Happy!

I've been working on a photo book for Sena's birth relative in Ethiopia.  As I have been looking back through photos from the last three months, all sorts of emotions have been brought to the surface.  We have settled into a routine around here and it is hard to believe that three months have passed since John and I were in Ethiopia to bring Sena home.  Since that time, we have watched her blossom right in front of us and it has been a beautiful thing to see.  On the day we picked her up, she was very withdrawn and would not engage with us at all.  I remember giving her a bath at the guest house that first night and my heart just hurt for her.  She sat in the tub - exposed in front of strangers - and splashed the water a tiny bit with her hands.  She looked up at us with an expression that I can't even describe and I could only imagine what was going through her mind then.  Fortunately, it only took a few days for her to realize that she could trust us.  Once she let her guard down, we saw an entirely different child.  She is animated and affectionate and so much fun to have around.  It is not lost on me, however, that while we have this little blessing in our family, a family on the other side of the world is missing out because of circumstances beyond their control.  We can never adequately convey our thanks for the gift that has been entrusted to us by her first family.

Here is where we are after three months together:

*Sena loves to be outside.  If her brothers are outside playing basketball, she will bang on the door and yell in hopes that one of them will come and rescue her.  They often do.  It has been wonderful to see them consider her feelings above their own (it is not easy to shoot hoops with a little person underneath the basket, but she MUST be in the thick of the action) and they do this way more than I ever anticipated.  Apparently, her "puppy dog eyes" work some sort of magic on them and they can't resist.

*Sena is not a big fan of sharing.  This really isn't an issue very often since her brothers aren't so much into dolls and Little People.  However, when we have friends over, we are working on taking turns and not snatching items out of their hands. 

*This girl likes to DANCE!  She gets her groove on quite often and if you happened to see this video (http://www.vimeo.com/20901941) that I posted a while back, you know what I am talking about.  Last night we were at Lowe's and Jack was pushing her in the cart and rapping for her and she was getting jiggy with it.  I have also noticed that she will tap out beats just randomly.  She was sitting on the potty the other day (more on that later) and tapping a beat on the potty seat.  She definitely loves music.

*She started expressing an interest in the potty so we gave that a whirl.  We had about a week of some impressive performances, but suddenly she seems frightened of the toilet so we are going to hold off on that for a while.  Stink.  I may have gotten my hopes up on that one.

I am going to interrupt here for a public service announcement.  If you are adopting internationally, I highly encourage doing the recommended stool specimens (3 specimens 2 or 3 days apart) even if your child is not symptomatic.  As it turns out, sometimes pesky little things could be lurking and you have NO idea.  It is better to have it taken care of sooner, rather than later.  Just sayin'

*Sena cries when I leave her.  HALLELUJAH!!  You have no idea how this warms my heart. 

*She is very empathetic.  If someone is hurt or upset, she will go over and offer kisses and back pats.  It is so sweet!!

*She likes to climb - stairs, chairs, couches, etc.  We have to keep a close eye on her. 

*She is repeating a lot of what we say and beginning to use words more purposefully.  We still haven't experienced the language "explosion" but she is only 20 months old and English is the 3rd language she has been exposed to.

Just for fun:

This is our 3rd day with her and she looks angry - I have not seen this expression since we have been home.  If she is upset about something, she has a completely different look now.



Serious Sena at home



We went from this on January 17...

...to this just a couple of weeks ago.

I think our girl is happy and that makes my heart glad!