17 months!

T.I.M.E.,
I beg you... please slow down!
Has it really been FIVE MONTHS since our little princess left that orphanage for the last time?!

I stayed up way to late the other night reading back thru my posts while in country. Lawsy... I had forgotten. I mean, I didn't... but I did. Reading the comments over again was pretty overwhelming. I was so physically and emotionally exhausted at the time that I couldn't really process all your words. It seems like yesterday, yet I can't believe it's already been five months. It still feels new, but I barely remember life without her.

Seventeen months- practically a lady now!

^That would be at her first pageant Saturday :) Her sisters were competing, so we made a girls' day of it. She placed AND won prettiest hair. Granted, she was the only one in her age group that had any hair, but I don't see how that matters.



She weighs 19lb 8 oz officially. She's definitely thinning out now that she's getting longer and more active. She has FOUR teeth now. Isn't that strange? Just a few weeks ago she had none, and now she has four? She may end up having the most southern accident of any Ukrainian that ever lived. She says: Mama, Dada, Hi, Bye, and Ooohh. Pretty impressive for a kid who "won't talk until she's five", right? She hasn't officially signed anything YET, but she has been using an open palm at her chin and we are fairly certain she's saying "eat".

She is just starting to scoot/army crawl. We have hardwood so her little legs slide out from underneath her, but we've finally wised up and started putting her on the carpet.. instant movement! She also likes to sit on her bottom and turn in circles :)

She has also recently discovered that she has a voice... and she's not afraid to use it!
"Hmmm.... when I yell, people start runnin' around doing stuff for me." Yessss.

She is rotten! Happiest girl in the world, except when she's not. Is it terrible if I think she's just as cute when she's pitching a fit?? She cries and smiles at the same time- she just can't help herself. I asked Nathan when he thought we should start telling her "no".  His response: Are you crazy? I'm never telling her no!

Today, she had the ultrasound of her kidneys. We will get those results tomorrow, but aren't too concerned. She also had a cystogram of her bladder, which she pretty much hated (understandably). It wasn't pleasant. From there, we went to Vandy to have her stents taken out. They were much longer than I expected! It was pretty weird watching them pull them out of her eyes... shiver. He asked if I wanted to keep them for her scrapbook.

1) No.
2) He thinks I have time to scrapbook!


He also decided to hold off on her glasses for a year. Kind of a relief, because given our attempts at sunglasses- I feel like they would be more work than their worth right now. Friday is her audiology appointment, but we don't expect any surprises there (you never know, of course). Anybody want to hang out with the big kids for a while?? I know for a fact it's impossible to hear when they're all in the room ;)