Amanda is just not all that happy with me today, could it be the tooth brushing? Maybe it was taking her out in a car again? Or the panel that covers the radiator falling and hitting her on the head ? She likes kicking them because they make a cool noise.(A pillow blocked most of it, but she has a small lump) Trying to get her to eat more food, so far we have managed yogurt, pureed fruit, and bananas mixed with apple juice. She has rejected warm cereals, pasta, milk, potatoes, and Ellecare. Maybe it was giving her a bath? Half the day she followed me everywhere, the other half she pushed me away. There were smiles, hugs, and giggles too.
I just adore the look on her face, it makes me laugh every time see it, unhappy baby. She hates the camera, funny Meghan was the same way, but Kara is a HAM. Actually Amanda is more similar to Meghan in temperament than she is Kara.
I think it is normal adjustment, she was in the Orphanage for 3 years and now she is here, and I was worried about her being taken away from her home abruptly, I don't even know if they have been telling her she was getting a new mama and papa, but she seemed to take it all in stride until today. 
She is such a pretty little girl, but oh my, the faces she makes are priceless. I can't wait for her bangs to grow out, it keeps her hair out of her eyes, but is a harsh look on her delicate face. I met a man from Phoenix AZ adopting sisters today, they are beautiful girls, and they look so happy to be going to their new home. We shared a ride to the passport office, think we can share facilitation fees for that too? (wink)
For those families asking about children they hope to adopt, I tried to ask questions about them today but Igor was busy and could not talk. He has three families here right now, so he is working very hard. As in Ukraine with most people who helped us there, he seemingly runs everywhere, walking so fast I run to keep up, I thought I was used to chasing Yelena. No wonder they are thin and fit and I am not, perhaps I should try walking as fast as they back home, doing that while pushing a stroller should do it.
Amanda played a bit and she wanted to be held a lot. I can tell she is scared and sad, but she is curious too, and she has been all over the apartment checking things out.
Of course I did not expect her to love me or even like me in 5 days time, and I understand her behavior, but it can hurt a little when they do not return it right away when you have loved them from afar for so long. My only experience with this is with Kara, and it did take a good 3 weeks for her to really warm up to us, some days she would crawl away and leave us siting where we were, but it was not until she came back to Peremoga with me that we truly began bonding, so I should lighten up and not expect miracles, right? I truly don't, I just want her to be happy, content. We have a while for that adjustment to be complete.
We got the Passport paperwork in, we can expect to get that next week. Amanda has her immunizations (worried about mercury, but I can't say no, and that irritates me, this is her long term health I am talking about) on Tuesday, we pick up the passport on Wednesday as well, and later that day we have an appointment for her exit Visa. I think we will have all of her paperwork to return to America by Friday, amazing how simplified this process is here. I have non-refundable tickets, not the changeable as we could not afford them, though we can change them for a fee, there is always a fee. I wonder what the charge would be to change them if we indeed could come home earlier? Although I do think I will enjoy site seeing and would love to take photos to remember Tallinn, I want them for Amanda as she gets older, where she was born is always going to be important to us, we will make sure she knows about her home country.
For those families asking about children they hope to adopt, I tried to ask questions about them today but Igor was busy and could not talk. He has three families here right now, so he is working very hard. As in Ukraine with most people who helped us there, he seemingly runs everywhere, walking so fast I run to keep up, I thought I was used to chasing Yelena. No wonder they are thin and fit and I am not, perhaps I should try walking as fast as they back home, doing that while pushing a stroller should do it.
Amanda played a bit and she wanted to be held a lot. I can tell she is scared and sad, but she is curious too, and she has been all over the apartment checking things out.
Of course I did not expect her to love me or even like me in 5 days time, and I understand her behavior, but it can hurt a little when they do not return it right away when you have loved them from afar for so long. My only experience with this is with Kara, and it did take a good 3 weeks for her to really warm up to us, some days she would crawl away and leave us siting where we were, but it was not until she came back to Peremoga with me that we truly began bonding, so I should lighten up and not expect miracles, right? I truly don't, I just want her to be happy, content. We have a while for that adjustment to be complete.
Another thing Amanda has in common with Meghan is strabismus, Amanda's eyes do what Meghan's did when she tried to focus; one eye would turn in and the other would focus, but they could not do this at the same time. Dr Stidham (may he rest in peace) who was Meghan's pediatric opthamologist, said that eventually Meghan was lose the sight in one eye if her condition continued. So she had the surgery and it was successful, but he did say she would likely need tweaking, and she did, unfortunately Dr Stidham was murdered and was never able to do this second operation. Seems Amanda will also need the surgery, but while I had utmost trust in Dr Stidham's expertise and surgical skills, I am not impressed with the other doctor in town we saw. I find him impersonal, harried, and I guess when he said that Meghan needed a correction for appearance sake, but why bother, it was not a functional issue, we were put off by him. As if she did not care about her eyes wandering a little because she had Down syndrome? To be fair, other parents who take their kids to him love him.
We got the Passport paperwork in, we can expect to get that next week. Amanda has her immunizations (worried about mercury, but I can't say no, and that irritates me, this is her long term health I am talking about) on Tuesday, we pick up the passport on Wednesday as well, and later that day we have an appointment for her exit Visa. I think we will have all of her paperwork to return to America by Friday, amazing how simplified this process is here. I have non-refundable tickets, not the changeable as we could not afford them, though we can change them for a fee, there is always a fee. I wonder what the charge would be to change them if we indeed could come home earlier? Although I do think I will enjoy site seeing and would love to take photos to remember Tallinn, I want them for Amanda as she gets older, where she was born is always going to be important to us, we will make sure she knows about her home country. 
