words, concepts, language

It seems to me that Hannah has had a huge jump in comprehension and use of her language--she is grasping concepts that I think are quite advanced. I don't know if I can explain it very well but...here goes...

She fixes her own hair every morning and almost always makes one ponytail. However she is obsessed with her hair and refixes it multiple times per day. So I thought I would give her some new ideas and I fixed her hair in a new style that I thought she would really like. She took one look in the mirror and said "It is pretty Mom but actually, I like it better this way" and promptly undid it and made one ponytail again.

When I was putting her in her car seat the other morning she started the follwoing conversation.
Hannah--Mom will you get married some day?
Me---I don't know but maybe
Hannah--Well I need to find you a boy (small pause) Where is a boy??
Me--that is the big question Hannah. I don't know where.
Hannah looked pensive and then said "Well,you can dance alone"

She was sitting on the potty and wrinkled her nose and said "Ewwwwww"
I said "Oh--is your kaka stinky?" and she very seriously answers, "No, isn't. It is something outside but I don't know what."

We had a fun afternoon playing in our neighborhood park with a couple neighbor boys. Tonight while we were eating Hannah said "I want to play with Stefan and Milan so I will pray to God" and then she folded her hands and looked up to heaven and said,
"Dear God, I want to play with Stefan and Milan again someday because I really like them. Please Please God. Thank you God"

She also has grand ideas. She asked me for a barn. She thinks if she just has a barn she can have a horse a pony, a cow, a goat, chickens a bunny, a dog, and a cat. I am sure she will think of more animals to put in there too. I haven't checked with my townhome assn to see if that will be a problem or not--haha.

Every night when I put her to bed she asks "What is in the morning?". I usually tell her school or on Sat. night I say "Church". Last night I told her the morning was Saturday and she asked "Saturday--no school, no church?" When I told her that was right, she let a very enthuiastic "Yay".
Saturday morning is the favorite for both of us. She still wakes up at 6 or 6:30 but she turns on my bedroom TV and sits in bed with me. She watches cartoons and plays in bed while I alternate with playing with her and dozing off. We finally get out of bed about 8am and make breakfast together. It is the best day.

I suppose none of these things really qualifies her for genius status but..she seems pretty brilliant to me (in more ways than one).

Hannah and Mommy's story

I have a friend who adopted before I did and has been an inspiration, a cheerleader, an advice giver, and a good supporter all through my adoption journey to Hannah.

Today I received an email from her with a link to a book she had made for her daughter that told their story to becoming a family. It was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. She explained how she told that story to her daughter every night. It started out as a little story and grew as her daughter asked for more and more details and finally participated in the story telling herself. I could tell that the ritual of telling this story was something very precious and special to both of them and she had it made into a book they could keep forever.

I had the wonderful priviledge of reading the book in it's entirety and was really moved.
I have told Hannah basic parts of her adoption story and her beginnings but after reading this story I realized that I had never told the story from start to finish to Hannah so...
on the ride hoem from daycare today I asked Hannah if she wanted to hear the Hannah and Mama story. She said yes and the rest is history. Hannah and Mama's story was made up--in very crude form as I was talking off the top of my head--and Hannah soaked it up. she was enthralled and participated in the details and asked questions "why was I scared Mama". She was really engaged and it was fun. As soon as I got done she said "Now can you tell the story of Belle and the beast? Please Mama". A bit of an abrupt ending for me but I switched gears and told the story of Belle and the beast.

Tonight after reading her two books for bedtime, she asked "Can you tell the Hannah sotry again" and so I did. She was just as engaged and it was a really fun bonding time for both of us.

Once again, Louann, you are a genious and very creative. Thank you so much for this idea. We now have a new favorite bedtime story. I may just have to steal the printed book idea from you also.

A moment of panic

Today Hannah asked to see the movies of Hannah--which means the videos I have on my camcorder of her. My camcorder is a hard drive with pretty big memory and I have not downloaded any of my videos since the first visit to Russia so we just hook up the camera and watch them.
Today we I hooked up the camcorder and there were no videos on it--NONE!. I thought I must have done something wrong and tried everything I knew to try with the camera but NOTHING! This meant I had no videos of Hannah, no videos of the orphanage or Russia, no video of our Gotcha moment, etc. I freaked out and Hannah couldn't understand what happened. Finally I convinced myself to calm down and think. I called Sony and asked if their was any way to recover deleted videos. They said YES! It isn't free but all I had to do was send them my camcorder and they would recover it and put it on a DVD for me. I mailed it in today. Of course there are no guarentees but I am hopeful again.
I will keep you updated.

My little drama queen

A month ago for her birthday I took Hannah to the musical "Beauty and the Beast". I knew she had fun but today I really found out how much she enjoyed it.

I don't why it took her a month to do this but she wanted to play "Belle" and of course she was Belle.
I played the parts of the Beast, the Prince, and Belle's father. She told me the scenes she wanted to play and then we acted them out. She played Belle mad, sad, and very happy. Boy did she nail all the emotions complete with appropriate body language.
It scared me a little bit how well she acted out meeting the prince when she said "I really really love you Prince" and gave me a big kiss on the mouth. Oh my--she is only five.
I think I may have an actress on my hands.

This princess thing has really gotten to her bad. I decided I have to do some reprogramming after we had the following conversation today at her pretend kitchen:

H:--Lets eat together
me: Okay, lets have soup.
H;--You make it
me:--Aren't you going to make it?
H--No, I don't like to cook
me:--but I would like your help
H:--Princesses don't cook!

Another great day

Had another awesome day.

It started out with the best part. I made oatmeal for breakfast and we were just sitting there eating it when Hannah turned to me, put her hand on my arm, and said "You are my best Mom forever. I don't want to get another mom ever". I just smiled, hugged her, and reassured her we would be together forever. I sure do love that girl.

Had a morning birthday party for one of her classmates at "Bounce World". The party was a good time and the kids had a blast. Afterwards Hannah and two of her friends, Zara and Peter, stayed and played in the bouncy houses for another 90 minutes. It was fun to sit and talk with the other two Mom's during that time and discuss all kinds of kid things and also get to know them better too. Hannah and her two friends had such a good time together--it was so fun to watch them.

The three hours of bouncing really wore her out. When I told her it was time for a nap, she said "Yay" and practically ran to the bed. That has never happened before.

Tonight I hosted a little play date at our house. Two of my friends came over --one has a two year old and the other has a three year old and a one year old. They took a little while to warm up but all the girls played very well together. Toys Toys everywhere but so much fun.

That is my life now--the best days are when Hannah has a great time and I can enjoy it too.
I love my life!

5 years old

My baby is 5 years old and is quick to tell me that she is a big girl. She has progressed through all the stages so fast since coming home that it seems like I had such a short time with her as a little girl so I miss that and yet I enjoy her more and more every day so I can’t wish her to stop growing and changing. It just keeps getting better which seems impossible because it is so good now.

We had such a fabulous birthday weekend. Now I am sitting here on Sunday evening with my baby sleeping and quietly enjoying the feeling of how perfect it was. It is hard to imagine life getting any better.

Friday was the actual birthday day and it started out with a visit to the International Adoption Clinic for a one year follow up assessment. We talked a lot about Hannah, what she is doing, how she is acting, how our days go, etc. We had a two hour visit and our Doctor was amazed. She confirmed to me that Hannah is transitioning and bonding very well and appears to be a very happy and stable child. She does not see the normal concerns that come with institutionalization or the possibility of alcohol exposure and is was very pleased with everything she observed and heard. At the end of our assessment she really validated me by saying “We have talked all about Hannah but this is not all about her--this is about you too, You are a great mom and are doing a great job.” Of course, that made my day. She did not recommend anymore follow up with the International Adoption Clinic unless I felt the need at some point. Yay!!
She is really growing since coming too--at five years she is 75% for height and 90% for weight. Guess I am feeding her a little too well!

We had to travel to Minneapolis for that visit and it ended just about noon so we walked to Applebee’s and had Hannah’s birthday lunch. I had French dip sliders with a spinach/shrimp salad--so yummy--and Hannah had Mac N Cheese. Then she got a free brownie and ice-cream for her birthday. When we got done, Hannah said “That was a really yummy lunch Mom-thank you.” She is so sweet. She napped most of the way home and we had a fun evening just playing together.

Saturday morning was a whirlwind as we ran around town picking up birthday cake, balloons, and last minute details for her “My Little Pony” party. I was a little nervous but it all worked out so well. My sister and her daughter came for the weekend. Her daughter is 8 years old and Hannah just idolizes her so that made her birthday that much more special. And the cake--it turned out cute. When we went to the bakery Hannah described what she wanted by saying “horses with grass and flowers and clouds”. The lady taking the order seemed a little perplexed so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. The cake decorator must really understand kids because it turned out better than I could imagine. Hannah absolutely loved it and was so excited that it had “just what she wanted”. I love that bakery.

The party was at our local Nature Center and we had 17 kids enjoying the fun. The Naturalist at the party did a little show so the kids got to learn about toads, frogs, and salamanders and also touch them all. The Naturalist did a great job. He captured all the kids attention and kept all 17 kids orderly, quiet, and entertained for about 40 minutes. Then we had pizza, cake, and ice-cream and about 10 minutes of kids running around like crazy before the party was finished. The kids all had a great time and Hannah was so happy which made me happy. Most of the parents stuck around too and they all seemed very pleased. Several of the kids and their parents stayed after the party and enjoyed the animals and small museum that the center has. It gave Hannah more time with her friends and kept her busy while I cleaned up the party room. Overall a huge success.

I have a group of local adoption friends that all have younger kids than Hannah. Including them with our class party would have been too much but if I could add anything to the Birthday weekend it would have been to get together with them also. They are such good friends and have been great support to me.

Saturday evening we attended our Civic Theatre’s production of “Beauty and the Beast”--the Broadway Musical version. We went with my sister and her daughter and a good friend of mine with a daughter Hannah’s age. It was beautifully done. The girls were enthralled and we all enjoyed it. A highlight for Hannah was getting to talk to Belle after the show. The one bummer for me was that I didn’t bring a camera so I couldn’t take a picture of her and Belle.

It was about 10:15pm when we got home so Hannah fell asleep in my arms during our prayers. When she woke up in the morning the first thing she said to me, “Mama--can we see Belle in the show again later?”

Sunday was church of course and she was very well behaved--my big 5 year old girl. Then another meal out for Hannah’s birthday--this time breakfast at Perkins. Then back home for more playtime with her cousin which was the best part of the whole weekend. Watching those two girls play was heart-filling. They had toys spilled out all over the house and were very creative in their play. Most of the time they were playing together but occasionally separately (side by side) but they were always content. It made me realize the value of siblings. I never once heard “Play with me Mom” or “Can I watch a movie” which is what I hear when I can’t play with her. My sister and I were able to enjoy conversation time without interruption.
Since a sibling is not in the plans, I have resolved to make sure she spends more time with cousins--there is nothing better than loving family.

It was a sunny day with temps in the 70’s and despite the strong winds, it felt like a summer day. Hannah and I went to the park after my sister left. She seemed really ready to just play with Mama and we had a fun time--the playground equipment is our castle and sometimes she wants me to be the mean king that chases her and sometimes the good queen that saves her. Since it rained all last night we came home from the park a little muddy so a bath followed right away. Then on to swimming lessons which is a highlight of her week always.

It was almost bedtime when we got home and I had one happy but tired girl so bedtime was easy and once again she fell asleep in my arms--this time she made it through prayers but just barely.
So…as I said at the beginning of my post…I am sitting here recounting what a perfect weekend we had and wondering how my life got so good. I believe other parents who say it just keeps getting better but right now it is hard to contemplate “better”.

Mommy is all better

Just a quick update:
Mommy finished her second round of antibiotics and is finally back to her old self. Hannah happily welcomed the old routine back and decreased her won TV watching time. When we got home from school today, she said "No movies today Mommy--just play with me". So--we have been having fun evenings again.

For two full weeks I have gotten great reports regarding Hannah at school--she has been focusing and listening well, no problems with her best friend, and she has been helping her teachers more. She has been really great at home too. I am not naive enough to think this will last forever but I am sure enjoying it now.

Funny story:
Last night during prayers Hannah said "Thank you God for a very fun day" and then she immediately lowered her voice to sound manly and loudly said "You're welcome Hannah"--As if God was answering her. I couldn't help but laugh outloud.