Natalie has been pretty easy from the start, but once school started and my schedule got back to normal, I feel like we are in a really good routine. She has started to attend Mom's Day Out two days a week, and seems to love being around the other kids. She loves to go places and pretty much cries every time someone walks out the door without her. She hates it if I go to the store and don't bring her with me, she is always grabbing her shoes and my shoes and pulling me toward the door. It's a good thing she likes to be out and about, because some days we spend several hours in the car driving kids around and attending their events. She takes all of this in stride.
Just in the last month she has finally started to talk more. She has always babbled and probably was speaking in Mandarin, but lately she has just exploded with little sentences and funny things to say. Her most common words are "yeah" and "no". Especially no. She often says "no mommy" when I tell her it's bedtime or something she doesn't want to do. Her newest phrase is "me too!" Everything is me too, me too. Probably because I laugh every time she says it and she knows she is funny. In the car I will say "Mommy needs a pop" and she will respond, "me too pop." Or "mommy is tired I want to go to bed" and she says "me too tired want go bed." I LOVE this phase and even though I am somewhat anxious for her to get older and be able to do more things for herself, I want to enjoy every minute of the 2 year old cuteness. The other day Jenna came home from school and yelled up the stairs that she wanted ice cream. Natalie has been with us long enough to know WELL what ice cream is, and cake, and cookies.....unfortunately. She turned to me and said "I want ice cream too!" Well how do you say no to that?
She still loves to play outside and climb on anything she possibly can. I had her in the kitchen at church recently and I turned my back to do something, in a matter of seconds she had climbed up on a cart and was standing on the counter with a big smile on her face. It will be a miracle if this child does not break a bone! She has not climbed out of her crib since the first month she was home so that is a huge positive. One of my favorite things is to go in her room at night and watch her sleep. I love to see her in her beautiful crib with her cute jammies and blankets and stuffed animals. She has her music playing and night light on and she just looks so cozy in there. I thank God every night that she is in her own room in our house with a family who adores her, rather than in a yucky orphanage bed. I also can't help but think of the millions of orphans who would thrive and grow in a home with a family of their own. I pray for more families to explore the miracle of adoption and consider adding a child who desperately needs them to their family.
Words cannot express how much we love this child. Of course I love all of my 4 children the same, but there is something very unique and special about this journey of adoption that we have been on and I have to say I think it has been the highlight of my life. The way that Luke and Logan and Jenna love Natalie is absolutely beautiful. I am a very blessed mommy and I have never felt that more than right now.
