New Words for Haven

I am recording the list of words for her so they are not forgotten in the day to day.
The newest words to her vocabulary are luv u, stay,happy, on, excuse me, bad and wait for it... alligator. Haven likes to put on bags and act like Naing leaving for work with his back pack. She says bye bye and waves and walks down the hall. That is where luv u started. I would always say bye bye, love you. Then I added the childhood favorites of see you later alligator, afterwhile crocodile and toodaloo caribou. She would just laugh at that, but today she said, bye bye, luv u and alligator. Smart girl.
She loves to take the sponge letters they play with in the tub and hold it up for me to tell her the letter and a word that starts with the letter.
There are days that I feel I can't give Haven everything she needs and her needs are overwhelming when I'm also trying to met Alec's needs. But then I see the growth in her knowledge and think ok maybe I'm doing ok.
They went with me to Costco for the first time yesterday. When we walked in and she say all the big screen tvs with movies going she was in awe. She said ohhhh and then after a minute yeah and started clapping. I just thought about how different her life is. There is no Costco in Addis or Meki to buy things in bulk and be tempted by all the Christmas decorations. There are no ladies giving out samples of food to entice you to buy something on impulse. Haven loved the food, she can never have enough food in her mind. After getting a sample from one of the women she was on the look out and let me know when she saw another lady handing out food.
As we were walking through the store and she was pointing at everything in excitement, I thought does anyone really need a big screen tv. I fight the impulse to buy her everything because she has had nothing until now. I don't want her to be materialistic and not share with others that have greater needs than we do. All the things you think about as a Mother.

Baptized

Our children were baptized yesterday in their Ethiopian outfits. They looked so cute. But in all the rush to get to church on time and excitment of the day, I didn't take any pictures. By the time I realized that, there was already food on Haven's dress.
I'll have to clean the outfits and stage a picture:).
We do feel so blessed to have found our church. They have been so supportative of us throughout the whole adoption process. Our children are very lucky to have such a wonderful support group in their life. Thank you to everyone.

Alec's words

Alec now says up and lifts his arms up. He now has a vocabulary of ten words. He says hi, mama, dada, sit, stay, up, one, two, no no and baba(bottle). He is now screeching at the top of his lungs in glee and also in disgust when Haven tries to take a toy from him. He is getting more adventurist, which means he is getting into more trouble.
He loves to close doors and try to get things out of the bottom shelf of the fridge.
He will be one on Dec 15th, hard to believe he has come so far in such a short period of time.
His appetite has improved and he is eating solids better. But don't give him something that has too much texture or you will be sorry. He is a wretcher and will make himself throw up. Appetizing I know.
I was putting pictures together for our Christmas card of our gotcha photo and a current photo of Haven and Alec. Alec has changed so much in the 10 weeks he has been home. His face and body has filled out. He has gone from barely sitting up, to crawling, talking, pulling himself up and now walking holding onto things. Amazing.
He loves to be pushed on this pooh scooter we were given. His feet don't touch the ground but that doesn't stop him:)

Play date

Jill, Marquez, and Nyah came over to play. Jill and I were suppose to work on our re-adoption paperwork, but we chatted instead. It is so fun to see how the other children from Toukoul have grown and find out what they have learned to do. Jill's oldest Marquez is such a sweet guy and is so good with the babies. Haven loves him.
Poor Haven had a hard time sharing her toys with Nyah and Alec, but she enjoyed them being there. She cried when they left.
Last night Haven added 3 new words to her vocabulary; apple, applesauce and bubbles.
She is so amazing. She loves books she asks all day long to have books read. She will sit down and look at the books for a long time. That really is the only thing that keeps her attention for a long period of time.
Alec loves all the toys, really doesn't have a favorite thing. He loves music and showed off his rhythm to Jill and Marquez:)
I had to choose photos for the first post adoption report. It was harder than I thought to pick my favorites, so many cute ones to choose from.
Here are some pictures from our play date.

New Words

Haven's new words this week are stinky, thank you, kitty and all done. Her vocabulary is exploding. She is so funny when I ask if she can say this word, she smiles and shakes her head yes, but doesn't always say it. Got to keep me guessing.
I noticed yesterday she is cutting four teeth at once. Her upper last molars and pre-molars. No wonder she has been a little whiny & grumpy.