HOME A MONTH ALREADY!

Wow I can hardly believe a month has gone by already. Our little girl is blossoming everyday. Just the last three days, she has been chattering much more than ever before. We expect to hear full words soon, other than Mama & Da. We are taking bets on what will be her first word and certainly hope it is not a cuss word *yikes*. I have to say, Natalie's personality has always been the best thing about her, so I am surprised to see an even bigger personality shine this week. She is hugging her stuffed animals, which she has never done before. I've always kissed them and then they kiss her and she giggles, but she has never interacted with them until now. So I've started role playing with them, like her doll with dance with her tiger and he takes her on a flight. She seems very mystified by this and intrigued. She truly is the light of our lives and the best part of my day.
We've had two huge family parties, where she seemed uneasy with all the attention and didn't quite know what to make of it. Afterwards, on both nights and for several nights thereafter, she did not sleep well and we were up with her off and on all night. I think she connects all the activity with being adopted again and may think 'am I going with someone new again?' She needed so much reassurance and we really made sure to stay with her during the day as well. Or should I say she wouldn't want to have either one of us out of sight at all. If I had it to do all over again, I would exclude her from so much excitement, but I will never know when she would realize she is with her forever family, so I guess this is part of the process.
Natalie is really enjoying our pets and she is taking her own time to get to know them. They are very curious about her. Just last week she petted our dog and hugged him for the first time. He just layed there and let her pound on him. The kitties, well, they wait until she crawls within two inches and bam! they are off like a shot!
Until next post, Natalie's Mama