Child of my Heart

So, a little more about our first visit...Vika looked like she had just woken up and she felt very warm. She also must have been very confused and so I just sat with her and we snuggled for about 30 minutes. During this time, the translator kept telling us we could play with any of the toys in the room. I just wanted to hold my baby. Adam took pictures and some video. When she started to stir, I tried to get her to play with some toys in hopes of Adam being able to inch his way over to her. She has had very little exposure to men and she was a little afraid of him. What finally broke the ice for him was the fruit snacks that we brought for her. I'm not sure that she knew they were food. She took them out of the bag one at a time and moved them into Adam's hand. Then, one at a time, she moved them from Adam's hand back into the bag. This happened about 20 consecutive times during which he was able to sit closely to her on the couch.

I had also brought a few outfits to try on her so we could get a feel for what size clothes we need to bring to get her home. She was so cute with this! It was very obvious that the kids are used to being dressed quickly and that they are expected to help with the process. I went to take her shoes off and she stuck her foot out and pointed her toe. So, I told Adam who was sitting across from us to help her change her clothes. She let him take off her shoes and her clothes and put the new outfit on her...by the way, she is 20 months old and the 12 month outfit fit her well with a little room to move. She is so tiny! Once we got her back into her dress, she kept sticking her feet out to Adam so the "shoe on, shoe off" game started.

Next we moved to the "bunny/bracelet" game. We showed her the bunny we made for her and she really liked it! She kept touching the arms and you could tell that her little mind was trying to figure out how that stuffed rabbit was talking like these two new people. It was very sweet. She also noticed my bracelet. The one I wear that has her name in the prayer box! I took it off and she held it for a good while and just looked at each little bead as if she herself were reciting the 23 psalm. I thought how special that she should be so attracted to the one piece of jewelry that had connected me to her during our long wait. All too soon our two hours was up and the nannies returned to collect our babies. She went willingly and my heart squeezed. She wanted to keep the bracelet and so I must get her one because it was the one thing that was mine that she wanted; even still, she already has my heart.