8 Weeks Home

8 weeks ago today, a little girl and her Daddy arrived at O'Hare airport and I took the biggest sigh of relief EVER!  Our long adoption journey was over and a new chapter of our lives was about to begin. So many emotions were swirling at one time and so many unknowns were ahead of us.  We weren't sure what Sena was going to think of her new family and her new home.  As it turns out, she seems perfectly happy with her new gig.  She has settled right in and it is as if she has always been here.  I thought the newness would have worn off by now, but her brothers are still quite smitten with her.  Ethan has commented on several occasions that you just can't stay in a bad mood around her.  She lights up when she sees them and they are always happy to see her when they get home from school.  All three of them are incredibly sweet with her and I am very thankful that they have the opportunity to have a sister.  I love seeing the softer side of them.

There is one thing that I am incredibly thankful for : Sena likes the Ergo carrier.  Currently, I am working three days each week and on those days, Sena comes to work with me for a couple of hours.  Here is what that looks like:

I'm pretty sure that none of our boys would have been content to hang out on Mom's back, but Sena really doesn't seem to mind.  She will often crane her neck so that she can check out everything that is going on and when she has had enough of that, she'll settle in and suck her thumb.  I'm not sure how much longer we can continue this arrangement, but I'm hoping at least for a couple more months.

In 8 weeks, here are some things we have discovered about our girl:

-She likes any kind of technical gadget: phones, remotes, computers, ipods.  She went "missing" yesterday.  I was trying to get ready for the day and she disappeared.  I called for her and there was no answer.  I looked all over and she was nowhere to be found.  I finally found her hiding in Jack's dark bedroom trying to get his ipod.

-She likes to sing.  I sing to her and she sings right along with me in a falsetto - not the actual words, obviously, but her own words.

-She likes to dance.  When she hears music, there is clapping and dancing.  Yesterday, she was trying to drink her bottle and dance at the same time.  That was something to behold!

-She is very loving.  She has started to offer spontaneous kisses and hugs.  I was taking her up to her room to change her a few days ago and she just squeezed my neck and gave me several kisses with no prompting.  Her kisses have already changed, though, and that makes me a tiny bit sad.  For the first several weeks, when planting one on, she would make a loud "mmmwaahhh" sound.  Now there are no such sound effects.

-She is animated and funny.  She is always up to something silly.  Her laugh has changed, too.  She has developed a kind of throaty giggle.  It makes us laugh to hear her laugh.

-She loves to play ball.  That was one of her first English words for a good reason, I suppose.  Her brothers keep their basketballs in our laundry room and she often goes in and gets one and attempts to dribble in the kitchen.

-She is not particularly strong-willed.  Two of her brothers at the same age were muy dificil!  I won't mention which two.  I am sometimes surprised by how easily she goes with the flow.  Today we did have a bit of a standoff over a diaper change, but a firm voice (and possibly the stink eye) got the job done.

Eight weeks home have literally flown by!  I am so thankful that God made a way to bring this precious girl from a far off land to our family.  We have been blessed.