Our Son the Hermit Crab

Week One

We have been home just over a week and things are progressing very nicely. Tenaye is still hesitant with new things, but once she has done something one time she is more comfortable and confident and happily plays and interacts with people around her. We have been taking it easy this last week, but have ventured out to several places. We went to my parents house to play with the cousins, spent a couple of afternoons at the fountains, and spent some time at the park. It has been a lot of fun. She was unsure about the fountains at first, but once she got her feet wet (literally) she was a little water bug!



I was really amazed that she knew just what to do at the park. It is like she had been sliding and swinging for her entire life. I never saw anything like a park while we were in Ethiopia, but who knows they could have slides and swings there. If not, I guess it is just natural kid instinct! She is a good big sister to Isaac. I think he is enjoying having a play mate as well.





Tenaye went to the doctor last Friday. What an adventure! Since I didn't want the doctor's office to be a place of trauma and fear, we are holding off on blood work and vaccinations for a couple of weeks. She just had a once over by the doctor and everything looks great! She weighs 31 pounds and is 38 inches tall. That puts her in the 17th percentile for 4 year olds. Developmentally she seems right on track as well. All of that is good news. She has some scarring on her back that the doctor thinks is from the chicken pox and we know she also had the mumps earlier this year. But as of now she is healthy and well.

As for Isaac, he is walking! We will try and upload of video soon. While crawling is still faster, he is choosing to walk more and more. He has also started making the funniest face. (As you can see in the picture below.)

Baby Doll in Addis Ababa

Playing With Bubbles

Getting Settled

We have been home for a few days now and are getting settled in and learning how to be a family of four. Our house seems to be non-stop chaos from wake up to bed time. Tenaye just goes and goes without stopping! She is a good big sister to Isaac. Has only had a few minor bouts with jealousy (if I am holding him or singing to him she will usually try and distract me or get on my lap, but after a little attention thrown her way she is off and playing again). The language thing has been the biggest issue. We don't always know what she is asking for and that leads to frustration on her part and ours. Our Amaharic is improving though and I know she will pick up English quickly. We joke that she and Isaac will learn to talk at the same time! I can only imagine how overwhelming all of this must be for her. Her entire world has been turned upside down. Meeting new people is very scary for her. She tends to cling to me (mommy) and not look at, speak to, or interact with anyone. She just becomes a limp rag doll. We are hoping this changes once she understands the language and trusts us enough to know that not all new people are there to take her away from the world in which she is most comfortable. I tell you this as a warning to help you understand why we may not be very social over the next few weeks or months. Our focus must be on Tenaye and our family. When meeting her please don't take it personally if she doesn't interact with you, she will over time...hopefully.
Here are some pictures of our first few days together. She is a happy, energetic kid when it is just us at home believe it or not!

We're Outta Here!

I am typing this from our hotel in KC. We fly out of here in about 4 hours to start our first leg of the journey to pick up Tenaye. It's hard to believe that in just a few short days we will be hugging and holding our sweet girl. It has been a long, roller coaster of a journey to get to this point. I don't know what kind of internet connection we will have in Addis, so we may not be able to update until we get back next weekend. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers!