December Update

Ten months home!! I know I say this every month, but time is flying by!!

Stats

Height: 35.25" (35%ile)
Weight: 33.75 lbs. (90%ile)

We went to the doctor to have her big owie checked out. She said it isn't keloid or raised or depressed and it's darker on the edges which means the color is coming back. I really, really hope it doesn't leave a scar.

I asked her if her weight was an issue or if she thought a growth spurt was coming. She said perhaps, but not to worry about her weight as long as I am feeding her healthy foods. So, ok, I won't worry but fact is I can't lift her much heavier than this! I need to get her a toddler bed and start having her eat at a booster seat at the dining room table so I don't have to hoist her into bed or into her highchair anymore. Homegirl is solid!!!!! (And she can only wear shoes about 3 months before I have to get her new ones, so I'm hoping for a growth spurt.)

While at the doctor's office I also inquired about immunizations. She said she was all caught up except for one which she can't do until March as there needs to be six months between injections, but she did say that a child her age should have two flu shots. I agreed to have her get the second one and she quickly instructed the nurse to get it before I changed my mind. The nurse came in and administered it so quickly that she was done before Naomi could get the tears out. It was the funniest thing. She started to cry but then it was done so she stopped. No tears for a shot! My big, brave girl.

Latest and Greatest and Other Tidbits

She calls cake "Happy Birthday to You". When she wants some she says, "Happy birthday to you?" Too cute!

She loves playing with Play D@h.


She likes going to sleep in my bed or have me lying next to her while she falls asleep. Although I don't want to stay long and risk falling asleep, it's very sweet when she wraps her arms tightly around my neck to keep me there next to her. I know this won't last very long and I find it very heartwarming.

She loves books!


She loves the computer and by watching me she has learned how to use the mouse to play her favorite videos on YouTube.


She is really observant. She has learned how to open all the child safety on the cabinets by watching me. Yeah, they are pretty useless now. But I am off to buy new ones or will relocate these items up high cause she is a mischievous one, I tell you. The other day she climbed up on the sink and used my toothpaste. Since she doesn't know how to spit yet I assumed she swallowed it and had to call the poison control center! Just so you know, the remedy for swallowing toothpaste? Drink milk. (Of which I had none so we had to go through the McD@nald's drive thru en route to daycare).

Her new thing is to put her head down on her shoulder to express her displeasure.

She says "tan you", "pees" "soo see" "saw-ee" and "bess you" (thank you, please, excuse me, sorry and bless you) all the time. If she does something that she thinks warrants a thank you from me and I don't say it, she will say, "Tan you, Ahmi" as a reminder and wait for me to say it! Or if I burp or something else (ahem) she will remind me to be polite with, "Soo see." lol

She loves watching The Sound of Music! I was sick of Elm@ so I slid it in one day and she loved it. She is starting to sing along.

We are finally starting to be able to have "conversations". She will ask me, "Wahdoin, Mommy?" over and over again until I tell her what I am doing. Then she says, "Oh." Or she will ask, "Wuh dat?" And of course she continues to tell me what she doesn't want to do. lol "I doh wanna it, (insert word here) ." "I dohwanna it beh" (I don't want to go to bed) or "I dohwanna it pah-ee" (I don't want to go potty.

She's such a big girl and she likes to do things for herself.

She is very sweet and caring. When I get upset or hurt she will ask me, "Yo' tay?" Her teacher says she does this at daycare, too. When someone is crying she will go up to them and ask them if they are ok, too, and if they are still crying she will go get a toy to try to make them feel better. Aww.

What else?

I'm really tired of cooking!! Someone send me a personal chef, please!! I really do not enjoy having to come up with meals three times a day. I get lazy and feed her cereal for breakfast, sunflower nut butter sandwiches on rice cakes for lunch and Chef B@yardee spaghetti Os with veggies mixed in for days on end. One dish I discovered could not be any easier, though. It's this chicken dish:

Yeah, not a good photo. It looks very unappetizing here (sorry vegetarians) but it's really good! What is it? It's called unwrap a package of chicken, dump it in the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours. Not kidding. No liquid, no spices, no seasoning--and seriously, it is good! We eat this frequently with a side of steamed veggies. What I wouldn't do for a personal chef. Oy! Plan for the new year includes meal planning on Sundays so we eat interesting, healthy meals throughout the week.

I think I am starting to finally really feel like a mother, though I still forget sometimes. When she is in bed, the house is quiet and I am distracted I get transported back to my old life and then I see a picture of her or spy one of her toys and I am reminded. I am reminded that I am someone's mother; that I have a child sleeping in the next room. It's a very strange thing but it still happens from time to time.

But then I think that I haven't even been a parent for one year and it's probably not so strange after all. 2010 was the year I became a mother and as it draws to a close it is nice to be able to say that I am bonded to her. I think it may have taken longer for me than for other adoptive parents because parenting her can be a challenge and I get overwhelmed, but in this tenth month I do feel it more noticeably than I have in the past. My heart breaks for her when she is in pain and I worry about her constantly. She still hates loud and unfamiliar sounds.

The other day my dryer set off our alarm and the loud shrill terrified her. She shrieked in terror, "Mommy!?! Mommy!!!" and I burst into tears as I scooped her up in my arms to sooth her.

Sometimes, though, she just covers her ears as a joke and then runs to me and jumps into my arms just to get a snuggle. :)

Sometimes I think this parenting business is just too much for a worrywart like myself. My heart hurts on a daily basis when I think of how impossible it is to be everywhere to protect her from this crazy, cruel world. I worry, worry, worry. But as she gets older and stronger and wiser I realize she is learning how to care for herself. This is my job--to teach her, guide her, protect her until she can do so for herself. It's an awesome responsibility and one I never truly internalized the magnitude of until I became a parent and until just recently didn't have the time or energy to process it. It's scary, I tell you. I just love this kid to pieces and want her to always be happy.

This, our tenth month together and the close of this life-changing year, is a time to reflect on all that we have gone through together as a family. We were thrust into eachother's lives that day last March and our lives haven't been the same since. I have grown and changed in so many ways. I have been stretched and tested. I have questioned and cried. I have been humbled and I have been blessed. My heart has been broken open and scrubbed raw and left exposed to feel everything deeper and more fully. This pure and innocent child, my beautiful little girl, has made 2010 an intense, indescribable, amazing, incredible year. She made me a mother and for that I am grateful. Happy ten months, baby girl.