2 Weeks...

Meghan has been home two weeks and everyday we make a little step toward normalcy. She is doing really well considering that she has been ripped out of the only world she knows and plunged into a large, busy family who she can't communicate with.

She is sleeping every night in her own bed. Routine is good for her, something which we have let slide with our other kids but now we cling to it like a lifeline of sanity. At 7:15 we start the bedtime routine. Bath, we let her play for a while. Then once the bath is over everything is calm and quiet. All the boys pretend to go to bed, we say goodnight. We brush her teeth, then we take her in her room and read 3 stories. Mostly it's just pointing and working on vocabulary. Then prayers and then the lights are out. Usually around 8:00 or 8:15. I tell her I am going to say goodnight to her brothers and then I leave. She comes out right away. I wait on the stairs until she comes out and then I put her back in bed. That's it. If she gets up in the middle of the night I take her back to bed, give her a kiss and that's it. Last night she didn't come out at all. When she sleeps straight through it's like that feeling I would get when my babies would sleep through the night, I wake up surprised.

First day of school: Yes, we are still doing the peace sign.

She started kindergarten last week. She had only been home a few days but we quickly realized that this little girl needed structure. I guess she is doing well still. The teachers are always smiling when they put her in the car...hmmm, maybe they are smiling because they are putting her in the car.

This is a strong willed girl. I know all children have different behaviors that manifest upon adoption. Some want to please all the time for fear of being sent back. Some test to see how bad they can be whether their parents will still love them and not send them back.

Unfortunately Meghan fits into the latter category. Where is that sweet little girl that I would read about in the status and growth reports? I think she missed the plane. What Meghan doesn't realize is that I'm on to her. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. I have raised 4 boys and let me tell you the mere fact that my second son is alive and well to this day is a testament to the fact that I will win all the battles that she wants to fight. No one can be as trying as son #2. 12 years later he is a pretty good kid. So she already has lost, she just doesn't know it yet. I really don't take her behavior personally, I actually find it kind of humorous. Although I do not laugh in front of her, I have gotten the camera out to take pictures of her during a fit.

She thought it was funny too.

More to come...