Happy New Year...and a belated Merry Christmas!

Well, another month has passed and what a month it has been! December brought about a mix of emotions for Scott and I as we remembered what we were doing (and where we were) just one year ago. We reminisced December 6th of last year, when we left for Ukraine so excited and hopeful. We remembered the heartache of repeated appointments at the SDA with no child available for us and the depression that settled in. And just yesterday marks the one year anniversary of when we first met our precious litte girl. It is sad to say, but as we reflected on our journey last year, it is not with fondness. With the exception of meeting and deciding to adopt Ziva, I cannot think of any other good memory from last December.

Christmas is just one of the things we were especially grateful for this year. Obviously, a big part of the joy is having Ziva as a part of our family and being able to share her excitement and build new family memories and traditions; but another part of the happiness was simply being home, spending time with family and friends, being able to go to church, sing Christmas carols, see Christmas lights, enjoy a turkey dinner...all the things we usually take for granted. Scott and I were so into the Christmas spirit that we watched every Christmas movie we could find on TV. We had never even watched most of them before, but felt so grateful for the opportunity!

Being able to spend the last two weeks at home with Ziva has been so amazing. (How I'd love to be an at-home mom!) I have realized how much I miss her when I am at work all day. She has been surprising us in the last few weeks in some areas and it is so great to be home to witness it. She has become quite the parrot in the last week or so, and although she is still not able to say words correctly, it seems that the desire is coming. She has learned how to intake air and so everything seems a "surprise" to her now. She'll be reading a book, for example, and after she turns every page, she'll intake air. It is really quite funny to watch. Her sense of humour seems to be developing as well; she is beginning to understand when you are teasing her and will tease you back.

We are also delighted to say that Ziva now gets out of bed! Yes, I know that for most parents, this is a dreaded thing, and it can get annoying when your child won't stay in bed. But we are thrilled. For months, we have been trying to teach Ziva that when she wakes up, she can get out of bed and come out of her room. (Even before she knew how to open doors, we encouraged her to at least knock on the door or yell for us.) But old habits die hard...in the orphanage, Ziva had learned not to make noise when she awoke or had learned that even if she did make noise, she would get ignored. And so she did the same thing here at home; when she awoke, she would simply lie in bed and rock. So we were quite surprised when about a week ago, Ziva woke up, got out of her room, ran to our room, around the bed to my side, and yelled, "Mommy!!!" That was the best wake up call! She does get a little nosy at night (especially if company is over) and gets out of bed every so often just to check things out.

She has been making some good progress in her speech as well. She knew how to say some words before (like "up" and "Mommy") but would only say them if we "forced" her to. But now she uses them all the time, perfectly. I do think her new favourite word is "Mommy". She says it all the time. She will sometimes just repeat it over and over, a little differently each time. "Mommy? Mommy!! Mommy. Mommy!?" It is very sweet and melts my heart! (By the way, she has said a close approximation of "Daddy" a few times...hopefully that'll be the next overused word!)

We have seen some improvements in the area of attachment as well. When I get her from school or the sitter's at the end of a work day, it is like Ziva simply can't get enough of me. She wants to be close to me, be picked up, hugged, kissed, and snuggled. I have been seen trying to make dinner at the kitchen counter with a Ziva attached to my leg! She is also is starting to get somewhat concerned if she doesn't know where I am. I went for a run the other day and Scott said that most of the hour, she stood by the door, looking out, and saying, "Mommy?". We went furniture shopping this past week and Scott would hold Ziva's hand and walk with her. If I went a bit ahead of them and I was no longer in her eyesight, she'd start to yell "Mommy!" over and over until she could see me again. We got some wierd looks, but I loved it!

Thanks again for checking in, and enjoy the photos of our beautiful girl!

November 28th: 10 months since Gotcha Day.

All dressed up for Christmas.

First Christmas as a family.

Christmas Day...all ready to open presents!

A few people asked us if Ziva was excited for Christmas...well, this really was her first Christmas and so she had no idea what "Christmas" is. In a lot of ways, she is like a one year old...how much does a one year old understand about Christmas? But one thing was for sure, she understood presents and dove right in!

Ziva and her new bear.

Her first taste of a candy cane.

Enjoying a big Christmas dinner. And when I say "big", I mean big. We are not sure where she puts it, but can she eat!

December 28th: 11 months since Gotcha Day. We also had a doctor appointment on this day and found out that in the last four months, Ziva gained 1 1/2 pounds and grew 4 cm! Now she is a whopping 30 lbs and 89 centimetres (35 inches) tall. (Just a note: when we met her last year on December 30th, she was 23 pounds and 81 cm tall.) But she's still a peanut!