July & August with An

So it's been a little more than a week but I finally got the pictures downloaded from our trip. To make this easy on me, I'm adding them as a slideshow - just click on the photo below. An had a wonderful vacation - her only complaint was that we couldn't produce a live moose for her. For the 3 days before coming home...and just about daily since we got home, she gets out her animal identification card and says "mom - MOOSE". I had to tell her that it was very unlikely that we'd see a moose in Boise. Brian wanted to show her an elk and tell her it was a moose but I said absolutely not!

Falling in Love

*I meant to post this before our vacation to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP last week but it just didn't happen. So now the blogosphere may actually get two posts in the span of a week - please, no heart attacks.*

I had two years to fall in love with An - from the time we got her referral until the day we met her. And it was easy to do - the pictures, reports and videos we received while waiting were filled with her personality. Happy, confident, full of life. Those were the characteristics we anticipated. It is a rare moment when An doesn't have a huge smile on her face. And her giggle is quite contagious. Her ability to jump right in with inquisitiveness and a can-do attitude has amazed us. She is beautiful inside and out.

On the other hand, An had a foster mom that she loved very much. She made it very clear during the first two weeks together in Vietnam that she was not in love with me. Despite her best efforts though, I think it may be happening.

How do I know that she is falling in love with me?

The way she melts into my body when I carry her downstairs in the morning. The first month and a half, I carried her exactly the same way but she was cautious to keep a little space between us.

She now comes looking for me when she discovers something new and leads me by the hand to whatever it is (this happens even if Brian is around).

She occassionaly wants to sit on my lap while she's eating and asks me to feed her.

She has become an incredible snuggle bug in the evenings before going to sleep. The first month & a half she would just happily lay down in her toddler bed, tolerate a kiss from us and go to sleep. Now she'll ask to lay between us and snuggle for a few minutes before going back to her toddler bed.

And finally, there have been a few improptu kisses!

This is only the beginning of the journey...we continue to take it one step at a time. However, we've come a long way - from the days of a raised fist if I even looked at her to the start of this new love, I can definitely say that it was worth the wait.