Second last day

Another day is almost done...we're tired but doing well.  Mebira came out of her shell a lot more today.  She is talking to us and interacting and singing a bit.  It's been nice to see her do that.  I'm thrilled that she also loves me today.  She looks for me if I leave the room, and calls for me to show me how well she has done something.  I feel sad for Arvid because she will always pick me over him if there is a choice, but she is up in the room with him now and seems OK.  Seeing as I will be the one spending most of the time with her I'm glad she's attaching better to me at this point. 

 

There are so many first things with her - it's fun.  We went in a book store yesterday (her first store) and she went crazy.  We had to chase after her because she grabbed one book, opened it, flipped through pages and then dropped it and ran off to the next one.  It's hard, because she's so big and heavy that she's strong and harder to contain!  :-)  I think it will be a while before I go shopping with her!  I think she's a bit taller than we originally thought - I'm sure she outweighs Elizabeth and is probably close to the same height.

 

We showed her video today of our family...she thought the sledding was quite interesting. I also showed her Christmas video and I hope she doesn't think she gets presents every day!   She is starting to pick out Grace and Elizabeth on pictures and says their names in her cute little accent - I love it.

 

She copied her name on paper today, and drew some pictures.  I pulled out some felts and she coloured for at least an hour while we organized our room.  She drew perfectly in the lines - Oma would be proud!

 

I think we will be OK to have people come to the airport if you are interested.  We arrive at 6:10 pm on Saturday, June 4th.  We come in from London via Air Canada.  I'm not sure of the flight number but you can email me if you have any questions.  I think we will look terrible and be exhausted, and I am quite sure Mebira will cling to one of us and not make eye contact, but if you want to come and take pictures and say hi we'd love to see you.  She is becoming more shy around Ethiopians but is very friendly to white people - so she just may run up to you...it's hard to know.  In any case, we probably prefer that people just say hi at this point or shake her hand if she is willing.

 

Tomorrow is our last day here - we are flying out tomorrow night (late).  I will try to send one more update tomorrow if I can.  Looking forward to being home!