Today marks our six month anniversary of being a family. In some ways the time has flown by and in other ways it's hard to remember what it was like before Grace entered my life. Every day I spend with her just reminds me of how lucky I am that the universe aligned just right so that baby girl was matched with me. We just fit together so well.
So here's what we have been up to. Two weekends ago we had a visit from Auntie Andrea and Uncle Rob. Andrea and Rob are two of my closest friends and they are a wonderful aunt and uncle to Grace. They live in Ohio but visit a couple of times a year. We were able to have a nice visit when they were on the Boston leg of their trip. The picture below is not from the visit. It's from when they were here for Gracie's birthday. I love this picture.
Last weekend we went to California and spent a fantastic four days with my sister Amy and her family. I was a little nervous about traveling since it was my first time traveling alone with Grace. I really had nothing to worry about. Grace is a trooper and a really good traveler. Because I was worried about getting through security with a baby I decided that I should get to the airport two hours early so we arrived at the airport at 6:30a.m. for a 8:40 flight. We were checked in, through security, had coffee and pastries from Starbucks and were sitting at the gate at 7:15. Yeah, that totally could have back fired on me. I was afraid that her good disposition would be wasted sitting at the gate and then she'd be a pill on the plane but she was fantastic. Even the couple seated next to us remarked at how well behaved she was. I was especially surprised at how nice and helpful everyone was to us. I forgot that when you fly into Long beach you have to get off the plane and walk onto the tarmac. Not very good planning for a person who had a baby, a diaper bag and a rolling suitcase to get down the stairs. Luckily, there was a lovely couple seated behind me who carried my bags down for me. It's nice to know that there are still so many kind people circling in the world. Our trip was so fun! Gracie adjusted very, very quickly to her aunt and uncle and cousins Nate and Sarah. The only member she did not take well to was their dog Bingo. Bingo is a love but he's huge and he's under the impression that he is a lap dog. When he saw Gracie all he wanted was to love on her but he just scared her to pieces. By the end of the visit she was intrigued by him but still terrified. He's such a gentle dog, he wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm sure Gracie will catch onto that soon. We got there on Thursday in enough time to see my sisters kindergarten class put on Stone Soup. Adorable! Then Amy had a bunch of friends over to meet Grace and she did not disappoint! She was up until 9:30 pacific time and had been up since 5:30a.m. eastern time and didn't melt down. That child can really handle a lot.
On Friday we went to Disneyland and it was so much fun. The one ride that she hated was the Carousel. I was sure that would be the best one to start her off with but alas, it scared her to pieces. She was belted on, I was holding on tight and she had a death grip on the pole. When the horse started moving up and down she gave me this crazed look that just said "are you kidding me? This thing moves?!?!?!" She hated the carousel but liked the tea cups. Go figure. She had such a good day and Nate and Sarah were so phenomenal with her. They were so protective and loving and fun with her and she ate it up. The rest of the weekend we hung out and Grace had her first swim in the Williams' pool and she loved it! She did great on the flight home too, sleeping almost the entire flight.
About a month after we got home from Ethiopia Grace and I participated in an attachment study for internationally adopted children. We were asked to participate in it by our international pediatrician at Tufts. We did two visits with Grace and I where they tracked her heart rate and saliva levels and they did a couple of exercises to see how she reacts to things. They also videotaped them and I filled out a ton of questionnaires to go with it. Last Tuesday I went and met with two of the students who did the study to get some feedback on our results and they were really, really positive. They said that it's quite clear that we have a super strong bond in just the short time we have been a family. They said I have a great demeanor with her and that she calms very easily yet feels like she is able to explore providing she knows I'm still in the room. They said they had seen so much improvement in her from the first to the second visit and that she is becoming more animated and vocal and comfortable. I know that. I have felt that for months, but I have to say that it's really nice to hear from an unbiased third party.
Grace and I had our usual Saturday of running errands but today she was especially fun. We went out to dinner and she was dancing in her high chair to the music cracking up everyone around us. We played this game while waiting for our food where I put one hand on the table, she puts one hand on mine, I put my other hand on top of hers and then we start moving our hands really quickly. We played that game last week with Nate when we were in California and she remembered it and it was cracking her up. She has such a contagious giggle. Tonight when I was giving her the bed time bottle, I was singing to her as I usually do. I started singing baby mine from dumbo and her face exploded into the biggest smile I have ever seen and she touched her head. In the song there is a line that says from your head down to your toes. When I sing that line I touch her head and then her toes. She always enjoys that part but never as much as she did tonight. It was like she was telling me that was her favorite song to sing and I just loved how she knew it was the part in the song to touch her head. I started crying because her reaction was so joyful. She looked on the outside how I feel on the inside. Then she snuggled into me and sighed. The kind of sigh you have when you are content and all is right with the world. I'm so proud of the little family we have become. She is the very, very best thing that has ever happened to me.
I'm sorry I don't have pictures to post of our California visit but I still can't get the pictures off my camera. I'll try to work on that this week.
