Two Whole Months

Today. It's been two months today since we first held Sera. Can you believe it? It seems like yesterday, yet I can't remember how we lived without her.

We headed out early today to do some yard-saling. We had breakfast at our favorite restaurant, bought a newspaper, and hit the trail. Sera promptly fell asleep as it was morning nap time. That worked out fine. We tag-teamed the yard sales. One of us would check it out while the other stayed in the car with Sera. We didn't find anything on my short list, but we found some good deals. I bought about 10 children's books. They're hardbacked and in perfect condition. They're a set. Each book is filled with stories and has a different theme. Two of the themes are fairy tales and science fiction. As you can tell, they run the gamut. They were printed in the 60's. I used to have a collection of antique or just old children's books. I lost most of them when my apartment flooded in New Orleans. I don't plan to restart the collection, but I have replaced a few books, mainly Louisa May Alcott and Noel Streatfeild books. This was just too good to leave behind. I got them all for a grand total of $3.00. I also picked up a snowsuit in perfect condition, I'm not sure it was ever worn, for $4.00. It looks so big, but it's a 12-month size. I'm hoping it will work for her next winter. At least I'll only be out $4.00 if I'm wrong. I also bought the cutest jacket. Well, it's really a costume. It's a red coat with big black spots and the hood has antennae. Yep, it's a ladybug. Too cute! Of course, it's huge. By the time Sera is big enough to wear it, she may have absolutely no interest in it. Right now, however, she's loving all the butterflies, ladybugs, ants, and bumblebees that live on her walls.

From the first day we met Sera, she has shown a marked preference for toys that she could bang together or that lit up or that played music. She's had no interest in anything soft or cuddly. No blankies, no stuffed animals, and no dolls. About three weeks ago, she started showing interest in her Taggies lovey. It was definitely the tags that got her interest though, not the soft blankie part. For almost two weeks now, she's been fascinated by faces, mainly her reflection, other children, and animal faces. I broke out some of her Little People toys. She has several Sonya Lees. Many of the tiny plastic ones like this...

She also has a soft one with hair that's about 4-inches tall, and she has this one that's about 12-inches tall.

She'll play with the little ones for a while. She'll hold on to them as she goes through her toy basket. The two larger ones she digs out and hands them to me. She'll then say hi and wave to them, but doesn't really want to hold them.

The other day I put the Lady & the Tramp dvd on in her room while we played. It was really for me to watch as she was just fine playing on the floor. Every now and then she'd look up and say hi to Lady or Tramp. The next day she noticed the tiny stuffed Lady in her toy basket. You could see the recognition in her eyes. She bounced and handed it to me and said hi. But again, she didn't really hold it or play with it.

Months ago, my sister sent me the Cailin Yang doll by Corolle. I hadn't shown it to Sera yet as she still hadn't shown any real interest in dolls. On Thursday when we were leaving her room, she noticed the doll sitting on the shelf of her armoire. She got so excited and was pointing and reaching for her. I grabbed the doll and took her with us.

She didn't let that doll out of her sight all day. She would wave to her and pick her up and hold her. She gave the doll kisses, and of course the doll kissed her back, too (with a little help from mommy)! When Jim came home Thursday afternoon, she played a game with him that he had played with her. He'll stand behind me and hide. Then he peeks out from one side, hides, and peeks from the other. She did that to him while hiding behind her doll.

On Friday, I took Sera to a new fancy farmer's market that just opened. Then we went to lunch at my school as it was the big end of school year luncheon, and then on to Jim's school to wish everyone a good summer. Cailin Yang never left her side. I used the toy strap that one of the shops in Guangzhou gave us to anchor her to the stroller.

That's not all she hung on to either. She has these interlocking toy rings in different colors, orange, green, & purple, and shapes, squares, circles, & triangles. She likes to break them apart and wear them as bracelets, especially the purple square one. I had to go through some of our China souvenirs to find a gift I bought a friend who retired yesterday. She teaches in my department. While looking, I found some bangle bracelets. I bought a few small child-size ones for Sera to have later. I took one out as a lark and put it on her. Even though it's too big, she kept it pushed up around her bicep, she wore it the whole day and throughout all the stops. She loves bracelets.

This morning Jim and I reflected on how amazing our experience has been over the last two months. Sera is such a different child than the one we knew those first few days. I was convinced she was going to be a timid, clingy child. She cried easily and often. She didn't want to look at anyone. She would be fine in our room with us, but would withdraw into the clingy, crying baby anytime we left the room. She was afraid of her bath and just about everything else. She had very good reason to be afraid. Her entire world had changed. We expected that and were more than willing to do whatever was needed to help her.

The Sera we know now is funny and social. She loves being the center of attention, yet will also ride around in the car for hours as we hit yard sales. She loves being active. She rarely fusses and cries even less. She's gutsy and brave. She sleeps well, and she eats well. She's had one mild cold. She's developmentally on target. She loves her mama and worships her dada. She even thinks Shadow is one funny dog. She's always so excited to see him. She's the perfect child....for us. I hope that every parent feels the same when they think about their child.