Christmas Pictures

These are some pictures from the last few days. The first is Mer and my mom ... half way done with changing Merrie's diaper. She may be mad at me when she is older, because she is pantsless, but I love their profiles. The next ones are of Meron (or 'Hollywood' as Elz has dubbed her) wearing her new sunglasses and sitting in the chair she got from her grandma and grandpa. I love the ones where she is blowing kisses to her adoring fans and the one where she is rolling her eyes. I find that one a little terriyfing... it gives me a glimpse of what she'll look like in another 12 years. The other pictures are of Meron in a Christmas dress that Nathan's mom bought for her. It fits her perfectly and is way cute, but I haven't figured out where she can wear it yet. We don't really go anywhere besides the grocery store... but she sure would be a hit, I guess. We thought she looked like a pirate wearing her bloomers... but not a very tough pirate, since there are puppies and kittens on them.

Meron has been with us for 4 months now. Happy 4 month famiversary, Mer. I can't believe how fast it has gone. Merrie is getting to be more of a toddler and less of a baby all the time. She has started following simple directions now. Last night I told her to go tickle her daddy, and she immediately went and did it. She is practicing walking all the time, although she still wants me to walk behind her waiting to catch. Tonight she stood up in the middle of the room, turned around and walked the 5 steps to the couch. It is so exciting, but so sad for me to watch. I love that she can communicate now. She frequently says hi, bye, baby, quack, woof, moo mama, daddy and lights. There are a lot of other words she says sometimes, and even more that she will repeat if we say them. But she is getting so big, and I'm losing my baby already!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a good time, but I really missed being able

to see my extended family this Christmas. I really would have liked to show off Merrie a little more than I was able too! There will be more pictures to come, but I forgot to bring my camera to my Mom and Dad's house. I know... yet more reasons I will never get my mother of the year award. But, this was our Christmas at home. Mer had noodles for supper.. can you tell? And we got our pictures taken by Mer's uncle Aaron with all of our t-shirts from my sister Elz. If you get the reference, leave a comment. I'm interested to see how many people will... not too many in the general public, but I have high hopes for my family! Meron is a full blown walker now, but won't take off on her own quite yet. She will walk for a LONG way if someone walks behind her waiting to catch, which I think is my fault. She took off on her own with my encouragement the other day and lunged for the bathrobes thinking they were solid. I couldn't catch her after her mad leap and she fell and hit her head on the baseboard. It was AWFUL! She had a puncture wound on top of an egg on top of a bruise. Not my best moment, as I cried for about 20 minutes after she stopped... which would make a grand total of 21 minutes, since she only cried for 1 minute. She is practicing with a spotter now, though. She walked all the way from the living room to the kitchen at my parents' house. It is exciting, but very scary...

Our Sad Little Christmas Tree...

Okay, I have never had a fake tree before. I just love the smell of pine and the way real trees look. I was really excited to take Merrie and go out and cut our own Christmas tree on the 17th (which was the first time Nathan and I both had off when we didn't have to be somewhere else). Sadly, it didn't quite work out that way. Turns out, the cut your own tree place is only open on weekends. Well, the next weekend time between 6am and 11:30pm that Nathan and I have off together is December 27th... which really wouldn't help us so much. So, we bundled up Meron and headed the 40 minutes to Aberdeen. We went the same place we usually do (Menards) and they only had about 3 trees left. All of them were Scotch Pines and all of them were brown where they weren't spray painted green. So, we embarked on a quest to find a new place to buy a Christmas tree. Aberdeen is a small city of 25,000 people, so you really wouldn't think it would be terribly difficult to find more than one place that sells fresh Christmas trees. We went every place we'd ever seen trees, and there weren't any in the entire city. No Boy Scout lots, no fresh trees outside of chain stores, no road side stands, nothing. As a last resort, we went to Wal Mart and bought this tree for $20. It looks a little like a bottle brush, and I will admit to a few tears as I readjusted my image of our baby sitting under the Christmas tree. It really made me sad, but I decided I'd rather be able to decorate a fake tree with Nathan than have to decorate a real tree, that could be purchased the next day in a different city, all by myself. So, here is our bottle brush tree. Meron isn't nearly as destructive towards it as I thought she'd be, although she does like to decorate and undecorate the bottom half. In these pictures she is sporting what has become her favorite outfit... shirt, diaper and leg warmers. She has decided pants are too confining and loves the ease of mobility of going pantsless... but I guess, who can blame her? I mean, who doesn't like to walk around pantsless? Notice her nifty gecko shirt? It was a present from my aunt Alison and cousins Erica and Claire and Leah, and it is 18 month size. That's right... the baby can now fit in 18 month shirts. Pants are just a tiny bit too long and have a tendency to fall off, as she's still pretty long and lean. But seriously... 18 month clothes is getting pretty big!

First On Purpose Walking!

This is the first time that Meron has, on her own and on purpose, decided to walk someplace. We are pretty excited, as I'm sure you can hear from all of the high pitched shrieking. We were singing her favorite song- "Tewabech, gobez! Tewabech, gobez!" which is what the nannies in the care center used to sing to her. Gobez means good/clever in Amharic. She was certainly being clever!

The second video is Meron practicing between the two of us.

Meeting Santa...

I often am struck by how weird our culture is as I try to introduce beloved childhood experiences to Meron. For example, on Saturday, we waited in line for 20 minutes so that I could plop her down on the lap of a strange man with a long weird fake beard. How is this okay? Meron was not amused. At first she was perplexed, then she almost smiled, and then this picture was taken. It was actually kind of funny, as the entire crowd had a group reaction. It was 'awww' when she sat down and she looked at him. Then, 'ohhhh!' when she looked like she might smile, then a sad little 'ooooo' when her lip started to quiver. It was over quickly and we got to see the living nativity scene. It contained 2 lambs, a goat and a llama and about 4 8-10 year old kids dressed up as shepards, Mary and baby Jesus. There was one in camoflage pants, but I'm not really sure who he was supposed to be. I guess the llama handler, as I'm not sure there was a llama in the original nativity scene, either. It was fun, though. We even saw some reindeer and a camel. Plus, we got to hang out with some friends, so I was excited.

Happy 14 Month Birthday!

I'm one day late, but I thought about it all day yesterday. 14 months is pretty old, kid. We love you more every day. Soon, when I have time, I'll blog about how I lost my mother of the year award. Until then, ya gotta love a baby in a bathrobe.

The three of us had a lovely weekend in Sioux Falls. The highlight was eating at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant. Meron ate TONS. Her face lit up as soon as she tasted a bite of injera. I wish we lived closer so that we could go all the time. She also got really excited when the man who runs the restaurant started snapping at her. That is how everybody in Ethiopia plays with babies... they snap a particular rhythm. Meron smiled and squealed and started bouncing up and down. It was very sweet. It makes me sad that people don't do that for her anymore. I mean, I do sometimes, but when we walked around in Ethiopia everyone we talked to would do it. We had a long talk with the man who runs the restaurant, and he said we need to come to Sioux Falls more often. Apparently there are a lot of people around from Asela. How interesting, huh? We bought lots of injera to put in the freezer, and enough of Meron's favorite food (shiro) so that she can have it for a few meals. And, next time you see us, don't forget to snap for Meron!

The TOOTH

Sorry, Mer. Not the most flattering of pictures. You can, however, see THE TOOTH!

That's right. After 13 and a half months of trying, THE TOOTH has finally arrived. Now, if only she had some hitters...

Watch for the 'Kaaaahn!' in one of the videos. Yup, that's right. Still saying Kahn and not mama. Thanks uncle Luke! ;-)

World Aids Day....

photo credit to my dad

I'm a day off, but I will do my duty and relay information. Check the bottom of my blog for the link to the AHOPE store. AHOPE is an orphanage that takes care of HIV+ children, which isn't really a popular thing to do in Ethiopia. They could use all the help they can get. Please consider buying Christmas presents from them, or sponsoring a child that lives at AHOPE. Part of Meron's Christmas present this year will be a sponsored brother or sister from AHOPE.

- HIV can NOT be spread through casual/household contact. HIV is not spread through hugging, kissing, shaking hands, sharing toys, sneezing, coughing, sharing food, sharing drinks, bathing, swimming or any other casual way. It has been proven that HIV and AIDS can only be spread through sexual contact, birth, breastfeeding and blood to blood contact (such as sharing needles).
- HIV is now considered a chronic but manageable disease. With treatment, people who are HIV+ can live indefinitely without developing AIDS and can live long and full lives.
- People who are HIV+ deserve to be treated with love, respect, support and acceptance as all people do. If anyone wants more info on transmission, there is great info on the Center for Disease Control website at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/

We thought about adopting an HIV+ child from Ethiopia instead of asking for a healthy infant, but decided that while we live in the bowels of South Dakota it wouldn't be a good idea. We'd be too far from really good specialists. But, there is a strong possibility that next time we adopt we will check the 'Open to HIV +' box on the application. At this point, HIV is considered easier to live with than diabetes if treatment is started early enough. What a tragedy that there are still children all over the world dieing of this disease... many of them who were, very recently, friends and neighbors of my daughter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We stayed home, because Nathan had to work. We had our own little Thanksgiving, though. First, Merrie and I got to go to Jim and Belva's house. They work at the same place we do (their daughter, Mary, and I used to share an office, and I miss her terribly), and they found out we weren't going home for the holiday. So, they graciously lent us their family and delicious food for the day. We had a wonderful time and got home just after Nathan got home from work. All three of us took a nap on the couch and then started cooking! We had cornish game hens, cornbread stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and collard greens (in honor of Meron, since she used to eat them in Ethiopia). It was all delicious. Then, my family came for a little post Thanksgiving party on Saturday. Meron learned how to exclaim 'Kahn!!!' with the proper hand gesture and has been doing it all day today. I guess maybe we should have worked on Momma instead, because she has stopped saying that. She really only wants to say things that have hand gestures associated with them. We'll need to start working on sign language again, apparently. I don't have any pictures of any of our Thanksgiving celebrations, but have been promised e-mails containing wonderful pictures from a couple of different sources... we'll see...

Notice the barrette in Meron's hair in the above pictures? We're working on her letting me touch her hair for more than 10 seconds at a time, because at some point I'm going to have to start doing her hair. The barrette took 11 seconds... baby steps....

Happy 3 Month Famiversary

If you look closely, you can see Meron's first puff in one of these pictures. You have to blow it up so it is huge and look VERY closely! Plus, new shoes... she is officially a size 3! We're all excited that she's gone up one whole shoe size in 2 1/2 months. We have now been together for 3 months. I should have posted yesterday, but I hadn't seen Merrie for 24 hours, and I decided it was more important to spend time with her than blog about her! Even now, I'm typing with her strapped to my stomach... we're still teething. So, we'll just say that these past three months have been without a doubt the best, scariest, most fun, most tiring, funniest, sweetest three months of my life. We love you, Mer. Thanks for being our daughter. I know what we are thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Hair

I did her hair! Well, kind of. It is just a headband. I do think it makes her look like quite a big girl.

A Tooth?!

I think Meron is actually getting a tooth this time... no teasing! She has been getting terribly swollen gums every once in a while for months... I guess as long as we've known her. So far, the swelling has always gone down and the teeth to be disappeared. Not this time... I hope. One of her top front teeth is almost through. In fact, it is so swollen that it looks like there is a tooth in her mouth. It actually clinks a little when she chews on the spoon, so I thought it might be through completely. Unfortunately, you can still see just a little bit of gum covering it up. Poor girl. She is really, really miserable. I'll try to post a picture some time, but it isn't actually as easy as you might think to get a picture of the inside of a toddler's mouth.
In other news... Merrie will now walk from me to the chair, about 5 steps, with no lunging. She has absolutely no desire to walk at any other time. She likes to crawl, thank you very much. I always wonder how much we can tell now about her future personality. Does this mean she will be a complacent sort of woman? I guess I find that hard to believe, since she is also quite vocal about what she wants (I think that is a nice way of saying she has started screaming at me if I won't give her something). Will curiosity always be part of her nature, or is it just a baby thing? She has started to say 'that' now... well, I guess she says 'dat'. Any time we walk anywhere, even if it is from the living room to the kitchen, she points at everything she sees and says, "Dat?" You'd think she'd get tired of, "That's a pillow. That's mom's brush. That's a dog. That's a window. That's a sock that the previously mentioned dog stole out of the laundry. Bad choice, Stew!"
I think I might yell at the dogs too much. She has been telling them to be quiet for a while now. Only she says it more like 'buy-it' Yesterday Stew was barking at a squirrel on the neighbor's roof and woke us up. She sat straight up and said quite clearly and disdainfully, "Ssstew!" In my defense, who wouldn't yell at a dog if he kept barking and waking up the baby it took me half an hour to get to sleep? Seriously, Stew, it is a SQUIRREL! The outdoors are full of them! We don't have any nuts that we are worried the squirrel might steal! How about you NOT go all crazy and rabid every time you see him! Plus, every time Stew goes outside all he does is stand in the one spot said squirrel has touched on our property and sniff for traces that it left. Then, Rose gets frustrated because Stew won't play with her and SHE starts to bark. She doesn't shut up, either. She is a girl used to getting what she wants from good old Stewart. Can you tell I have a little pent up rage towards the dogs lately? Poor puppies. If only they would let us sleep they would find themselves much happier dogs! Who would ever have thought I'd long for it to be terribly hot outside so that they would resume their summer lethargy?
Anyway... send good thoughts toward Meron's gums... and send calm thoughts toward the dogs.

Bath Time

A long, but very cute video.

New hat...

Merrie got some new shoes and a new hat... I think they're awfully cute. Plus, her new diaper covers came in the mail. They are awfully cute. You can see the red one poking out of the edges of her onesie. We ALSO got her Christmas dress. The hat was originally supposed to go with it, but it doesn't match. I think it is awfully cute, and it is really soft and comfy... which I guess is my main requirement for Merrie's clothes. I mean, I certainly dress comfortably. I don't feel like I can make her wear scratchy stuff.

Post placement report pictures

It is time for us to turn in our first post placement report. I have been trying to figure out which pictures to send for days, because a copy of these pictures will go to Meron's birth mother. I want so much for her to see what Meron's life is like. I want her to know that she is so loved and happy and wonderful. I want her to think she made the right decision in entrusting her beloved daughter to us. It is hard to convey all of that with a 6 picture limit. So these are the 6 pictures we will be sending her. Do you think our message will get through? I wish I could send her videos instead.