06/08/08 "you are my only mommy"

Friends and family near and far!

I am feeling very sentimental this evening and have for a few days. So, bear with me if I get deep – but I am trying to avoid deep today.

Sign language/signing with Paul has been more difficult than with Lacie. For several reasons: Lacie was an only child, we took a class together, Lacie loved watching the baby signs videos, and I did not have an older child to distract me from the younger with real verbal conversation. So.

Tonight Paul signed “bottle.” I have tried to get him to sign that for two weeks. (I actually use the baby sign for “milk” to represent bottle – I hope I am not messing my kids up.) Anyway – this evening after we played outside in the sand box and our new “pool” – and after bath, the little guy looked at me and signed, “eat.” Then he realized that that was not what he wanted to communicate. So, he signed “bottle.” AND with both hands – he wanted to get his point across. I was so so so proud of him. We got him a bottle right away. He fell fast asleep right in the middle of it.

He has discovered that to sign "more more more" repeatedly - I will try and figure out what he wants. At least he wants something that is concrete and something he can see at the moment so I do not have to leave the area. He can also sign, "eat" and "drink." But he does not like to sign, “drink” for some reason. Other signs are coming slowly. Lacie is enjoying re-learning her signs again. And in fact, baby Paul did not do signs for me. It was when she began signing, "more eat" that he finally followed the motions. So, now I am telling her what to show him next. We have friends who do real sign language in their family. Lacie is always asking me how to sign a word, and I tell her I do not know, maybe we need to ask our friends. Most recently when I did not know a sign, she said, “can you go ask your friends?” Paul is 14 months going on 14. This is his hearts desire for the time:

Lacie is definitely 3.5 going on 13. I have to be very careful what I say to her, cause she will say something and I hear me saying it. The other day she said, "I'm warning you, I am very tired."

In the past few days, she has said multiple times, "I need to see your happy face." If I need to correct her - she will look at me and say, "but I need to see your happy face." Or she will say, “no one is happy.” We keep telling her that we ARE happy - we just can’t always have on a “happy face.” (Especially when we get wrapped up in the busy-ness of the day(s)).

If things are going her way and we are in harmony – Lacie will say, "mommy - I love you so so so so much!" AND then she will say, "you are my ONLY mommy. You are the best mommy in the whooooollllleee world and you are MY mommy. I am going to keep you mommy." She says the same things to John. What a sweet irony, having my adopted child say to me, “you are my ONLY mommy.” Ahhhh – I LOVE my kids!

We can’t get anything past her either. She picks up on EVERYTHING and conversation with her each day is more interesting and entertaining.

She is quite smitten with her daddy lately. Can you tell?

Love to everyone – and I did not get sentimental did I?

Vonda