Tonight, I asked Layla if she could say "I love you," which she says frequently to the kitties or in response to me asking her if she can say it. Tonight, however, she responded quite unexpectedly, "I love you, Mama." Just when I think my girl can't possibly get any sweeter or more loving!
And... she made #2 in the potty tonight!!! It was a big day all around!
Layla has been home for almost an entire year! Gotcha Day was May 24, and her coming home anniversary is May 31. So much to celebrate!! I feel like she has always been a part of me but yet am still fascinated by everything about her. Here she is on her first day in the United States. What a little trooper!
It's been a year, and I'm STILL trying to learn how to do her hair, which is quite the challenge being that she is a toddler who is constantly on the move. I suspect I'll be learning for a long, long time. I've been watching videos online and can't wait till her hair gets longer to try some different styles. Here she is sporting the latest hairdo. I don't think it's an official "style" but at least it's something!
What a joy my little child is. Okay, there are moments that are extremely trying and tiring, but that's to be expected. (Right??) Overall though, what a joy!!! Just look at her. I can't stand it. And her personality is incredible. You can see it in the pictures. I need to get videos. Like of her little dance tonight... stomping her feet and laughing, loving life and being happy. Pure joy as only a child can show.
Taking her eyes off of Nemo for one second to look at the camera.
Just being happy, with her shirt all wet from the Popsicle-bribe she just had while getting her hair done.
Enjoying Nemo.
Posing with her favorite kittycat, Olivia.
Well, I've reached a major turning point with Layla. I've discovered a wonderful thing -- bribery! Even though it makes me feel slightly guilty, it also makes things so much easier. Thanks to bribery, we can do things previously not possible without a lot of screaming and crying. We can go to the mall and have a relatively peaceful experience, thanks to ice cream at the food court. We can go grocery shopping without Layla climbing out of the cart and crying the whole time, thanks to Dum-Dum lollipops. I can even somewhat style Layla's hair more than just throwing a headband on her, thanks to candy and our good friend SpongeBob SquarePants. And, I can even get her to pose for the camera by promising that she will get to look at the pictures after I take them. Here she is looking especially adorable posing for the camera after getting her hair done.
Today Layla said her first two-word sentence: "TV broken." Spoken like a true addict!
Thank God it wasn't really broken.
Layla continues to be the cutest thing on the planet. Of course, she can still be bad, but sometimes she actually listens. She loves to sing - her favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the Alphabet, Where is Thumbkin?, and Hakuna Matata (the Lion King has surpassed Ratatouille as Layla's favorite movie, for the moment anyway). When she sings, she uses an approximation of the words, not the actual words, but she has the tune and the overall sound down pat. It is adorable. In the last picture below, she is singing at her birthday party with her cousin Payton.
Lately she has also been talking about boo-boos all the time! They can be hers or someone else's. If I show her a little cut I have and say "boo-boo, boo-boo" in a sad voice, she will try to console me by patting me on the face and giving me a big hug and a kiss. She is such a loving little girl. I am so lucky to just have her in my life, and extremely blessed to have her as my daughter. It's almost a year now, and I'm still in awe.
Today we celebrate Layla's first birthday in the U.S. I am so excited for her. In fact, I'm so happy to be sharing this special day with her, that I feel like it's my birthday! She had a birthday cake at daycare yesterday, and again last night at home with Mommy. Today, she has a birthday party in Pittsburgh at Aunt Lisa's house. Monday, she'll celebrate with Aunt Sue. Of course, we had to fit in a little "mouse" fix, too. How much better can a 2-year old's birthday get? (And I didn't even mention the presents!!)
I looked back and read what I wrote about Mekdelawit one year ago today. I'm so glad she is with me today. Maybe that's why I feel like today is MY birthday -- it's like I just got the BEST PRESENT EVER!
My sweet girl is just crazy for the movie Ratatouille. She asks for it over and over again by saying "mouse, mouse" and handing me the remote. She also likes Dora and Diego, and has really begun to get excited by the story lines. She runs around and acts scared, or sometimes says "oh no!" when someone is in danger on the TV. She is soooo adorable in so many ways!
Check her out here, thoroughly enjoying her movie:
Tonight she was having so much fun watching Ratatouille that she actually let me take some pictures of her.
It's hard to believe, but Layla will be 2 years old next Saturday (2/21). She is such a big girl. I think her size, vocabulary and motor skills are normal for her age, which is pretty impressive, considering the delays caused by malnutrition and a complete language and culture change almost 9 months ago. Also, everyone comments on how intelligent and funny she is. I mean, I know she's the smartest and funnest person in the room, but others have noticed, too. At daycare, they say she is the life of the party and I believe it.
Unfortunately, my poor child has been plagued by illness after illness, each one followed by one or two ear infections. I am thankful that she hasn't been severely sick, but feel badly that she is hurting. When she isn't feeling well, she's ... well, I'll just say ... difficult. Life is so hard for her during these times. Like yesterday... I took her to the doctor's and they wanted to do a breathing treatment to ease the congestion in her lungs. Poor Layla hated having that mask on her face and fought it tooth and nail, biting the mask, kicking, screaming and fighting with all her might. She only had the mask up to her face for a couple minutes, but that was rough for her, especially when she wasn't feeling well to begin with.
When she's not sick or tired, she's an absolute joy to be around, so funny and loving. But she always knows what she wants, and wants it when she wants it. She is very attached to me, which makes me melt, but it's hard when she cries when I leave her anywhere, even if only for a few minutes. I love this little girl so much, and am still utterly amazed that she has graced my life.
Layla refuses to pose for cameras. When I get the camera out, she avoids looking at me at all costs, so most of my pictures are of her when I catch her off guard. I wish I could capture her little personality more. Here are some of the latest.
These last two pictures were taken at my sister's house in Pittsburgh. Layla had thrown up in the car and the only change of clothes we had was this little jumper that Mickey had brought for Layla since cousin Quinn had grown out of it. Somehow, Layla makes it work. She looks beautiful in anything.
