Today we celebrate the second anniversary of the day we became a family of four. It was the day that took us from being parents to a 3 year old wild man to the parents of a wild man and a spunky little princesa. A day that is etched in my memory forever. I remember waiting for my sweet girl in the lobby of the Vista Real in Guatemala City. The last time we'd ever wait there for her. We were excited to see how much she had grown and changed since we had seen her last! It was a great feeling to know that we weren't going to get on a plane to return home without her.
During our adoption process I had many times of doubt. Should we do this? Can we really parent two kids? Can we AFFORD two kids? But one look at our baby girl and all doubts were gone.
In two years she has grown and changed so much. When she came home at 6 1/2 months old, she couldn't even sit up on her own. Now she runs, jumps, climbs, and everything else a two and a half year old should do. She talks up a storm in the sweetest little voice. Some of her latest princesa-isms are "allubums" (all of them, as in "I want allubums"), "STRAWbeddies" (strawberries, which she eats by the pound!), and "smewlum" (smell them, as in sticking her feet in my face and screaming "smewlum!!!"). We play a rousing game of "What's that?" at least twice per day. Everything, even people, are labeled as a "what" in the game, and if you can't figure out what she's asking about, she'll shriek it over and over until you figure it out. We are often asks if she speaks Spanish or if she's bilingual. I'd love to say yes, but my Spanish is far from conversational, though I have taught her to repeat the alphabet and count in both languages, and she knows a few words and phrases pretty well. Our favorite is "Asta luego!" I'm excited that her next daycare teacher is from Guatemala--I can't wait to immerse her in some real Spanish!
She's even more beautiful now than she was as a little baby. She literally stops traffic with her precious little self. We've trimmed her hair twice and it's still down to the middle of her back. She looks more and more like her birthmom every day. I love that she has that physical resemblence and connection to her. We look at the photos from her time in Guatemala often and are explaining her story to her in small bits that she can understand. She's also very smart, learns everything so quickly and blows us away with her vocabulary. She's funny, happy, loving, and a very busy girl.
As a family, we've hit our stride and have a great routine that seems to work well. The kids get along great and play very well together. The critterboy looks out for his baby sister and is so gentle with her. The stinkergirl, on the other hand, is one tough cookie and already taunts and pesters her big brother. It's fun to watch their relationship grow. They are one adorable pair!
We're so blessed to have experienced the blessings of both birth and adoption and all of the challenges and joy they have brought to our lives. This day is a special one, and one we will cherish always.
