We have now been home for over five weeks (five weeks and two days to be exact!) and it continues to be mind-boggling that the little girl I love and adore is the same little girl that I met for the first time in Russia just over four months ago! While she continues to struggle with having Mommy out of her sight, she has blossomed in terms of her temperament and her personality. She LOVES to babble and is picking up more and more words every day (she now says "puppy" and "Buddy" pretty clearly, although "Annie" is a bit tougher to come by - and she tries daily because two of her favorite things to do are call the puppies in from outside and bawl them out for various reasons throughout the day!), and she smiles more and more frequently and more freely, which is a far cry from the scared little girl they put on my lap in that tiny room just a few short months ago!
Easter was so exciting this year because I could see everything through her eyes. Not having celebrated Easter before, she didn't understand about Easter eggs, the process of finding them, or the goodies that an Easter basket holds, but it didn't take her long to figure it out! She LOVED hunting for eggs and popping them open to find treasures inside, and she had an absolute ball running around with her cousins at Grandma and Papa's house. The cutest moment of the day, however, was when she - unprompted and unexpectedly - ran up to her oldest cousin and gave him a HUGE hug, then proceeded to hug all her other cousins, her aunt, her uncle, and her grandparents (hey, wait a minute - she hugged everyone but ME!!! :( ). Hopefully this is a sign that she is opening up and trusting others around her, understanding what family truly is, and it makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it!
I officially notified work today that I will not be back until May 10 - a mere 4 weeks away. Tomorrow we start the hunt for day care to supplement the days that RP will stay with Grandma and Papa, and the thought of leaving her all day to return to work makes my heart hurt. I know she'll be in good hands, but I missed almost two years of her life already - it pains me to miss any more.
Our very first meeting - November, 2009
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