her in a foster family on the same day.

She developed fine, within the first month she would eat and then sleep, then wake up and eat, with a daily rhythm. Sometimes she had uncoordinated motions. By the second month she would smile and make sounds. By the third month she would giggle with stimulation and could turn her head. At four months she could sit with someone holding her back and laugh out loud, she is extra happy when she sees food. Now she is more than four months old with nice complexion and two big bright eyes; she is a quiet baby and hardly cries unless she is hungry.

She is introverted and calm, usually will not be fussy if she is full. She has been given immunization doses as planned and has a very strong immune systems. Every now and again she has a mild cold; she will take medicine and get better. She sleeps in her crib and sleeps well.

Yí Sī Yù's mainly eats powered milk and cake supplemented by steam eggs, soft noodles, vegetable soup, meat soup and juice. She eats five times a day, 200 ml (6.8oz) at a time. She eats at 4 am, 8 am, 12 noon, 4:30 pm, and 7:30 pm.

Yí Sī Yù has developed into a very rhythmic lifestyle; she gets up at 6 am, naps two hours in the morning, naps two hours in the afternoon, and sleeps at 7:30 pm. She sleeps well. She sleeps in her own rocking bed. She has regular bowel movements; poops once in the morning and pees are undetermined intervals.

Her recent physical examination shows height 60cm (23.6"), weight 6.5 kg (14lbs 5oz), head circumference 39.5cm (15.6"), chest circumference 39cm (15.4"). She has normal physical development.

She also seems to have a tendency towards food. Her favorite activity is outdoors activity and likes any kind of toys.

(thank you Mike & Heartsent for the translation!)

   
Maleah - History of the Name
 

History:
Between 1860 and 1967, citizens of Hawaii were required to give their children Christian names. Because the sound system of the Hawaiian language does not correspond to that of English, ''Hawaiianized'' versions of the names evolved.

Among those who revere the mystical naming practices native to Hawaii, these names are not properly Hawaiian at all. However, they have remained in use for over 150 years. Set beside the English names from which they developed, and the ancient Hawaiian names that are now enjoying a revival, they serve as a reminder of Hawaii's continuing effort to preserve its unique identity. The name can also mean ''peaceful'' or ''calm'' in Hawaiian.

Source Language:
     English
Meaning:
     Wished-for child
Original Hawaiianized Spelling:
     Malia
Original Form:
     Maria


 

How we chose the name Maleah
 

We had talked about names for quite some time. Before we went the adoption route, we wanted to incorporate the name Lea into our child's name (if it was a girl). We had planned on using it as a middle name. Since our journey to a child lead us to adoption, we wanted to use part of her given name as her middle name. So we looked into other names that had Lea in them.

We had several names in mind for Maleah and wanted to wait until we saw her picture to see which one had the best fit. Though after one afternoon in San Francisco we decided to name her Maleah.

While shopping at a baby boutique I came across a display of barrettes. Just for giggles I looked for the name Maleah, as it is not a real common name. Low and behold it was there!  I showed the barrette to Jennifer and we agreed it must be a sign.  I then went back to look for Jennifer's name. I noticed that name had barrettes written with different colors. So I then went to look for Maleah's again to see what color choices we had. I looked and looked. There were no more with her name on them. I asked the Clerk to help me find it, we tore that thing apart. There were several empty spots with 'Order More Lisa' but nothing for Maleah. We knew from this point forward that Maleah would be her name.

   
 
 




Maleah