A new year, new changes

So I haven't posted anything on here in nearly two months. I don't know if anyone is even still checking this, but on the off chance that they are...

Some recent pictures of Elal. She is doing so well. I can't imagine having a smoother adjustment--she's such a resilient, adaptable little person. I went back to work about a month ago--I'm working three days a week and Ella is in daycare. After about two weeks, she stopped crying when I dropped her off and now she really seems to like it. When I pick her up after work, it's fun to see her playing with the other babies (as much as kids that age play together). And it's such a joy to see her big smile when she sees me. She literally bounces and jumps up and down in my arms. I feel the same way.

She definitely knows who mom and dad are and, I think, now trusts that we will come back. And last week, when I picked up from daycare, I said, "Hi Ella!" and she looked up at me and said, "Mama." She babbles mama and dada and baba and other things indiscriminately, but this was the time time she had directly addressed me and seemingly made the connection that I am mama. I melted.

It's so amazing to see her pictures from Gotcha Day and the more recent pictures. She's growing so quickly and turning into a happy, confident toddler (okay, almost toddling. She's furniture walking and will walk if you hold her hands, but I have no doubt she'll be walking on her own soon soon soon).

We also had a fun meeting this past week with one of the babies who was in the orphanage with her. Our original referral group included seven other families. Due to a number of reasons, we just weren't ready to travel when they did, so the other families traveled about 8-10 days before we did. One of those families is from the west side of Cleveland, so we've been in touch by telephone, but the babies finally saw each other on Monday. I have no idea if they recognized each other or not, but they seemed to have fun together.

At any rate, here are more Ella pictures. And here's to more wonderful days ahead with our darling daughter.