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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Home for 3 months...........

We have been home for three months now. It is hard to believe how fast the three months have gone by and yet at the same time it is hard to imagine life without Sophie and Lily. We have learned so much about each other and yet we still have a lot to discover.

So were do I begin?

The girls entered our home on the night of November 13th and seem to know they were here to stay. The first few days were exploring everything. Turning light switches on and off and on and off again. We watched with patience and amazement to see our girls learn what cause and effect was all about. Every door was opened to see what was inside and we soon realized that child locks were going to be needed on drawers and doors. Even though we missed so many firsts, it is so much fun to watch them discover the world as we know it. So many times I find myself just watching them explore all the things we take for granted, a sliding closet door, a pocket in a pair of jeans, a glass, and a soft pillow.

We had a few toys for the girls to play with when they got home, but they needed to be taught how to play with them and to take the initiative to play. We saw very few toys at the orphanage and the toys we did see were broken. So when the girls saw toys, they didn’t take the initiative to go and play. When we would encourage them to play, they were very protective with what they had. They were reluctant to share not knowing if they would get it or find it back. Even though they were very protective of the toys, they would always trust us to give it back if they needed help with one. I was pleased to see this from the start because it showed that they trusted us.

It was funny so see what was important to them. They loved to put things in boxes or envelopes. Sophie found a soap box one day and carried it around all day putting treasures in it. Who would have thought a 3-year old would think a soap box was such a great thing? Lily loves to collect the postcards from magazines. Yes, the ones that drive you nuts falling out when you open a magazine. They are just the right size to put in her little purse from Vietnam.

I was wondering how their diet would change once we got home. What would they eat? To this point we had eaten mostly Vietnamese food. How would they adapt to American food? At first Yogurt, rice, oranges and ramen noodles were their staples and still are to some point. They could easily finish off 24 oz of yogurt a day between the two of them. Since they were not meat eaters, it was a good way to get some protein in them. As time went on we introduced many food and they will at least try new foods once. Three months home their favorite foods are pizza, french fries and meat loaf. Sophie loves Ketchup and must dip her tortillas chips in salsa. Two weeks ago they each ate an entire chicken nugget Happy Meal. Before that I could order one meal for them to share. They are not big on sweets and I don’t think I will push that any time soon. Hard to believe 4 months ago they were being hand fed puréed foods.

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