Week 16 of 52

Another week of pictures done (yes, I realize that Thursdays are a weird day of the week to "end" on but the year started on a Friday, so the first week ended on a Thursday, and so on and so forth).

This has been the most stressful week of the year. Mari finished out her last day of daycare on Friday and started a new daycare on Monday. She does not understand why, all she knows is that her comfort zone for the last nearly 2 years is gone. She is doing very well at her new school but, as is typical for Mari, she unleashes all her pent-up anxiety and tension on me at home. I would rather she do this than to have a tough time at school but it does make life difficult. I will blog soon about our school choices and why this change was very important. I am also planning the obligatory "attachment post" that I think all adoptive parents feel the need to write about sooner or later. Yes, it's been over 2 years since we became a family but it's a work in progress and, while we still have bumps in the road, I'm finally at a point where I can understand and be objective about this subject. So I'll give you my thoughts on that soon....

On to pix....

2010: 04/22

Hard to believe that this sleeping angel has made me weep in frustration several times this week.

2010: 04/21

There are no pix for this day....it would have been nothing but tears, tears, tears. Time for a refresher course.

If you haven't read this book, you should. Whether you are adopting an older child or an infant, whether you are newly home or home awhile (or even still waiting)....it's a must read. I love the science behind it - amazing that there are actually biological processes going on due to pyschological responses.

2010: 04/20

New school = HOMEWORK!!

This daycare is much more academic and I'm impressed how much my little sponge is picking up already. Here she is coloring "upside down" for the letter "U" - which says "uh" by the way - for up, umbrella, umpire, and under which rhymes with thunder. Just so you know.

2010: 04/19

Ready for my first day at my new school.
2010: 04/18
We missed lunchtime and naptime to go to the park with family. Mari fell asleep mid-bite of a french fry. NEVER before has this happened. Not sure if I can even remember a time she fell asleep while eating.

2010: 04/17

Mari finally learned to blow dandelions - she only occasionally forgets and sucks in resulting in a mouth full of dandelion "fluffies."

2010: 04/16

Mari's last day at her old daycare. Here she is sitting with her first ever boyfriend....a few minutes later, she bit the heck out of him. Nice. She hasn't bit anyone in over 18 months. I think the stress of the day was overwhelming her by that point.

I think the mural behind them is very funny.

Have a great week!