Sorry for the radio silence. Willa started kindergarten, Denbele started daycare, I started work. The transitions kicked all of our asses. Willa had an insanely hard first few weeks of school and then, poof, just sort of stabilized, not just as school, but as a big sister, and a human. She's really blossomed these last few weeks.
Denbele then went full throttle into the throes of the terrible twos, or, just started getting comfortable enough here to grieve or deal with all the insanity she's been through. Boy, we thought Willa was defiant. Denbele is totally punk! She learned No and used it often. NOOOOOO for pretty much everything, even when it's against her own self interest. She went thru a period of having a tantrum any time Nick and I set boundaries. Because all those other people in the world think I'm cute and hold me and feed me and they don't make me put on my jacket or stop eating cake. Sometimes we felt like we're babysitting someone else's feral toddler.
But, as we approach Thanksgiving and get ready to take our first plane trip since that biggie last summer, I daresay things are calming down and D is starting to feel like my daughter--she's been Willa's sister all along. You think it's going to be instant. It WAS instant back in Addis but it hasn't been so instant at home. I've talked to other adoptive parents. Apparently par for the course, especially with toddlers.
Anyhow, that's the latest. Denbele has about 25 words now: Uppy, down, all done, cat, Willa (all yellow school busses are Willa because Willa takes the bus to school), so she's coming along. And she likes Barney, so she's truly indoctrinated.
Here's a shot of the girls.
Gratitude all around.
XX
Gayle
