Some Observations

I want to try to get some of my observations down "on paper" so that I can remember them for later.

Sarah is the sweetest little person ever. Her eyes are beautiful, bright and discerning. If she's looking at me and I happen to catch her eye, she'll look away. But sometimes she'll focus on me, too. She is also gentle.

And she's a good eater! She can and will eat anything you offer her. Even prunes! We just have to make sure it is cut up really well and will basically slide down easily. She doesn't chew very much. Not sure how many teeth she has on the top, but she has a good many on the bottom. She doesn't mind me wiping her face and mouth area. I guess she's used to people fussing over her with her mouth since she had surgery.

She also doesn't mind wearing bows in her hair. Yeah! That makes me happy. She lets me put whatever I want in her hair. Even if Billy says the bow is bigger than her head.

She likes to have something in her hands all the time. Her favorite right now is the phone that has lights and sounds. I turn it off when I put it in the bed with her at night.

Sarah doesn't like to take her shoes off. Once they're on, she wants them to stay on. She does know how to help me get her dressed by taking something out of one hand to put her arm in the sleeve and then switching to the other.

And so far, the bath has been traumatic. I gave her a bath in the sink and tried to do it quickly, but there were many tears! But I was willing to face the wrath in order to make her smell better! When it was over, she was fine again. The orphanage had said she liked her bath and even gave us a picture of her in the sink. I guess the newness of the adoption makes it scary for her.

We've only had one poopy from her in the three days that we've had her. I guess we need to give her some more prunes.

She likes her cousin, Belle. And laughs at her games and antics. Sarah will let Belle hold her and carry her around. Sarah likes her Daddy, too. Billy has been giving her the morning bottle and carrying her around in the carrier. Sarah watches Abby, but is not too sure about it when Abby gets too close to her face.

And me. Well, Sarah will tolerate me holding her but not very well. She cries when I pick her up. She does let me feed her, though. And I try to do that whenever possible. Last night, I determined to be the one to put her to bed and comfort her. She cried for a long while, straining to see others who might rescue her. Mostly, when she cries, it is a pitiful wimper, but this time she was mad! But she finally settled down and fell asleep. She had not had a very good nap that day and she was very tired. I don't think she slept as well as the other nights and woke up several times wimpering. At one point, I heard something and woke up. I looked at her crib and she already had one leg over the side! Oh, no! So I laid her back down and patted her some more. I think she's a lot more mobile than she's letting on!

Today at the park, Belle was holding her and then put her down to walk. Belle was holding her hand and she was walking pretty good. A little stiff, but good. We tried to switch to me holding her hand, but after a few steps, she sat down and didn't want to go any further.

I know this is not a two week sprint... "bounding with baby." Abby trained me well. However, I just want her to know that I'm her Mommy and I love her very much! I know we have months and years ahead of us that will bond us together.

In the mean time, do I just try to keep her happy by letting others take her? or do I assert myself and make her miserable at the same time? I know it is a transition time and her life has been turned upside down. She is unsure of everything at this point. Thankfully, I have been through this before and know that it will get better. I will keep pressing in and hopefully she will learn to trust me.