I can't believe six months has gone by already. I remember distinctly picking her up at the orphanage on February 24, clothes and diaper in hand (because, as my coordinator so delicately put it, I was picking up a "naked baby" and needed to be sure to bring ALL her essentials!). The minute they handed me my bundled up little munchkin and scooted us out the door was the best, yet most terrifying, moment of my life. Her big brown eyes were like saucers in the van on the way to the airport - she was completely mesmerized by everything she saw and was experiencing, but never once cried.
Fast forward three days. We were bleary-eyed when we arrived at the Moscow International airport and our driver was sweet enough to not only escort us into the airport, carrying bags and barking orders in Russian to everyone around him, but he also pulled strings so we didn't have to wait in the HUGE line to get through immigration. That process seemed to take forever, as not one but THREE different people gathered 'round to examine all her documentation. Luckily (for them or for me I'm not sure - just "luckily") I don't speak Russian and couldn't understand their commentary, but after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, we were released through to our gate, thus beginning 18 hours of travel.
RP hated being buckled into her seat and let everyone on the plane from Moscow to Zurich know it. Ditto for the flight from Zurich to Chicago, but at this point I had been up for over 24 hours and truly didn't care. I just wanted to get home. I have never been SO excited to land and get off of a plane as I was that day, and I couldn't wait for RP to meet her Papa, see her new home, and start our new life together.
I can still feel the sense of relief of walking into my own house, petting my frantic puppies (after two weeks away they were beside themselves with joy at my return, and LOVED RP from the start!), and settling into a routine. Then it dawned on me - what the heck was I going to feed this child, who was completely OFF any sort of regular schedule, had just woken up after falling asleep in the car, when I had been gone for two weeks. Right, wrong, or otherwise, RP's first meal home was oatmeal, and she glared at me the entire time she ate it - still not certain about what was going on around her and terrified that at any given time I was going to take everything away from her... again.
We "celebrated" RP's six month anniversary by attending Open House at her daycare/school. She had a BALL showing off her classroom and friends, and I received a lot of great feedback from the Assistant Director and teachers. While RP definitely has her "moments" she is truly thriving at school and has made significant progress in catching up developmentally with her peers. In the last six months she has grown 3 inches, gained 4 pounds, and has gone from an English vocabulary of zero to chatting and babbling non-stop, with new words and phrases every single day. I don't know what the next six months holds for us, but I'm looking forward to the adventure!
RP's first meal at home after 18 hours of travel - oatmeal!
Being silly for Mommy getting ready to leave for Open House at school 
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