Famous Last Words

"Heyyy"
Swatting a Gallow Nipper

Take me out to the ballgame

I used to read the blogs of people who were adopting from China and I was usually disappointed when after they were home from China they didn’t post as much as before they went. I told myself that we wouldn’t be like that, that we would be posting even more when we got our little girl home. “ Famous last words.” Now I see why they slow down on their posting. We have hundreds of things that we would like to tell on the blog and about one one/ hundredth of the free time that we had before.

Not that we are complaining. We are having the time of our lives, just using so much of that time that there’s very little left over for the outside world. I can’t speak for other adoptive parents but for us one reason is Hope’s need for almost continual attention. She is doing very well, learning English quickly, expanding her vocabulary daily, but she has definite issues with what I suppose is fear of abandonment. When some of the rest of the family are here she practically ignores us, but if it is just me or Becky she demands quite a bit of attention.

She has advanced to the point that she will play out of my sight for short periods, but not without checking on me fairly often. Of course, I am keeping closer tabs on her than she may know, but I want to see her gaining the security and confidence that we are here to stay. Yesterday I told her to watch me out the window while I stepped out and fed the dogs. The window is only a few feet from the patio door and I would only be out of her sight for maybe one second. She would have none of it. She stamped her feet and tuned up to cry while holding her arms up toward me. I picked her up and held her closely while stepping out in the cool breeze.

I’m not sure if everyone will understand, but we are willing to do whatever it takes to make the process of her learning to completely trust us as easy as possible. I am still working evenings and staying with her during the day. The fences are going to pot, the yard needs mowing, we haven’t planted a single thing, and we really don’t care. Those things may have to wait, but we know that eventually Hope will have full assurance in her heart that we are hers and she is ours forever.

Ronnie