June Update

June was very busy! Almi's birthday! Last day of work! My birthday! Packing! Paperwork! Readoption! Family in town! Friends in town! Not a moment of relaxation but it's all good.

But if I can, for a moment, just focus on Almi, here is what I would say about her in June:

Height: 38"
Weight: 38.5"

She is now in the 75%ile for height and 95%ile for weight. Since her last appointment in December she has gained 2¾ pounds and grown--get this!-- 4¾ inches! Amazing! The doctor proclaimed her to be very healthy and developing appropriately. I am so grateful! The doctor kept saying, "I like you" "(to her) because she was so compliant in the doctor's office. She really, really loves going there. And like last time, she was disappointed that she couldn't get a shot! She is too funny. Even funnier though was this: I made a wrong turn getting to the doctor's office and I had to do a U turn in the street. Almi asked me what I was doing and I explained to her that I got lost but we were now heading the right way. This little mix up made us about ten minutes late for the appointment so when we arrived I told her to walk quickly because we were late. "Let's go, Pumpkin. We need to hurry! We are late because we got lost." Her response cracked me up! She said, "I no got lost, Mommy. You got lost, no me." LOL Very true, little smarty, very true.

I continue to hear from friends and strangers that she is "so happy." I love this because I certainly get my share of waterworks from her. Little Diva!!! I have been getting compliments, too. People say things like, "she has come a long way" or "you are doing an amazing job with her" or "she is so happy because of your influence" and that makes me feel really good.

She got her final report card and the comments section said this:

"Naomi has an energetic attitude towards school. I appreciate her enthusiasm. I have enjoyed having Naomi in my room. She is outgoing, cheerful and well-liked. We will miss her next year. We hope that you enjoy our new home. Good luck!!!"

We are going to miss Ms. E soooo much! She has been a wonderful teacher to my daughter but she has also become a friend to me. She is like family. I can't type more about it or I will start to cry... Here she is with Ms. E's niece on an outing to Baltimore's Inner Harbor (Ms. E. took her for the weekend! We love you, Ms.E!)

Would you just look at those cute girls?? Ms. E told me that her niece said, "I just love Naomi. I really just love her." It's killing me, I tell you. They are like sisters. Naomi gets to be with an Ethiopian family who really, really love her... No more! I feel awful if I think about it too long. Seriously, I could never imagined what a wonderful situation this was going to be for us.. *tears*

Here are some tidbits about my girl in June:

1. She has no fear. None. She loves water, animals, heights, new foods, crowds and meeting new people. She also seems to have gotten over her fear of loud noises for the most part, though she still gets upset with loud sirens. Nothing scares her though she now requests to sleep with her door open and a light on. However, I suspect this has more to do with her trying to have light to see so she can keep on playing in her crib.

2. She loves cinnamon. She asks me to put it on her bananas, apples, desserts and even cereal. Just so you know, cinnamon on Rice Krispies is quite good actually!

3. She is extremely social. This is good because I am quite shy and forces me out of the house and into situations where I am meeting new people. She prefers to be out of the house and going-going-going all day long.

4. She doesn't require a lot of sleep. She can stay up really late even without a nap as long as there is action and something for her to see or do. She is a night owl and can sleep in pretty late in the morning.

5. She says caterpillar like this: cadapider. Sooooo stinkin' cute!!!

6. She now uses "peez, Mommy, peez!" to get what she wants. Man, that cute face is hard to say no to but usually I can hold my ground.

7. When we get in the car she either says, "Mama, I wanna dance" or "I wan shi shi shi" which means she wants me to turn on the radio. Shi shi shi is her variation of the sound of swish, swish, swish --the wipers from The Wheels on the Bus. I used to play that every time she was in the car and she started saying that to request that she wanted to hear that CD. She also loves Coldplay. She calls them Co-pay. Heehee. And she loves, loves, loves to dance! Go Almi! Get it, girl!



8. When I get hurt or if something is wrong she will say, "Oh, I sowee" and give me her little sad faced look with lips down turned. Little sweetie.

9. When we leave in the mornings and I am locking the front door, she will stand there and hold the door for me. She started this on her own and it is so helpful because usually my hands are full. So thoughtful!

10. She is getting her pronouns mixed up but it is so darn cute. For example, my friend (a male) was over and left the room for a moment and Almi said, "Where her go?"

11. She loves dresses. When I put one on her she'll spin around and tell me she's a 'rincess. Yes, Pumpkin, you are a princess.

12. She is a really, really heavy sleeper. I let her fall asleep in my bed each night and then I go in and transfer her. She never wakes up. If she falls asleep in her clothes I can change her into her pj's and she won't wake up!

And finally, can I reiterate that she is super, duper off-the-charts energetic and mischievous with a capital M. I can't leave her alone for a second!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monthly Update

Did I skip a month? That is entirely possible with all the chaos over here!

Latest and Greatest and Other Tidbits

* The two words I hear all the time when people are describing her are "happy" and "busy". I love hearing that when I am away from her that she is a happy, happy girl. And busy?! Yeah, I know all about that!

* Her crazy academic daycare has finished with shapes, letter and numbers so now they have moved on to sounds! I am not kidding. My two year old can tell me the sounds of most of the letters. This has nothing to do with me whatsoever. I have talked about letters a tiny bit but it would never have even crossed my mind to have my toddler work on letter sounds. I give all the credit to the daycare. As developmentally inappropriate that it may be I have to say I don't really mind. This surprises me because when I registered her I was so annoyed that this daycare wasn't play-based but I have to say it is so amazing to see what she is learning. I kind of wish she was staying to see where it could go. I mean, the logical next step would be to start sounding out words. Today I asked her what sound c makes, what sound a makes and what sound t makes and she knew them all. If she knew that putting those together would make 'cat' she might find that kind of cool. They told me when I registered her that she would learn to read by age 4 and I believe it now! Alas, she is leaving and as surprising as it is to admit, I am kind of disappointed about that. I may decide to just teach her at home. I certainly will have time next year, but there is no rush. If she learns in Kindergarten that will be fine, too and in the meantime I will just continue to read to her at night (and point to the text as I read and ask comprehension questions afterwards -- LOL!!!)

* She actually told me the other day at mealtime that she had had "enough" !!! Progress!

* She is such a climber and has no fear. Not a good combination! She scares me!


* I see some hair growth! Just a little bit but it is oh so adorable! Love the little spirals!

* She is into making nonsense words and sounds. She does this all day long. She has developed quite a bit of language so I am not sure why she does this. Before using her words she will make grunting sounds or some other unintelligiable sounds to get what she wants. I don't know if she is playing with the language, pretending to be a baby, thinks it's funny or there is something else going on. It doesn't really make sense since I think she is quite bright.

* She talks a lot about families. She is always pointing out the "mommy" and the "baby" in books (the bigger one is always the mommy). She also talks a lot about daddies and sisters.

* She is constantly telling stories or bending the truth. Sometimes I think she likes to be just be a storyteller and she is such a comedien that I think she also says things just to make me laugh. Some examples are:

1. Once she told me they celebrated her birthday at daycare. She told this elaborate story about the cake and how they sang happy birthday to her.

2. While eating dinner one night she told me she could see a man with orange skin and orange hair crouching down in our dining room. She said he was mad and then later she told me he went away. (I totally believe in ghosts though and that children have the abilility to see things we don't so I don't know what to say about that story exactly).

3. The other day I slipped on some water she splashed out of the bathtub and I hit my knee. I screamed out in pain and crouched down to nurse my wound. She said, "I no push." I said, "I know, Pumpkin, you didn't push me. I just slipped on the water." She said, "No, the toilet push you" and pointed to her potty. Too funny!

* She is really good with our morning routine. I will get her dressed first and then dress myself while she goes to play or watch cartoons. When it's time to wash her face and do her hair I will call her and she will come right in. She doesn't complain at all when I wash her face and rarely when I style her hair. I guess it helps that it doesn't take too long!

* She has amazing bladder control! She has been potty trained for months and hasn't worn a diaper even at night for at least 3 months and I can't even remember the last accident. This bladder control includes outings and long car trips. I almost never have to take her to use a public restroom and we could easily drive the whole way to Pittsburgh (4 hours) without stopping--except we have to stop for me!


Likes and Dislikes

She still loves coloring, stickers, dancing, being outside, climbing, singing, eating, watching movies, bread, pizza, cheese, ice cream, candy, cake, cookies, dandelion seeds (the ones you blow in the lawn), lipstick, almond milk, bananas, butter, almonds, noodles, running, jumping, dogs, cats, taking baths, swimming pools, parties, dresses, being with her friends, SpongeBob & Hello Kitty, hide 'n seek and hugs & kisses (though sometimes she says, "Enough, Mommy, enough!" when I kiss her too much but I can't help myself! Those cheeks are so yummy!)

She does not like peppers, onions, mushrooms, processed meats, having her hair washed or when friends leave to go home.

And me? Oh you don't really care about me? I know, she's the reason you read the blog but I will just tell you this: I love being her mom. She is such a great kid! And that's all. :-D

Well there's a little update. Fifteen months together. Time flies, I tell you and she is growing up way too fast. My baby stage with her was waaaaay too short!! I love this age and it's so fun to be able to communicate with her but man I miss my little baby! :( I am already mourning the fact that soon she will be too big to carry and soon she won't want to snuggle with me. Sigh. Ok, going in to her room now to go stare at my sleeping babe for awhile and give her a kiss.

Quotes and Tidbits and Updates and Such

What's been going on with us this month?

Well, we went to have a professional photo shoot with the organization, Celebrating Adoption. If you aren't familiar, it's a group of photographers from across the country who agree to do a free studio sitting and a free enlargement or two for families who have adopted children. The photos are supposed to be taken within the first year home. We had scheduled it for October but I was too busy and stressed out to make it. We rescheduled for my spring break and just had it done a couple of weeks ago. Two photographers from Borrowed Blue Photography met us at a lovely park and spent over 2 hours taking pictures of us in different settings and in different outfits. Almi wasn't the most compliant subject but once I bribed her with a cookie and she smiled her adorable smile. The photographers are including a free 8x10 along with the free photo shoot. I will certainly be ordering more. They did an amazing job. I am not sure how I am going to be able to choose.

Almi had her first dentist appointment. She doesn't have any cavities but she told me to not have her eat dried fruit anymore unless she can brush her teeth immediately afterwards. She has two spots on her teeth which if not monitored could turn into cavities and would have to be filled as she won't lose those teeth until she is ten years old. She also gave me the bad news that her teeth are crowded and will be a candidate for braces in her future.

She used to cry when I put on 50 Cent. Now she likes it. She even said once that "In Da Club" was her song. LOL (she likes the part where he says 'It's your birthday.') But she really likes Coldplay and will request to hear it now.

Lately she has been tossing and turning at night and not falling asleep right away. She will make loud noises, sing or talk. She rarely cries. She's just letting me know she is wide awake and doesn't want to be in bed. She is a night owl! Sometimes she calls me into the room and just asks to hold my hand. Minutes later she is in dreamland.



This kid is so fun-loving. She will do anything for a laugh. The other day I told her to say good-bye to her teachers and she said, "Bye teachers!" Then when I told her to go up to each one the next day, she went up to a couple of the kids in the daycare and said, "Bye teachers!" and waited for us to react. We all cracked up, and so, of course, she continues to do it from time to time. Kids and adults find her extremely funny.

More often than anything else, people remark to me that she is "so happy." I love hearing that because that is what I want for her more than anything.



She is still eating massive amounts of food and now goes into the fridge to try to take more things out to eat after the meal is done.

She is now quite the climber. She will climb up on the sink to try to eat my toothpaste or climb up on the kitchen counters to take things down. I had to watch her before, but this takes it to another level!

Why does she sometimes call me "Mom" sometimes? Mom? Really?

She had an accident the other day on the steps. I had no idea because I was upstairs at that particular time. When she came into the room her underwear and socks were wet. I knew she had just gone to the potty so it didn't make sense. I went into the bathroom to see if she had spilled the peepee on the floor when she transferred it into the big potty but the floor was dry. While I was in the bathroom she came in and took a wad of toilet paper and told me she would be right back. Don't you know that little girl went down the steps and wiped up her accident! When she came back up the steps she told me, "I keen it up, Mommy" and it wasn't until then that I discovered what had happened. I can not believe my two year old acted so responsibly! She's amazing!

She just learned how to ask "Why?" this month.

She calls me baby all the time, several times a day! I don't know how this got started but it cracks me up! "What doin' baby?"

Typical Sunday morning conversation that takes place in my bed usually before 8am. She will call for me sometime during the 7 o-'clock hour and I will walk into her room like a zombie with my eyes closed and gather her into my arms. I will ask her if she has to pee, take her to the potty and then plop her into bed with me while I try to get some more sleep. That never happens but she is usually quiet for another 20 minutes or so while I rest. Then this conversation happens: "Mommy, I wan eat. I wan dinner. (all meals are called 'dinner'). Mommy, sit down. Mommy. Mommy! Mommy, sit down, Mommy. Mommy, I wan some a cook. Mommy, I wan eat."

When she finished eating a meal at her high chair and she wants to get down she says, "I wan all done, please!"

She has finally tried salad and likes it!

Quotes and things she says a lot right now:

"Hugga me. Huh me, Mommy." And then we hug and snuggle.
"Nummy in ma tummy!"
She calls eyelashes "oceans."
Noodles are "noonles"
A boo boo is called a "byoo byoo"
"What dat noisy?" "What dat soun'?"
"Hold me in ma hand."

Her language has just exploded! She now tells me what she does at daycare--especially who had to go to the "time out chair" LOL She can answer questions now with more than just a yes or a no and she has so much vocabulary. It's so fun to hear what she is thinking and all the funny things that come out of her mouth. She keeps me cracking up!

She can count to ten in Spanish! She knows most of her letters and can almost count to 20. She has started learning some of the sounds letters make. For example, she knows what sound a B makes and what sound a C makes!

The other day I heard her retelling Brown Bear, Brown Bear from her car seat.

She knows many, many people by name and will ask about them.

She has memorized the prayer they say at school before lunch every day:
"I bow my head and softy say,
Thank you for this food today.
Amen."
She will remind me if we forget to pray before a meal. "Pay, Mommy!



She is a character and a half, my little silly goose. Love her.

February Update -- ONE YEAR!

A year? Really?! That was fast. Hardest year of my life, hands down. And I have never been more tired and overwhelmed. But I have also never smiled or laughed so much. I have gotten more hugs and kisses than ever! I have had fun! And I can see how great things will be to come which excites me to no end. It's no walk in the park adopting a toddler as a single parent, I'm not going to lie. But now that she understands more, things are so much smoother and more enjoyable. And if I don't understand her? That smart girl will figure out a way to help me understand by using gestures of give me other words for clues. For example, she was trying to tell me about a party and was saying "poh-ee". I thought she was saying potty. She said, "No, po-ee. Po-ee. Happy bir-day to you." She does this a lot when she's not understood. She is smart and funny and energetic and beautiful and sweet and athletic and imaginative. She's an all around great kid and I feel so fortunate to have her in my life and look forward to our lives together!

Almi can now entertain herself for a short while. Here she is drawing.



And she is great with pretend play.




Yummy.

She continues to eat and sleep like a champ. She does not like eggs, like really hates them and cries --unless it's a lovely fluffy omelet. Her favorite foods haven't really changed: bananas, applesauce, crackers, cereal, bread and pizza. She whines a little bit at bedtime or naptime but she rarely cries once I shut the door and walk away. I know I am really, really lucky and I am so grateful!

"I wan dat one." She says this for almost everything she wants.
Wants to eat some dates? "I wan dat one."
Wants to sit on my lap? "I wan dat one."
Wants to go outside? "I wan dat one."
It's an all purpose general request for things.

Mommy, I want dat one.

"Ning Nong, Ning Nong" That's the sound of a bell ringing.

She loves to pretend she is a dog and crawl on the floor and bark.



She loves for me to run and chase her or to chase me. When she's ready to play she'll say, "Mommy, Mommy! Catch you me!!"

She hums the tune of Dreidyl, Dreidyl all the time. Most of the time she makes up her own nonsense lyrics to the tune. That song is constantly in my head!

This girl can create more mess in 5 seconds then you can imagine.


She's waiting for Santa Claus to return to bring her some more candy. The doorbell rings and she yells, "Santa?!" Then she looks at me with wide eyes and nods and says, "Santa. Canee."

She loves to try on my shoes and boots.




She can count to 20 with only a few mistakes. She can count to 10 in Spanish. She can recognize letters from A to M.

She is super duper ticklish!

She surprises me with words and phrases that she has picked up in daycare, like "enough" when I am bothering her or "no talking" or "no push" LOL. She says, "no yet" for not yet. She also picks up my phrases like, "Oh, man!"

She's so silly!


She says "sit down" for both sit down and sit up. For example, on Saturday mornings I may lie in bed for awhile she's up playing but when she's had enough and wants me to get up she will put her hand under my back to try to get me up and say, "Mommy, sit down."

If I don't lock the window she will open it with her foot.


She loves to try to use dental floss and will pull the whole string out if I leave it lying around.

When she wants me to follow her somewhere she says, "Umon, Mommy, umon." (come on Mommy, come on) and she motions with her hand except it's upside down! :)

When something falls she always asks if it's ok. I'm talking a toy, a book, a pencil, a crumb off her highchair. "Otay? Otay??"

Oh, that face of hers!





WOWOWOW! One year together!

This is on our first day together in Ethiopia:


And here we are today. Happy together. Momma loves you, Pumpkin!

January Update

Eleven months.
Has it really been almost a year?!
What is most noticeable is I feel a shift within myself. I feel the old me coming back and she is so welcome. I missed her! I told myself in 2011 I would focus on balance and I can feel my balance slowly starting to return. And it feels good!

Now onto updates on the bambino...

* Height & Weight -- not exactly sure. She doesn't go to the doctor regularly because she's all caught up on vaccinations (and man, I wish I hadn't done all of them now but it's too late). I think kids only go once a year after the first year so I guess I will have to rely on the bathroom scale. According to my scale she is still about 33 pounds. She must be a little taller though because she is more comfortable in 3Ts, especially the shirts. Pants are often still too long but we roll them up because they fit more comfortably around her belly. :-D

* She is dry most nights. So often that I don't even send her to bed with a diaper anymore! Yay! I basically consider her completely potty trained. She will even dump the contents of the potty into the 'big potty' if she goes when I am not around. Such a big girl!

* Lately, I have discovered, she doesn't fall asleep easily in my bed unless I am there so we pretty much only use it for weekend naps. Otherwise she goes to bed in her crib. Fingers crossed, but going to bed at night continues to be relatively drama-free.

* She likes to clean. If she spills something often she will ask for a wipe to clean up her mess.

I am teaching her to put her toys and books back when she is done and she is learning where things go. (Now if I could only learn to do the same with my things!)

* Speech therapy. I got a letter from Early Intervention. Once I return the paperwork they are going to set up a formal evaluation. I have been requiring her to say 3+ utterances and she's doing really well at mealtime. She will stop and try it on her own when making requests for food because I have modeled that one a lot since we eat frequently. When it comes to other things, though, she isn't quite as successful and I have to have her repeat me. The interesting thing is she knows what I expect and she will really try to repeat me and claps when she can do it.

* Her new thing to do is scream. It's so relaxing. * rolls eyes * She will wake up and scream, "Mommy!!!" or just make loud screeching sounds. Not the best way to wake up from a peaceful sleep. This doesn't happen during the week because I am up before her. No, just on the weekends. Fun times. Oh, wait, and let's not forget the growling. This is especially sweet and endearing when she does it to strangers at the grocery store.

* She likes to be so independent. I used to be afraid for her to go down the steps because she would try to go down forward. I taught her to go down backwards and she loves being able to do it all by herself. I don't worry about her on the steps now.


* Babysitters! Yay! I can't stress enough the value, the importance, the necessity of babysitters to a single momma!! I went out twice in January, just like I planned, and it was great!!!!

* She still loves to take care of Neigh. She gives him haircuts.

And shots.

She really loves him. So sweet.

* Our special song. Sometimes my little one needs extra snuggles and reassurances and love so I take her in my arms and sing her our song and she calms right down: "Mommy loves her baby. You are Mommy's baby. Mommy loves her Pumpkin. You are Mommy's Pumpkin. Mommy loves Naomi. You are my Naomi. Mommy loves her Almi. You are Mommy's Almi"
and I repeat it a few times til her breathing becomes in sync with mine and relaxes into my embrace.

* She likes snow, especially how it tastes.

* She learned the word, "Ouch" and says it a lot. Though sometimes she uses it at funny times like when she walking in the snow: "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" lol

* She has learned about Daddies from somewhere. When reading books and there are men in them she will point to them and say either "man" or "Daddy."

* She has learned different emotion words. She will now talk about being happy, sad and scared. Someone gave her a plastic bug and she does not like it. She would see it and come running up to me and say, "Show me, bug!" (scare me bug) meaning the bug scared her.

* I never emphasized Santa because I wasn't sure what I wanted her to believe but she learned about him from daycare. But she asks about him all the time. "Santa coming?," she'll say and I will tell her, "no, not today" and she will get really sad. Sometimes she has me open the door to see if he is there. So now I have to say, "No, not today but he will be here next year on Christmas because Santa loves you very much" and then she is happy. So I guess we are believers of Santa in this household after all. Of course usually the next question from her is, "Cannee?" (candy?) She got some in her stocking so really I think she wants him to return to give her some more!

* She really hates brocolli. Like really. Like gags when she is trying to swallow it. She still loves spinach though so I will just serve that to her for awhile. (I also throw some in our morning smoothies). But in general she continues to be a really good eater. Healthy appetite!



* She has enough attention span that she can now sit and watch an entire video which is a life saver for me!! I can pop in Elmo and go prepare dinner and she will sit on the couch happily and not be underfoot.

We're doing great over here. Thanks for reading!

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.