Yesterday was a very long day of paperwork, waiting, and government offices. The most important part about the day is that Laura officially became a Zopp.
We started the day at the Registration office where the adoption was finalized and we received our adoption certificate saying Laura is officially ours. Second, we went to the notary office for notarization of the adoption certificates and then ended the day at the passport photo/application offices where Laura's picture was taken and we applied for her passport that will allow her to travel to the United States next week when we go home.
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| We did a lot of waiting! |
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| At the Registration office where the adoption was finalized. |
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| The registration official congratulated us and invited us all to come back again. |
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| Our official adoption certificate |
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| Outside the registration office...Laura loves Mum Mum rice crackers. She ate them basically all day long. |
Robert says, "that's what you did, but how are you doing?" We are doing...okay. It is lonely here without my Robert and family. It is especially lonely when I have questions and concerns and none of my people to talk them out with me. And, often I just wish for Robert to be here so I can shoot him a look that he will be able to interpret without my having to talk at all.
Laura is grieving and scared. She has a very intense fear of my leaving her. She also has some institutional behavior that is easier to read about than it is to see in your child. I find myself wondering how much of her personality am I actually seeing, or am I seeing any of her real self yet? Is this all grief? I look forward to days, weeks, months down the road when I see the real her.
She is eating well now, solid foods and from the bottle as well. So, that is wonderful. And, yesterday she showed me that all her plumbing works as well, which was a relief too. No signs of parasites either...also something to be thankful for!
She has adapted to the open palate enough that she can suck relatively well (as long as the hole is big enough) and she does not often have food coming out her nose. In fact, I am wondering if the orphanage did a partial repair on her palate. (I tried looking in her mouth, but I am not sure what I am seeing. There is a hole but I don't think it is as large as it was before her lip surgery.) She does get food stuck in the hole in her mouth. Today I had to scoop out fried eggs that had gotten stuck. Not a pleasant experience for either of us...much worse for her than for me.
We are learning each other and I hope she is starting to trust me. Counting down the days to home...
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| Not sleeping at 4 a.m. |
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| Sleeping on Mommy...the only place she sleeps. |
You are doing a great job! It is a very hard trip! Soak it all up while you count down to getting home! She sounds so much like Brynn. Brynn was glued to me and still is! So thankful for that bond. It can be challenging when you get home and she doesn't want to share you. I am praying that she will continue to bond and trust you, and praying for your other kids' hearts as they prepare to welcome her home.
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