It’s just amazing to me that it’s already been two weeks with Dani. On Facebook I had this as a status the other night, “I wonder how God makes these precious children with hearts so open to love that you can become their entire world in less than two weeks. We have been blessed far beyond what we deserve.”
Here are a some observations about Dani:
- Her smile and laugh are the most adorable things ever!
- She is a happy kid.
- She is absolutely thrilled any time she hears the words, “Let’s Go” or “Shoes”
- She isn’t exactly fond of the car seat, but she will get used to it soon enough.
- She loves to eat everything. From breads to all sorts of veggies.
- She plays intensely and will spend a long time trying to figure things out.
- If an item of clothing is on her that can be zipped or buttoned, she wants it zipped or buttoned. She is so intense about it that she even tries to zip or button our clothes too.
- The tantrums are decreasing each day.
- We think that she was favored at the orphanage/in her nighttime foster family. And because of that, she is not used to being told no.
- She is helping to feed herself and drink out of a sippy cup now. We knew she could do it, but was having us do all of it for her. That was fine with us because feeding is good for bonding.
- She gets excited to follow Nadia and Amelie around and is interacting with them a lot more.
- She was largely silent for the first 10 days with us, just watching us intently when we talk to her and show her stuff. Now she is talking more and singing little songs. We can also tell that she is picking up on a lot of English fast.
- She has loved exploring our house and all the toys.
- She likes to dance to music and it’s really cute.
- A new behavior of hers that she introduced us to yesterday is “playing possum.” I am not exaggerating that she actually plays dead if you tell her something she doesn’t want to hear. It’s better than the screaming tantrum, but how in the world does a tiny kid like her learn that?