Mother's Day

A little bit late, but I had to post about my first official Mother's Day. On Friday, Allison and Elizabeth came home from school bearing gifts. Elizabeth gave me strict instructions that I was not to go near her backpack until Sunday. Allison wanted to tell me right away what she had made and I had to keep telling her to keep it a secret until Sunday! My brother was up to something and kept insisting he had to borrow Yunnie for awhile on the weekend. I know he loves her dearly, but after spending Monday through Friday with her all day I knew he didn't feel the need to see her for hours on end on Sunday without being up to something! My mom already warns him that the weekends with Yunnie are hers and he gets to spend more time with her than all of us. I can't wait until summer when school is over and I can spend good, fun time with Yunnie. Anyway, on Sunday we went to church and I came home and took a nap while Jason borrowed Yunnie. (the nap is needed because Yunnie is still having problems sleeping ahhhhhhhh!) When I woke up I was surprised with a ladybug cake Jason made for me, presents from the girls, and we made dinner at my house. The Chinese writing on the cake reads "Happy Mother's Day".

Allison made me a cup with paper flowers stapled to it with " good-fers". Pick a flower and it is "good-fer" one favor (clean the room, take out the trash, etc). She was so excited to give me her gift, it was really cute. Elizabeth had made a picture and wrote about why she loved me (fill in the blank style). It was really nice and she stood in front of everyone to read it aloud. Konnor and Yunnie painted big flower pots, one for me, one for my mom and they had planted flowers in the pots. I wondered why Yunnie smelled like a kindergarten classroom when she came home! Yunnie borrowed some money from my mom to get me a gift card. The gift card is so that I can go buy Regan a toddler bed to try and start transitioning her to sleeping on her own. I am desperate for a decent night's sleep. It was all great and it was nice to have everyone together.

Not to get maudlin, but I have spent alot of time lately thinking about Yunnie's birth mother. I look at Yunnie and she is doing so many wonderful things. I see the things that her mother is missing and it makes me sad. Yunnie loves to hug and she will squeeze your neck and pat your back as you pat her rear end. I also think of Yunnie's first eleven months and wonder who she loved when she was just one of many in the orphanage. She desperately craves love and to imagine her sitting in a crib, wanting to give and receive love and having no one there just breaks my heart. She comes to me when she is hurt, wanting comfort. Who comforted her in the orphanage? My guess would be no one comforted her. She just sat and wanted love. She is actually going through a very clingy stage and doesn't like for me to give anyone else attention. If one of the kids is touching me, she will come up and push them away. If one of the dogs is on my lap, she tries to push them off. She cries like her heart is broken when she is told she has to share me and we don't push. Given her background, I feel for her, but it is an important lesson she has to learn. She even gets jealous of my books if I am reading and tries to push the book away or tear the pages.

On a more positive note, Regan is making such progress! These are some of the new things she has accomplished in the past month or so.

1. Waves hi and bye

2. New words: hi, bye, mama, mah (my mom), bad baby, ouch (she usually says this as she is pulling on someone's hair!), no is still the most frequently used word.

3. She has a baby doll who she knows is named Baby ( I know, not very original!). When asked "Where is Baby?", she will go and get Baby for you. She also pushes Baby around in the baby stroller. She also puts her over her shoulder and pats her back just like I pat hers. She says ahhhh in a nice voice while patting baby's back. It is the cutest thing! Right after loving on Baby, Baby usually is tossed to the curb.

4. Drinks out of a sippy cup or a regular cup with a lot of overflow!

5. She pulls her pants up and down. She is usually being ornery and does the opposite of what I want. If I'm trying to pull them down, she is pulling them up. She's quick!

6. She can now climb on the kitchen table and do chin ups on the bathroom counter.

7. She loves purses and walks around with them over her shoulder.

8. She can climb up to the top step of the bunk bed (the ladder now spends most of its time on the top bunk)

9. She has 6 and 2 half teeth.

10. She is now almost completely out of twelve month clothing and into 18 months.

Those are just a few things! She is so amazing. I can't do anything about the first eleven months of her life, I am just so glad she is here with me now.

Finally, my mom was driving home and came across the most amazing thing. She came back to get me so that I could see what she found. Along the side of the road was one of the eagles eating a carcass. We have two eagles' nests in the area. One is down by my mom's house. The other nest is on my street. We love watching the nesting process. Nesting season is just over and the two babies from my nest still fly around the neighborhood but are rarely in the nest. To see an adult eagle on the ground is something I have never run across. We were so worried it had hurt a wing or something that we stayed around until he flew away. He was magnificent.