Birthday Girl

We celebrated A’s first birthday this weekend, and we were sure grateful to have her home for the occasion (as things stretched out waiting for a court appointment this summer, this was the date I was looking to, hoping that we'd be home together for the celebration).

Our main birthday festivities actually took place a couple weeks ago when our extended family was here for A's dedication at church.  So, the actual day was pretty low-key.  When we were in Ethiopia this summer, one thing we did was purchase a birthday gift for A for every year up to age 18 (it wasn't our original idea...we had heard of another family doing this when they adopted a child internationally, and we thought this was such a good and rich tradition).  So, as part of baby A's birthday celebration this weekend, we gave her the ball we purchased in Ethiopia for her first birthday.  It's soft-filled and colorful and decorated with Amharic numerals.  She really likes it.

As a quick rundown of the birthday girl...

We’re certainly still adjusting around here, but our A is such a sweetheart, and it’s been fun to get to know her and watch her grow and change over the past month as she’s become more comfortable with us and with this new environment and with this new concept of family.  We know God’s got good plans in store for this little one.

A’s been to the pediatrician and received a clean bill of health.  She’s just a little peanut (not quite on the growth chart for weight yet), but her body is working well and she is strong.  She crawls around the house, pulls up to standing, and will walk behind a push toy.  She’ll eat about anything we give her (she devoured her birthday cake like no one year-old I've ever seen!).  We’re going to keep with the formula for a while longer to see if we can beef her up a bit, so she’s doing four bottles per day in addition to eating solid foods with us at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  She’s got four teeth now (which she has “accidentally” used on all of us, including the dog!!).  She’s starting to get the concept of books and will sit for just a moment while I turn pages.  She enjoys being outside.  She despises her carseat.  

Baby A sleeps great overnight and during her two naps each day.  She likes to play and giggle and tickle with the kids, and she is excited to see Ryan when he comes home from work each day.  

Life is good around here...and when it's not, you're invited to remind me that God's not done working yet.