All the Gory Details

I am up a few hours before breakfast at our guest house in Addis Ababa. All this travel and time changes has our sleep schedule a bit off. We have had Tizita in our care for two days now and it has been absolutely wonderful. I mentioned on Facebook that for the second time God has blessed us with a content and well adjusted child. This is not always the case with adopted children. We have seen other adoptive families in Guatemala and here that have some real challenges ahead of them. Fortunatly (or possibly unfortunately) we cannot relate. Harold and so far Tizita have smoothly and seamlessly entered our family as if it's where they've been all their life. The following details may be a bit boring but they are things I don't want to forget and some of you may enjoy hearing.

Day 1: Taking It All In

We were given Tizita on Tuesday morning right before nap time. About three minutes later she cried pretty seriously, she stopped and then started again. "Oh boy," I thought, "maybe this kid's going to have harder time than Harold had transitioning." But then, she fell asleep, had her lunch and has basically been as happy ever since. Phew! Throughout the first day, Tizita quietly took it all in. She stared at us intently, studied our every move and her new environment. We had heard that she had a lot of happy energy and could move quickly if she had her mind set on it. The first day she was mostly clung to us. Day two however, was a different story.

Day two: Enters in Little Miss Personality

We had our embassy appointment in the morning, they stamped a few paper and said Tizita's visa would be ready on Friday morning. On the way home, Tizita laid her head on my arm, looked right in my eyes and told me some "stories" for about five minutes straight. This gives me a good sense that our attachment period will be relatively quick and easy. For the record, her little voice is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. This was the day the little girl we heard about came out of her shell. Tizita loves to play and explore and be around other children. Her laugh is adorable and she truly does move fast! We have to keep our eye on her at all times. Like most kids her age, she wants to get her hands on wires and electronics and other such kid unfriendly things. During bathtime she's a daredevil and wants to cruise all around the bathtub. She also pooped in the tub which provided a bit of excitement.

Day three has yet to begin. I am writing this as Tizita sleeps, snores her baby snores as I anxiously await another day together and wonder what more we will learn about her and she about us.

~AnnMarie