I'm lovin' it.

As a child I had a toy McDonald's restaurant, and some pieces from it are still around at Nana and Grandpa's house. I get a kick out of watching Hannah eat the McDonalds sign. She had french fries twice this week, McDonalds fries on Valentine's Day and Wendy's fries tonight. Her little pincher grasp sure likes to hold on to a fry. Sedona is ready to steal Hannah's fries right out of her hand if Mama isn't watching!


Along with my old toys is a little people potty. Hannah liked opening the lid, closing the lid, AND putting the toilet in her mouth, of course. Little did I know... a 13 month old can have a little potty mouth! And, Dani... this bow was added just for you.


Hannah's good mood has been increasing all week long and we're having less and less cries for Mama when Daddy is holding her. Tonight Daddy put stick on earrings on Hannah's ears that HE BOUGHT. Hannah likes sticking her fingers in his mouth and exploring his scratchy face.

We had our first appointment at our local pediatrician's office this week. Because of our extended release version of the stomach flu, her weight has a net gain of basically ZERO since she's been with us for seven weeks. In a way, this makes me feel soooooooo bad. I feel like I have so much to live up to... we've been given the gift of this child and all of the responsibility that comes with caring for her... and like I'm letting everyone down because my micro baby didn't gain weight. My head tells me that's crazy talk and this is to be expected for a baby that puked for five days straight, lived off Pedialyte and juice, and took a week to get her appetite back... but I still feel really badly about it. Hannah had two shots and a TB test, cried big tears, but settled down right away after she was back in Mama's arms. Mama had to work that night, and Daddy said that she was fine and the shots didn't make her fussy. We go back next week for two more, and then back in two months for a developmental check (aka make sure that we're feeding her and she's gaining weight check).

Hannah fills out 3-6 month clothes well except the pants are too long. Six month items best but a little loose in the waist, and she swims in 6-9 month sizes. A couple of weeks ago I packed away everything 18 months plus (that's nearly half her closet) into storage boxes. It's going to be a long time before we get there!

New foods this week include peas, biter biscuits, and Nana's yummy broccoli soup. Yummm... I love Nana's broccoli soup, too.

Okay, now to the juicy part. I've been wanting to write about this for some time. When reading adoption blogs, I've read others write about how meeting their child was like love at first sight... and was a magical experience. Well, I wanted to put it out there that it was not that way for me. I felt like I was babysitting this really cute baby for several weeks, but that it was someone else's baby. Hours became days, and days became weeks, and now weeks are becoming months. The love I feel for my daughter grows a little each day... and it feels less and less and less like babysitting all of the time. She reaches for me. She mimics me. She waves at me in the mirror. When she's hurt, she stops crying when I hold her. I really feel like Hannah's mama now, but it didn't happen right away. For those of you waiting to meet your child, know that it's okay if the moment you meet your child doesn't make you feel connected and all flowery inside. The connection that you feel between you and your child will grow with time. I'm lovin' it.