Lunch at Aprea Mia
Checking out the fish (or maybe just her reflection)
Riding the train
Her favorite part was riding the carousel
Finishing the day with ice cream (not as good as Crepes y Waffles!)
I finally feel like we are settling into a good rhythm and finding our new normal at home. The first year had so many big victories, but a lot of struggles too. It didn't always feel hard, but looking back I see how we fought big battles. I believe the Lord just gave us strength to get through each one as it came. I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but we are finally to the point where we truly enjoy our time together. Brielle was left alone most of the time in the orphanage, so it has taken awhile for her to learn to enjoy people. Now that she is in school I treasure the time that we have together. One of my favorite things to do is lay a blanket outside and read books with her. We also love to snuggle in her new big girl bed (that was mine when I was little!) And her favorite part of the day is when Daddy walks in the door; she is a daddy's girl through and through.
We have also enjoyed outings together so much more lately. It feels less like we are managing, and more like we are truly enjoying our family time. Brielle loved picking apples a few weeks ago!
She has made some great accomplishments in the last few weeks, and is growing taller all the time!
- Walking 25 or so steps by herself
- Using the potty pretty consistently
- Saying 7-8 words (that we understand), and trying to imitate everything we say
- 'mo' for more
- 'ga-ga' for Dada
- Mama
- 'Eee-a' for Tia (Aunt Erin)
- Noooo and shaking her head
- 'Ahha' and nodding for yes
- 'ush eeth' for brush teeth
- 'ush' for flush
- 'hep' for help
- And probably more that I'm forgetting or we don't understand yet!
- Sleeping in a twin bed, and sometimes staying under her covers (a big sensory victory)
- Learning how to trace shapes and letters, but we are still working on this one!
- Engaging in more pretend play
Hi! Our social worker from Journeys of the Heart mentioned your blog and I wanted to check it out. We just came home in March from Colombia with our little girl! Our oldest son was adopted from Bogota, Colombia in 2008 and then we adopted our daughter from Monteria, Colombia in March! And we have two bio kids between the two of them! :-) It was fun to read about your weeks spent in Bogota. I was there for 7 weeks and thought I was gonna die there! ha ha! (With my oldest I was only there for 4 weeks.) And that poor woman who had been there for 12 weeks! Oh my! My husband and I and our oldest three all went down to Colombia together, but then he took the older 3 kids back with him after two weeks, so I was down there by myself for 5 weeks. It was super hard being away from my other kids, but we made it! We ate many of meals at El Corral and poked around Exito more times than I care to recall! It was fun to read your story. I'm glad that your daughter is doing well!
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