Happy helper.

A few things no one cares about but us. SS sleep is so much calmer now. Hopefully we won't jinx the current trend, but we wanted to note it for future reference. Also, once she goes to sleep, she is pretty much out for the night. We are still struggling with a consistent bed time, but we prefer calm uninterrupted sleep. Last night she was so tired that she protested when I changed her into a sleeping shirt. SS said, "Mama, I too tired." As soon as I laid her down she was out. She slept on the sofa until midnight, when P woke up (he also passed out on the sofa) and took her to her crib. She slept thirteen hours. So it only took SS almost two years home before her nighttime anxiety diminished. A lot of people think it is funny to say to a parent "you did it the easy way." As a matter of fact I got that asinine comment waiting to board the plane in Tokyo. Well, I have done it both ways, and there is nothing easy about adoption. Having your choice questioned (what is wrong with our kids here? (Hmmm, drug exposure for one, and they are not Chinese), having your life under a microscope and being harshly judged, the mountain of paperwork, background checks, fingerprinting (ours had to be done twice), waiting for years, being branded as liars because what the heck is taking so long, travel to the other side of the world, parent a child 15 months into her life that you know nothing about, parent out of hotel rooms, undertake a 14 hour plane journey with a traumatized child, parent with jet lag and sleep deprivation, and just plain surviving. And that is just the greatest hits off the top of my head. Oh yeah, it is the easiest thing we could think of and as a bonus it was trendy (another asinine comment). However, it is equally rewarding and while we would gladly do it all over again, that is not going to happen. It is because of how easy this process has been that we perhaps hang on to the smallest of things. Like SS finally finding some peace at night. As I have shared before, I do still struggle with night terrors and nightmares. I have been told that losing Papi and Mami at such an early age may be a factor. Nighttime is hell for those with abandonment issues, and we are hopeful for our daughter to find peace at night.

On a lighter note, although we can never get out of Co$tco for under $100, they are a good source of finding what weird foods SS enjoys. Yesterday we were surprised to find out that she likes, no, she loves onion dip. When she reached for the sample I thought she just wanted the chips and would spit out the dip. Nope, she downed that thing like it had nutritious value and was vital to her sustenance. SS then insisted on seconds. Onion dip is on our shopping list today.

She misses JJ and uses her cell phone to call him daily. SS talks about visiting grandpa and seeing fish, then kisses JJ and says bye. We need to visit the kid because they need their sib time.


Who knew helping could be this much fun? SS quickly grabbed the most important item from our Co$tco trip, the chips.


SS's shout out to her Baba. P did not walk until he was 17 months old, and until then he scooted around on his butt. I think his parents knew then that they had not sired an Olympic athlete. And like her Mama, SS does things the lazy way. She can do this a lot faster and while carrying an object in each hand. Gotta love our quirky kid.