It's late....I can't sleep. I don't know why. Some nights I lie awake waiting for Natalie to wake from bad dreams so that I can be there for her. We've been so "glued" together for 9 months that I hate being away from her for any length of time. As I watched Natalie sleep in my arms the other night, I thought about my life without her, and I felt such pain, sorrow and fear. It was strange. I knew then that I can NEVER lose my little girl! Oh the pain her Chinese parents must still be feeling!
We are having so much fun watching her discover her new world and learn the language. Right now she names things. For example, when we walk through the yard she will point and say what she sees, like "walnut", "tree", "car", etc. She only says one word at a time-she has not progressed into phrases, yet. She does, what I call, the "happy dance" when Dada comes home from work. We started her in gymnastics (toddler/parent class) for balance and coordination, and now she "jumps" wherever she goes. Amazingly, she loves the balance beam! She loves "Pooh" and looks at me, so seriously, and names all the Winnie the Pooh characters. She'll walk around the house counting to eleven (I'm having a hard time getting her to get out "twelve"). She has a buddy-Linus, one of our male cats. He is so patient with and kind to her. He goes wherever she goes-it's so cute!
She is the most well behaved and patient 2 year old I have ever met! She has more patience than I do! I am feeling really good about our attachment/bonding-although I know it is an ongoing process. Now that we are over a month away from the traumatic anniversary date of her abandonment, she is sleeping through the nights and is OK with me leaving the house for short periods of time. Life seems almost normal. Now we will start to think about her very first Christmas-and I am starting to get excited!
