And what better way is there to start a new year? Mer and I finger painted for the first time today. She was interested, but I should have done it right after she finished eating, because she kept trying to eat the paint. It must not have tasted as good as it looked, judging by the face she makes at the end of the video.
I can't help but think about Meron's mom in Ethiopia at this time of year. It is almost Christmas there (in Ethiopia Christmas is January 7), and while we were celebrating our first Christmas as a family, Tewabech's mom will be having her first Christmas without her daughter. I didn't think, when we started this process, that I would think about her mom as much as I do. I guess I always assumed that our daughter would have been abandoned or have parents who had died. Once I realized it doesn't always happen that way, I secretly wished that it would... as awful as that sounds. I just thought it would be so much easier to explain to myself and to Meron. I mean, how unfair is it that we get to have this bright shining light of a girl in our lives, just because we have a little money and her mom didn't. Now, though, I am so glad that I met her mom. I can tell her the story of how she was born and how she was named. I can tell her where she comes from and the name of her grandpa.
Someone asked me a while ago if it made me sad that she looks like her other mom and not me. I actually thought it would, but it doesn't. I get to see her every day. I am the one who gets to see her walk and finger paint and laugh and pout and crawl backwards. I get to cuddle with her, and it is me she reaches for when she needs help or reassurance. Her not looking like me is such a small thing in comparison to what I get, and it is such a wonderful connection to her other mom. I can tell her that her eyebrows and her shy smile are the same as her mom's. I can tell her that when she sucks on her bottom lip she looks just like Messeret. I think that is a great thing.
So, here is Messeret's and my daughter. The video was taken after we finger painted, and I would like to have some words with whoever labeled these paints as being easily washed off with soap and water.
I can't help but think about Meron's mom in Ethiopia at this time of year. It is almost Christmas there (in Ethiopia Christmas is January 7), and while we were celebrating our first Christmas as a family, Tewabech's mom will be having her first Christmas without her daughter. I didn't think, when we started this process, that I would think about her mom as much as I do. I guess I always assumed that our daughter would have been abandoned or have parents who had died. Once I realized it doesn't always happen that way, I secretly wished that it would... as awful as that sounds. I just thought it would be so much easier to explain to myself and to Meron. I mean, how unfair is it that we get to have this bright shining light of a girl in our lives, just because we have a little money and her mom didn't. Now, though, I am so glad that I met her mom. I can tell her the story of how she was born and how she was named. I can tell her where she comes from and the name of her grandpa.
Someone asked me a while ago if it made me sad that she looks like her other mom and not me. I actually thought it would, but it doesn't. I get to see her every day. I am the one who gets to see her walk and finger paint and laugh and pout and crawl backwards. I get to cuddle with her, and it is me she reaches for when she needs help or reassurance. Her not looking like me is such a small thing in comparison to what I get, and it is such a wonderful connection to her other mom. I can tell her that her eyebrows and her shy smile are the same as her mom's. I can tell her that when she sucks on her bottom lip she looks just like Messeret. I think that is a great thing.
So, here is Messeret's and my daughter. The video was taken after we finger painted, and I would like to have some words with whoever labeled these paints as being easily washed off with soap and water.
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