Positives

Having lunch with Grandma and Grandpa at Arctic Circle
James, Caleb, Papa, Grandma and Steven
Frank (Billy's developmental tech) and Billy
Scheri, Abby and Teresa. The slide in the background is the one Abby was enjoying so much.
Letter from Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Dear Toni, Dixie and Carla (and now blog friends as well)

We are doing pretty well, outside of being very tired. Jet-lag is a killer, isn't it!!

Abby did much better on the flight than I'd worried she might. She kept herself occupied watching the on-line cartoons and kid movies on the individual screen right in front of her seat. She listened to them in several languages-unfortunately Bulgarian wasn't one of the choices. It was funny because she'd need help navigating the screen and I wouldn't be able to because she'd have it in Japanese or something. We got to our house about 3 am on Sunday morning--so she didn't have any trouble at all going to sleep that night.

Abby really seems to like our kids and they like her as well--except when she's being really demanding and bossy. Smile. Both Teresa and Scheri have enjoyed fixing her beautiful hair. She hasn't wanted to have a lot to do with me but we have had some little breakthroughs. For instance,today she called me "mommy" quite a bit rather than "Anna". Tonight she enjoyed a story I read and wanted another. Also she wanted my help tucking her into bed tonight. Those are positive steps. And she spontaneously gave Kevin a hug.

She sure isn't eating much. I'm sure our food is just so strange to her though she didn't eat much there at the Hotel either--and THAT was Bulgarian food. At some point I imagine her healthy appetite will kick in and she'll be hungrier. Now if I'd just let her live on ice cream and potato chips her appetite would be GREAT. LOL.

Overall, considering the rough days we had there in Sofia, it's going OK.

Thanks so much for asking.
Love,
Joy

Note from Friday, July 22, 2011

I've been getting pretty sick of Abby calling me "Anna" so first thing this morning I just said, "My name is Mommy." She smiled. Sure, several times during the day she slipped and called me by my first name but then quickly added, "Mommy." I really felt like she was using Anna as a way to keep me at a distance.

We played a game of Old Maid and three rounds of Uno (Abby won once.) Abby asked me personally to catch her when she was afraid to go down the tube slide at Arctic Circle. (After about 3 times with me catching her, she just took off on her own. Even started following Caleb and Steven's lead and coming down head-first!! She had a great time.) She took a second helping of cereal for breakfast, ate all of her kid's meal at lunch and her dinner here at home. Yes, I did give her small portions but still she didn't refuse anything--didn't even whine about her milk. When Scheri fixed her hair, Abby made a point of showing it to me. At bedtime Abby finally cracked a smile when I kissed my finger and touched her right cheek, then kissed my finger again and touched her left cheek. She also showed me an owie on her finger and let me kiss it.

I know these may sound like small steps but to me they are incredibly exciting. I feel like slowly but surely I am winning an entrance into her heart.