Life continues to wiz by so quickly. I cannot believe today marks the 5 month anniversary of her adoption yet it feels like Mia has been here forever.
Mother's Day was a bit bitter sweet for me this year. Of course I was over the moon crazy excited to have Mia FINALLY here to love and hold. That said, my mind continued to go back to her mother and what a hole in her heart she must have for this amazing girl who we proudly call our daughter. I silently cried for her while I was getting ready to spend the day with my family. I will be forever grateful to her mother for loving her while she was with Mia. No one could ever convince me that Mia was not loved because of her amazing ability to love and trust even when she has lost so much in her short life.
Daycare is funny. She obviously LOVES it. I went to pick her up a bit early the other day and she looked up at me with a bit of a cross look on her face. What came next was her saying "Mama, no pick Mia up. Mia stay and play with friends". Hmmmm, at first I was a bit like whoa...that is not good, but then I thought back to just a few short months ago when she would throw up just from me walking out of her sight for a few minutes. What an amazing transformation. I cannot praise her teachers and her school enough for making her feel so comfortable and happy.
Mia is finding more foods she likes although compared to Logan (who was/is such an easy eater and will try ANYTHING and eat most anything) is still pretty tough to please. Mike and I went up to Chicago on business last week and when we called to check in with them, my mom told me that Mia's report from school was hilarious. Apparently she discovered she loved canned ravioli and ate 4 helpings of it! They are used to her taking her bun, taking off any meat and/or cheese then dipping the bun in ketchup for lunch so they were happy to see her eat so much. Since then she has been asking for it almost daily. Regarding ketchup, I sincerely think she has a love affair with it. Remember, ketchup was her first English word. The child would literally eat ketchup by the spoonful if we let her.
Mia continues to assert herself with everyone around her. I love to see how opinionated she is and that she simply will not be dismissed. I am not sure if this came from being in an orphanage or if this is just part of her personality or a combo of both. Of course we are working on how to take this amazingly strong trait and shape and mold it into something beautiful and useful later in life. That said, there are so many funny stories I could tell. One was in the car. Mind you, I was driving and Mia wanted to tell me something. Side bar, for many of you who know me and have been around Logan and I (especially when he was younger) you would see me on my knees saying "hands and eyes". This meant that Logan was to hold my hands and look me in they eyes while we discussed anything "important" or while he was being disciplined. I have used this same tactic with Mia as it seemed to work with Logan. That said, after only a few short months, Mia thinks that EVERYTHING she is saying is VERY IMPORTANT and that I need to stop what I am doing and look her in the eyes while she speaks. Again, just one of the major differences between her personality and Logans. Okay, so on with the story. I am driving and Mia is telling me something and then all of the sudden she says "Mama, look at my eyes". I happened to be at a stop light so I turned around and looked at her to show her she had my entire attention. The light then turned green and I looked forward to start to drive. She spoke for a couple more seconds and then I hear..."Mama, Mama, look at my eyes". I explained I was driving and that it is dangerous for me to look at her while the car was moving. The next thing I hear is Mia making her totally offended "hmpf" (if you are having a hard time hearing this sound in your head...think of Miss Piggy) "Mama no listen to Mia". This all accompanied with her grouchy little eyebrows and everything. WOW! Many, many times since this, Mia insists that you stop what you are doing to look at her eyes while she is speaking. Of course this is not possible since she talks 24/7 so I am continuing to work with her to prove that I am listening and seeing her even if I am not looking directly in her eyes.
Dancing, dancing, dancing. Dancing dress, dancing shoes, dancing movies, DANCING WITH THE STARS! Life for Mia is simply dancing. This sweet girl spins, twirls, and dips every moment she possibly can. When her and I lay down in my bed, she immediately asks for "dancing show" - which means Dancing with the Stars (which I Tivo). She is not interested in the practice or the judging but she LOVES the actual performances. She always runs and gets her dancing dress and shoes on while we watch and cannot help herself from getting up and twirling all around the room. She also stops to admire her technique in front of the full length mirror. Some of her comments on the costumes CRACK ME UP! One of them was about Kendra. I cannot remember what she was wearing but Mia said "Mama, no dress, she dancing in her swimming suit, she silly". Super cute. There have been many other comments but one thing I know is this child feels music/performances because she talks about emotions like love during the waltz and angry during the pasodoble. I find that incredibly fascinating although being a show choir girl myself I totally get it. I will say, it is hard to cook or clean when she is CONSTANTLY coming up wanting you to twirl her, dip her, and dance with her. That said, it is also so hard to say no to her darling little face and her amazing brown eyes.
We are all so much looking forward to summer and experiencing all the new firsts for her. We have had a few happen over the last few weeks. Riding a bike, playing in the sandbox, the pool and going to the zoo. I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me to see her experience this life and am so incredibly blessed to have her call me mama and share this journey through life with her.
Much love, many blessings and until next time....
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| Hamming it up! |
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| She loves to climb on the rocks in our landscaping |
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| She came up to me with this flag she found in the toys and said, "America mama say it" I figured out she wanted me to say the Pledge of Allegiance she is learning in school. |
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| Cuddling with her sweet brother Logan and enjoying some down time. |
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| Love them! |
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| Eating her ice cream cone after her first swim. Picture taken by our neighbor Ruste - THANKS RUSTE! |
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| Down by the pond with my sweet girl. Again, photo taken by Ruste - Thank you Ruste! |
First time in the pool!
