Transition

A lot has happened and that is why it has taken so long to post again!

Firstly, I received a letter from Canadian Citizenship Services asking me to mail her actual permanent resident card as it gets sent back to immigration officials once citizenship is granted.  This must mean I filled out the forms correctly!  Yeah!   It was definitely not a document asked for in the initial package (just a certified true copy) and if they are asking for it now, I would think that would mean they are ready to grant it but, just like an old passport, they can't have a legal document flitting around that could be misused.   It is now in the self-addressed envelope (postage not paid with a fancy government prepaid stamp grrr) ready to be dropped in the mailbox.

We also had a followup eye appointment.  This went okay.  She def didn't want to sit still for the evaluations this time, probably because she can see all the cool stuff in the office now.   We have some homework from them.  I have the kids version of the letter eye charts (house, apple, circle, square) and I am to work on those with her at home while covering one side of her glasses at a time.  The worry is that because her prescription is much stronger on the one side that she might only really be using one side to look at things.  Basically, I have to first get her used to having one glasses lens covered and then work up to having naming lines on that eye chart.  We go back in January for them to look at this specifically.

Halloween was an interesting experience for her.  She had no idea what it all meant and won't remember it, but totally had fun knocking on doors and saying trick or treat.  Daddy collected the candy for her so I don't even think she really understood that she was getting candy.  She doesn't ask for it now with the bag sitting in Mike's office.  She just liked that she could finally go touch all the pumpkins on everyone's porch!

She has now also transitioned into daycare one day a week!  I really needed the day and I needed her to learn to be in a big group because she just shuts down if it is a group bigger than four or five kids.  By shutting down I mean standing and staring, and not taking-it-all-in staring... zombie staring where she isn't focused on anything.  It's obvious anxiety or feelings of some sort being stirred up from when she was in the orphanage and I want that worked out before she can go to preschool in 3-1/2 months!  We got into one where she knows one boy (who will be moving up to preschool at the end of this month so he can't become a crutch) to help her out and she clearly was happy about that!
     We did a transition week where I stayed with her the first day and we played for 2 hours.  She took in the room and the kids and was clingy but she definitely wanted to participate.
     The second day I stayed for an hour and then left here there for 2.  She cried a lot.  I could tell when I picked her up that she'd been crying (she is going to be an ugly crier.  Instant red blotches and super puffed up eyes).  I guess she had kept saying, "I need Mama!"  Heartbreaker!
     Day three had me dropping her and leaving right away and her staying for lunch.  The ladies told me she cried for a little at the beginning but then settled in and participated in the crafts and stories.  Got a little sad outside because they think she thought she was going home when they got her dressed for outdoors, but she cheered up and ran around.  Then she ate a good bowl of quinoa and many handfuls of grapes.   She was very excited to see me and we have now worked out that when she gets said and says, "no Mama go," that I ask her if Mama comes back, to which she responds, "yeeeaaaaa," in a sad voice.  Hahaha!  I also noticed that she has started to ride her scoot-around at home by standing on the back wheel rod and holding the handlebars and kicking with her one leg so it is more like a scooter.  I noticed that a lot of the kids do this on the playground so she obviously took that to heart!
     Day four she cried for about 5 minutes when I left her and then was fine.  She stayed for nap this day too.  They said she got upset when she woke up, understandable though since she's never waken up here before!  I picked her up shortly after nap time was done and she was quite gibberish-full on the way home!
     The last transition day, her first full day, they said she cried for about 30 seconds and then had a great day.  She did art and participated in the stories, napped, ate some lunch (good to hear that it's not just us that she doesn't want to eat her whole meal for!), and had a great time.  She is definitely more vocal since this week (screeching! grrrr) but my hope was that it helps her speech develop and I think that will come very quickly for her.  My other hope is that it helps her stick up for herself and become more assertive.  Right now, she lets herself have her toys taken from her, gives up her places in line on playground equipment (even if she is sitting at the top of the slide she will move if she sees another kid is halfway up the ladder) and her turn in games.  She lets herself be pushed and doesn't say anything and I don't like that.   I don't want her to turn into a mean kid, I just want her to know that everyone gets a turn equally and that includes her!

She is singing a lot more and even making up her own songs.  She's starting to get into jigsaw-style puzzles.  She is still pretty combative with me over anything that sounds remotely like me trying to get her to speak properly, but is also picking up on my emotions and becoming sympathetic to moods other than sad and crying.  She is getting her colours down and definitely has all her letters now.  Getting much better at telling us when she has to go to the bathroom.  She is a lot of fun and still makes me smile every morning when she says, "hi Mama!"

Home, Sweet Home

I only just realized that our recent trip to Ontario had us flying back to Halifax on the exact day, but one year later, that we landed in Halifax with Dania.  I remember bringing her home that night and giving her a bath and putting her to bed and checking on her a few times (before crashing so hard that I didn't hear her cry in the night!).  This time it was Dania who had the wonderful feeling of coming home because she understands what a home is now.  It provides comfort for her!  She even says now, "me, home!" and nods her head enthusiastically.  If I hadn't been so tired at the airport, I probably would have been a bit more nostalgic and emotional!  Ha!

The travelling was fine other than having too much stuff and not enough arms since Dania's aren't going to carry anything!  She was not shy around Aunty Kitty and Grandpa when she saw them right away and even performed all her wacky dance moves for their entertainment.  She went down to sleep okay (I do not think she ever slept really deep because she was always very tuckered out from all the excitement and has been sleeping 12+ hours a night here AND 2+ hour naps in the afternoons).   In the morning, she wasn't shy around Gramma either and made herself right at home.  She even surprised me by walking around the next day asking, "where Meeko?"  She had already adjusted to a different dog and learned to say his name!  We went to the beach with Grampa and visited her Great Grandparents and then headed North to my favourite place - the cottage.

Uncle Fil was an excellent driver and I will never be able to thank him, Kitty, and Mum enough for the constant availability of a car for us (and for the delicious lunches and dinners!  I dreamed about those burritos and will totally make her next grilled cheese like the lumberjack).  We hit the rock in the early evening and she grasped the fact that she needed to wear a life jacket in order to be by the water in a timely manner.  She LOVED the boat ride over to the cottage and throwing rocks into the lake!

But she did not love the water!  I thought for sure she would be fine but I think it was the fact that she couldn't touch or see the bottom that frightened her because she didn't even like it when Katie or I jumped in.  She actually refused to say 'go' for us to run and jump.  She completely tensed up if we put her in unexpectedly and just cried when she was expecting it.  I did make her go in everyday though.  Floated around with her to different things and tried to make it happy but didn't push it for more than 10 minutes each day.  She was quite content to sit in the boat and watch us.  She also gets cold so flipping fast!  I mean, c'mon, her limbs are as thick as bananas!

We did discover the game 'where's Elmo?' at the cottage and we would hide him all over the place and she learned to look up and down and in all kinds of different spots... also to follow some verbal clues if she was struggling.  It was hilarious to watch her and she played it for hours each day and got progressively MORE excited each time she found him.   She slept pretty good up North.  Everyone does though.  It's the air - it makes you sleepy.

After the cottage trip, we just stayed at my childhood home and visited people and places within the city.  I would have loved to venture further to visit more people but I knew that with her it would be harder.  I also didn't want to over 'schedule' us and wear myself out too.  I will never have enough time with 2 weeks to see all the awesome people back home!  We did travel to Mississauga and have a lovely dinner on a yacht - I felt fancy there!  It was pretty and sounded so nice when you were in the downstairs of the yacht (yes, downstairs; there were 3 floors) and the water lapped at the sides making nice ambient noise.  Dania liked this boat too.  I'm pretty sure she wanted to jump off (even though you couldn't see the bottom... I don't think she registered that and just saw the water!).  It was something different and enjoyable and I can't wait to brag to Mike!

We went swimming at the Gretzky Centre with GG Miklos, went to friends' homes and met two gorgeous new little boys and played with their older siblings, impressed people with her gymnastic skills, ate a lot of chicken wings, started saying all kinds of new words (she said 'Howie' after seeing a grey striped cat!  I was so touched that she clearly missed her kitty!), went to the zoo and kissed a lot of animals and reptiles!

Seriously, the woman from Ray's Reptiles wanted to keep Dania as part of the show!

We got lost in Brantford because so many intersections have changed, hesitated to hug people goodbye but never to kiss people goodbye, ate blizzards on Children's Wish day, and discovered the greatest place on Earth:  A splash pad.

Water shooting in my face from a million different angles?  Yes, please!

My favourite part of this trip home was seeing how much she remembered from the last one - which was baffling to me.  She went there 2 months after landing in Canada and wasn't understanding English fully yet, hadn't really laughed until that trip (C and K were the laugh-riot trigger!) but still remembered where the 1 toy at my Nana and Papa's place was or the mini-trampoline and how she used it before she could even jump!

Other fun developments that have happened since this trip include her playing the crowd now (she changes the tone of her voice and everything), SINGING!, and starting to recognize emotions.  Man, she really is adorable...especially when singing... I just have to say...

Now that we are home (which included a crash lawn mow, unpack, laundry, weeding, and grocery shop) she is starting to get into her clingy mode because Daddy isn't here... He called the other night, completely unexpected, and she was so confused because she is so used to Skype that she kept looking for him but couldn't see him and only sat there and said "Ga-Ga" (her Da-Da since she started that before the cleft repair).   It was funny.   He actually called twice and I have to say that I probably sounded like that drunk girl at a party because I was so rapid-fire full of stories of all she has done and interspersed with sappy "I love you's" that I'm sure I could have been an SNL character.

Now that we are back though, I have checked the status of her citizenship package and am happy to say that it is being processed (now, that could mean processed and then sent back because of an error or processed because it is good) so, it is at least there in the correct facility.   I have also called the ophthalmologist since it has been over 3 months since we were referred to the Kids' Hospital eye doctors... the receptionist told me that her file shows the referral and that this clinic has a habit of only contacting you a month before your appointment.  I figured something had been misplaced because I'm used to having a call with the appointment date being eons away.   So, those are my serious sides of Dania tasks and they have been done.  Now?  Back to chalk drawings of Elmo, great books, and somersaults on the lawn!

Last Big Step

Today, we got the certified true copies for her citizenship application!!!  I will mail the whole package tomorrow morning.  I have added sticky notes to every page indicating what it's intended use is.  I also included 3 different head shots to choose from (2 of each, of course) and 2 different copies of my receipt of fee payment (1 filled out, one not... I had entered my address and such online but nothing printed out on the receipt except my name and all the blanks are there so I filled one out and included another fresh off the press).  I'm so paranoid about it being sent back after the back and forth I played with Immigration to get the approval letter to be foreign adopted parents!  My biggest concern with this is they will not like the affadavit of the translator because it is at the bottom of each translated page and because the photocopy is slightly skewed the bottom of the last sentence is cut off... still don't even have to guess at what it says, just literally showing two thirds of the letters.  I also worry that it will be a problem when I've included 1 certified true copy of a document that is to be used for both official forms (the proof of adopted parents' citizenship and the grant of a minor [adopted] citizenship), for example, the proof of guardianship via the adoption certificate; there is 1 copy to be used for both forms.  I hope, hope, hope that everything is okay so we don't keep sending things back and forth.

The lady at the courthouse doing the certified true copies today was a hoot and totally enamoured with Dania.  She looked at the first copy and said, "well, I didn't expect I'd be reading Russian today!" and then asked about everything as she stamped and signed all my papers.  She also way undercharged me which I totally appreciate.  A few pages were stapled together (translations and document) and should have counted as 2 copies each but she only counted them as 1.  She was still shocked at the total being $90 but I laughed and said while we were sending Russia documents, it was $60 a document for translation and certification as opposed to $13.50, so I was happy with that total!

So, now I have a brown paper package on the dining table that is to be sent tomorrow morning!  YEAH!!!!

On different notes, Dania had some good strides in the clingy department where she slept at Mima's house here without Mama and Daddy putting her to bed or being there when she woke up.  She did great!  All in prep for Mike leaving again and me being in a wedding in August so she will be staying there again.  She has also been doing really well with trying the b and p sounds as not initial sounds.  She is saying 'maybe' and 'up' all the time now.  She even said 'Rob' when pointing to our friend Rob.  I have been so impressed.  She is clearly watching our mouths closely still... but must be practicing in secret in all the mirrors in her room hahahaha.  She has even been holding her hands on her lips when trying to say 'Big Bird' because I pinch mine together with my hands to show her.  What a kid.

We are also about to embark on a trip to Ontario and my favourite place in the world - The Cottage.  So many childhood memories so I hope to start creating them for her - tomorrow!

Love these 1-year-later shots.  Thanks again to Jenine at Blue Vine Photography!

She Sucks!

Literally!  The surgery worked!  She can suck through a straw now!!!!  It was 5 months to the day of her surgery (Jan. 27) that she finally used a straw and has continued to do so.  Of course it was a double-caffeinated beverage that I was drinking and said, 'sure, you can have some because you can't use a straw,' and she takes a giant gulp as I watch the liquid go up the straw!  I yelled out in surprise and startled her.  We then got her a chocolate milk with a straw right away and I kept raising my arms and yelling in happiness and had to explain to the lady at the counter that she had been physically unable to do this before and had surgery and now - SUCK!  She didn't seem to care ha ha ha!  It was funny because just the day before I was forcing her to poise so I could take  a pic of the roof of her mouth to see what progress the dent has made with filling in (if any!).

I love that you can see the scar around the toothline that shows just how much was filled in!

I know it was three days before I posted, but the days are busy now that we are always outside!  This most wonderful news definitely couldn't wait long though ;)

She is proving to love summer and water just as much as me.  And boy, oh boy!  Her skin is going to be dark.  Her region generally had the darker skin tones and she is going to follow suit for sure!  She fights me with the sunscreen in the morning (mostly just the back of the neck which furthers my theory that she didn't like the bucket hats because they touched the back of her neck with their brims) but we get it on and reapply if we get wet but she is still going to be very obviously of darker than me (and Mike, well, he is always pale though so I'm not counting him) and I said it might be the first times that strangers might think she is not our biological child.  I always LOVE playing along with people who say she has my smile or looks just like Mike.  It's easier than explaining the whole story to a total stranger! LOL!  Meanwhile, anyone who knows genetics would know that two blue-eyed people could not produce a dark brown-eyed child.  Genetics was my favourite part of science in school!  As her hair is growing in it is getting lighter though and might be more of a golden brown than a chestnut brown that I thought she would be.  We shall have to wait and see!

Longest. Month. Ever.

I was astounded when I saw it has only been a month and 6 days since I last posted.  I swear to gods this was the longest month ever.

First, Mike went back to work, so there was that adjustment to only having a helping hand in the evenings.  Then he went to sea for 3 weeks so I went to being a single parent with Dania having only 2 weeks transition before he went away and absolutely no concept of what I mean when I saw Daddy will be back in 20 sleeps.  The first week went alright.  I was tired and let a lot of housework slide... then the weekend hit and all hell broke loose.  Dania started trying to change her own diaper.  Three full bedding washes and 4 days while double checking EVERYTHING in her room for any hint of eau de poop.  Back into a onesie while she sleeps has worked so far since then.  Then the dog decided to become insanely jealous or protective or something else stupid and unnecessary, but while we were playing in our next-door-neighbour's back yard, she must have continuously thrown herself against the patio screen door until knocking it off the tracks.  The back yard is fenced in, but that doesn't mean the cat can't jump or climb it and run away.  I was more pissed than anything at first because I know the cat is smart enough to come home.  Then it started to get dark and still no Howie.  We have a coyote population in this neighbourhood.  Howie is an aggressive cat and would get eaten.  I started to get upset.  Just when I full on panicked and posted a help add on our neighbourhood facebook group, I hear the collar bell ringing and he jumps back over the deck and into my arms.  PHEWF!  THE NEXT DANG DAY!  Leia decides to run away after barging out while Dania and I are coming inside.  Seriously?!?!  I just bought you a new squeak toy and a new ball that we can kick for you without you biting a hole in it!  Ungrateful bitch.  She's female... it's allowed.  She ran around for over an hour and a half until a neighbour caught her.  She will NOT come when you call her and you can't chase her because then she thinks it is a game.  Plus, I have Dania and can't just leave her while I run after Leia's darts here and there.  I got a pretty bad sunburn from this unexpected jaunt outside.  (On another note, Mike is home now and she did run out again today as she went after the UPS guy when I had my hand full with the package he delivered and he stepped back for that one split second to shut the door - zoooom.  Seriously, I'm over her.  Anyone want a dog?)

Week 2 began with Dania suddenly not asking for Dada anymore.  I thought that was weird.  Then when someone she knew came over she went bananas and started scrambling up me wanting to be held, crying, screaming 'mamaaaaa,' and hyperventilating to the point of puking.  This wasn't a stranger either.  I thought maybe it was a one time event until she did it two more times with people coming over, and with me talking to someone on the street, AND with her Mima who comes to play with her every Wednesday morning.  I  honestly think she was panicking about Mike suddenly not being here and her not wanting me to go the same way.  She may not remember leaving the orphanage exactly but it was the same thing, her familiarity GONE.  The adoption training touched on this saying that the kids don't have specific memories but they still have the feelings associated with change and upset and she probably just didn't know how to deal with them.  I had to keep assuring her over and over that I wasn't leaving.  I also just kept saying Daddy was coming home but she doesn't understand that.  It broke my heart.  I pretty much carried her or at least held her hand constantly for week 3 of Mike's deployment.  We went to other people's houses and she was great there, but did not like the thought of me out of sight.  Even Mike's homecoming was marred by her confusion over not wanting to leave me but excited to see him.  I think she was thinking she only gets one or the other of us now.

It's been one week of mike being home - and taken that long to feel like I have caught up on things.  She is doing alright now.  She still gets clingy when tired, but otherwise is her old self.  She is loving the warmer weather and wants to be outside all the time.  She discovered how much she loves slides and even makes them for her stuffed animals.  She back flips off her bed, can go downstairs by herself if there are rungs to hold on to, and learned the sign language for cereal all by herself by watching it on Baby Einstein.  Mike and I had no idea what she kept trying to tell us and then one day I saw the video clip and put it all together.  She is telling us she wants cereal... clever girl.

Her last speech pathology was kind of a bust because she wanted just to hold on to me (it was while Mike was away) but she is definitely comfortable at that office now and next month should prove more successful.  We missed her hearing appointment yesterday... oops, my bad... but they haven't even called to tell me I missed it.  We will see what happens.  Perhaps I wrote it down wrong and we have yet to miss it but will again since I don't know when it is...  We are also still waiting on her referral to the eye clinic at the kid's hospital.  If it hits the 2 month mark, I will call the eye doctor for another referral.

I'm getting excited because we will be swimming in the lake pretty soon!  It is still just a tad too cold right now, but we can still play on the shore and in the sand!  She LOVES sand and gravel.  Each time I have to tell her not to throw it because (I swear this is what it is!  I can see her devious mind churning) it's not the same handful I just told her she couldn't throw.  After a bit, she gets it and just drops it after a 3-2-1 countdown.  I had to make her shorts out of a bunch of old tights since her waist is still fitting in her 3-6 month shorts from LAST summer.  She is all torso!  Almost 33 inches now.  She didn't seem to mind the transition to shorts and no socks.  I think she prefers bare feet like me.  I did find the cutest little sandals for her.  They are actually thongs with a heel strap.  Her ankles and feet are too skinny for any of the strappy sandals.  She kept tripping on them.  We did get one pair to wear in the water but the flip flops are her go-to pair now.  No blistering between the toes and they didn't freak her out because I wear them.  Just like the earrings.

Ok, I think I need a nap.  Here are a couple pics.  xoxo

Zombie Hands and Mindless Chatter

It was a loooong, long month.

THE FUN:
We met another family in Halifax who adopted from Russia.  Absolutely wonderful to hear their story, see the similarities and differences.  Their little girl, I,  was brought home a month before Dania.  I really liked hearing the difference between staying in small-town Russia (as we did) and a bigger city, like where we drove for court.  So many differences and yet, sooo much the same.  It was too bad Dania cowered in my shoulder in shyness.  Big phase right now!  Although, she did exclaim the next youngest's name over and over because it was the same as her BFF: E's.  That was funny to me, but she would bury her face in me as soon as she said it and pointed.  Neighbours are laughing because last year she would dash across the lawn to be lifted up by them and now she won't pass their driveway if they are standing in it!  It makes me feel good that I know she feels safe with me and knows who our close friends are.  Although, I have this underlying feeling nagging at me that she will be a pushover and not assertive in social situations.  Hell, she's 2!  I know she will go through a gajillion phases!

Mum came to visit too.  What a cute visit for Dania with her Gramma.  She recognized her (slowly) thanks to Skype and was looking for her the morning after she left.  I loved watching mum warm Dania's hands and tell her that she used to warm mine the same way - I have also been warming Dania's the same way too.  *tear*  It was short and sweet but I love when anyone can see Dania as Dania and not a short excerpt.

Spring is here (I hope it stays) and we are outside more.  She is running around the big circuit in the neighbourhood (as long as no one is in their driveway) and completely halts to point at and follow every single car that passes us.  She has been enthralled with the kids on bikes and scooters and met a few other little kids that I didn't even know lived here!  Okay, so I met them and she hid behind my leg until she said she wanted to eat and walked away...

THE BAD:
Holy illness, Batman!  She had a diaper rash that we were treating with Penaten until it started to get pebbly and then I thought it was a yeast infection spreading.  It didn't get better when treated with antifungal or antibiotic cream.  She also had what I thought was a staph infection on her nose (I had one there in grade 3 and remember it vividly) and was treating it with antibiotic ointment.  BUT! when she woke up with sores around her mouth and on her hands I knew something was going on.  I was told by a friend that hand, foot, mouth was going around the city so, I read up on that and her symptoms matched... except the sore throat.  I didn't know if she wasn't eating because of feeling ill or sore throat.  Either way, I knew we had to hit up a doctor that morning.  We did and I said how I first thought it was staph on her nose and yeast on her diaper area and now I think it's something else... He took one look at her face and said staph infection for sure.  He wrote a prescription.  He asked to see her diaper area.  Now, as of that morning, it had totally migrated away from any area that lead me to think yeast or diaper rash... it was now all around the outside of the diaper and the onesie and diaper leg holes kept rubbing the sores.  He said it was definitely the same staph infection there because it wasn't on her privates but on the outer edges.  Sheesh.  I felt awful.  She wasn't sleeping and it had to be because she was uncomfortable every time she shifted.  Ugh.  I'm so sorry Dania!!!  So, 10 days of oral antibiotics and 15 days of topical antibiotics was what we went home with.
     The next morning she looked worse.  It was spreading on her face and her hands were covered in blisters.  I said they were zombie hands.  My sister said they looked like octopus tentacles - which I totally agree with- but we had already taught her to hold her arms out and walk like a zombie... Anyway, I called 811 to talk to the nurses and they said it would be 3 days before we saw any improvement in the actual sores.  Her face cleared up within 24 hours, her bum stopped spreading but scabbed up, her hands looked awful and she is SO a picker like me and keeps pulling the loose skin off and handing it to me... which makes her look more like a zombie.
So, Easter weekend hits and we are to host dinner.  On Good Friday, Mike wakes up feeling crappy.  He has spots on his hands.  Holy zombie jesus!  (please don't take offense, I'm just working the zombie/raised from the dead plus her zombie hands connection - no insult intended!)  I tell him to call 811 immediately and find out whether we need to get him to a doctor or if we can treat at home knowing what Dania has and if we should cancel dinner plans because of contagiousness.  Well, he is suspected of hand, foot, mouth according to the nurse.  He goes to a walk-in that thankfully said they could fit him in on the holiday (yeah! no ER!) and the doc confirms the hand, foot, mouth diagnosis and the only thing he can do is ride it out.  His mouth and throat became SO sore-filled and bad that he could hardly swallow.  We had to cancel all of our dinner plans... and I was already exposed so there was nothing I could do but I was probably okay if I hadn't been exhibiting symptoms.  I went to the movies everyday and spent a lot of time in the basement.  Man, oh, man!

All is good now.  Hahahaha.  Dania looks as if she has scar tissue where all of her sores and blisters had been but I know it won't in time because the ones on her face didn't scar and her diaper area is clearing nicely.  It is smooth skin on her diaper-leg line but pink like a peeled sunburn.  Her hands are still slightly zombie-like hahaha.  She still pulls skin off and the healing pink spots are there but she can bend at her knuckles without the fluid-filled blisters being on the joints to hurt her.

Man, I felt so bad.  I felt like I should have known sooner that it was something else.  I felt like I should have gone with my gut that it was staph and gone to see a doc before the weekend.  Sigh.

Oh, well.  She is that little bit tougher because of it.  She also chats up a storm now.  I laugh so hard at her talking because it just sounds like, 'ga la, na, la, ga, la, laaaaa.  Maa, NAAAA,' over and over again in her postsurgery adorably high-pitched voice.  I think she was actually talking to the dog ont he walk today and telling her to hurry up and run with her.  It is a hoot and she put on a show for Aunt Kitty yesterday so someone else has witnessed this hilarity too!

Ok, that is all now that the storm has passed...well, this storm.  We just found out Mike is being posted to a ship (by just, I mean, 2 weeks before he goes back to work and a year ahead of planned schedule since he was told last year he wasn't getting on a ship) and will be sailing for weeks at a time.  I fear for Dania because she doesn't get a big transition from both of us 24/7 to no Daddy at all... I fear for me because I seriously don't know how I can do this without him coming home in the evening so I can do my transcription and the cleaning.  I am having full-on panic attacks because I had become okay with staying home with her - but she was a year older and a year more adjusted and able to tell me what was wrong or what she wanted.  Now?  she throws herself on the floor and hits her head as hard as she can... eek.  I know I won't be able to keep my job at Shoppers Drug Mart while he is at sea and that makes me sad.  I didn't want to be in management there again, but I enjoyed what I did there now.  We are also on too-short of notice to find day care and also couldn't afford it...if we had known this was happening we would have saved for it.  Man, oh man.  So much in such a short (feels like a forever-lengthed) month.

On a completely different note, anyone who has read Divergent will enjoy that movie - I loved it - and Oculus was actually freaky.  I am a huge scary movie snob and this one still has me hesitating in mirrors (but I always found mirrors a source of scary! lol).  It didn't over-show the ghost/monster and had a story and suspense and the ending did not suck!  YEAH!  LOL

Until next time...

Busy, Busy, Busy

Yes, I would have liked to type sooner but life (OLYMPICS!!!) got in the way!  I also type for my job so, sometimes I just want to hide the keyboard!

First and foremost, Dania is completely healed.  She came through that like a complete trooper.  The followup with the surgeon was great and he was very happy with how the closure looked.  She definitely doesn't have as much food out the nose while eating, that's the biggest change, but she also has been trying to talk a whole lot more.  She isn't necessarily making the different sounds that she couldn't before but she is watching my mouth again (I hadn't really realized that had stopped) and she is repeating syllables.  She really, really wants to talk.  She will need to do a lot of work still.  Really, with English, she is only 9 months old.

She also turned 2 last month!!!  What an exciting day!  I made two cakes, one for her first birthday and one for her second, and we had a little shindig.  I know she was overwhelmed with the amount of people.  She hung around my legs and wanted to be held a lot while people were arriving and then she stayed quiet and kind of just bounced from person to person.  I had asked that if people wanted to bring gifts that they bring books because she loves them so much.  I had asked people to think of their fav kids' books or ones their kids enjoyed and to pass on the fun.  She has spent so many hours going through all of them over and over again ever since the party!

What I am working on with her is trying to get her to finish the sentences in the books I am reading to her.  Kids' books are so repetitive and she definitely knows what is coming next but she doesn't quite grasp this concept.  She will follow along with me and then if I leave a blank she stares at me and taps her collar bone because my first strategy was pointing at her hahaha!  She will repeat it after me but just isn't quite there yet.  The speech pathologist said to make sure we follow her lead in the books and not to force the story to progress how it always goes... which is what we've been doing with the Grover book.  She knows what page she wants and what words she wants to hear!

She has developed her temper and her demands of us are growing in volume too.  She is thankfully not pulling her hair out anymore when she gets angry... she just slams the floor or tries to hit us.  She finally had a tantrum in front of friends so that people can believe me when I say she is feisty and can be very difficult!  She is always so complacent in front of people and she did give me a black eye in one of her fits, but having eye-witnesses felt good! hahaha!  We try very hard to curb her hitting and we give her options but if she is not happy with those options we do not bend over backwards to change anything.

She is also sleeping in a big bed now - I say as she is currently walking around in her room instead of sleeping - and she usually goes to bed much quicker now.  She does not always have a nap, but we give her quiet time and she just plays in her room.  I have also developed a theory that she goes crazy around full moon time...she must have Russian werewolf inside her.

I just checked and the full moon is tomorrow hahaha! 

On the administrative side of things, I got her a SIN card so we can set up an RESP for her and so that I had another piece of government issued identification for her citizenship application.  I have it filled out, just needed the extra ID and a new picture to send with it.

She continues to amaze me, make me giggle, and frustrate the hell out of me on a daily basis and it is the best.