Bella has been home for almost four months. I have been amazed with how well she has done and how seamlessly she has assimilated into our family.
She is so lively and spirited and active, which works out so well with our two little boys.
I imagined that the boys would more closely bond together when she has arrived and leave her out, but the opposite usually happens. They compete for her attention. They want to sit next to her. Tell her what to eat. Hold her hand. Sometimes, it feels like we have a movie star in our midst.
She has always been a fantastic eater. She has developed some preferences in the past few months, and now she keeps up with Eli who is 6 1/2 and will eat as much as him at any given meal.
Her language has been exploding lately. Just 2 weeks ago she would only respond with one word, and it was usually just to parrot what someone had said. Now she is starting to put words together and use phrases like, "I fell down," "one slide," and "no, carry me!" She still isn't the best at answering our questions consistently, but I am so incredibly proud with how far she has come and how much she has learned.
She is so brave. She watches the boys on the playground and copies them step for step.
She gives us hugs and kisses.
She always has to be with someone from the family.
She doesn't like TV or anything media related, which of course makes me smile.
She loves photos taken of our family and will yelp with joy when she sees anyone she knows in a photo.
We are so thankful that she is ours. She makes my life better every day, and I am so thankful to finally have a daughter.
We still are struggling with sleep, and she wakes me up 2-6 times a night most nights whimpering or just wanting to be close to me. But after all the adoption blogs and books I have read, I was expecting that and since we coslept with the boys quite a bit, it is not something I am unfamiliar with.
I am thankful to have my joyful adventurer by my side. She takes on life with arms wide open and for that I am so thankful!
