Six months away from three years old??

My firstborn.

I love watching this little girl grow. She never ceases to amaze me. She has become a very affectionate little girl who will just come up to me and say, “Mommy please give me a hug and a tiss (kiss)!” She loves to give me “smackaroos” – a loud kiss! During her Independent Playtime, she will climb the gate and come find me and say, “I just want to give you one more kiss and a hug, Mommy!”. How can I get on to her for that?? I don’t. She gets her hug and kiss and goes back to play. She is such a loving little girl and loves to shower her Mommy with hugs and kisses all day long.

Little Bug is so full of LIFE. She is a ball of energy that goes and goes all day long. I cannot imagine spending my days anywhere else other than with her. I love waking up and going into her room and saying, “Good Morning, Little Bug! Did you sleep well?” She then says, “Yes, I did sleep well, Mommy!”

I love how she will often times ask me, “Where are we going today, Mommy?” She loves to go places and see people. She adores her family. They couldn’t adore her more if they tried.

Grandpa has taught Little Bug so much. This is a picture of them reading from the “Special Book”. It’s a book that my dad remembers being read from as a child. Grandpa reads and Little Bug listens. Grandpa stops at certain places in the stories and Little Bug finishes the sentences!

Little Bug doesn’t sit still, unless it is book time. She will sit literally for an hour straight listening to books. It really amazes me because nothing, and I mean nothing, keeps her attention like books do. She is not much into “toys” (as in siting and playing with one toy for any length of time), but ask her if she wants to read and she will sit there and read for up to an hour if you keep on reading to her!

Reading to her is still my all-time favorite activity to do with her!

On November 12th while we were reading, Little Bug read the book Old Hat, New Hat word for word with minimal help from me. I was simply amazed!! I know she is not “reading” and just has the book memorized, but my goodness, that is impressive even if I say so myself!

A couple days later, we got her “reading” on video! She is very camera-shy right now so I had to read the first page to get her started because she knew her Daddy was getting her on camera, but then she took off reading until the very last page when she decided she was done and wanted to read another of her favorite books, On the Night Before Kindergarten.

Potty Training is in our very near future. I am not exactly certain when. Possibly after the New Year?? She has had some minimal training from her Grandpa, of all people! A couple of months ago he was adamant that all I needed to do was buy her a little potty and she would train herself. I kept saying, “It’s not that easy!” I also said I didn’t want to train her with a little potty because I find them highly gross because you have to clean them out and they are a pain. But, I told him he could buy her one for my parents’ house, so he did.

A week later, he said, “Well, it’s been real easy to keep that potty clean!” In other words, Little Bug had not used the potty at all!

Several months after the introduction of the little potty Little Bug will ask to use it. And she does. But then she still chooses to go in her diaper, too. When I decide I am ready to train her and do away with diapers, I think it won’t take her too long to catch on because she already somewhat understands. I am waiting for myself to be ready, but mostly I am waiting for Little Bug to tell me that she is ready to start going on the potty and not diapers. I ask her every so often if she wants to pee and poop in diapers or the potty and, so far, her answer has always been, “I want diapers.”

She won’t be five and still in diapers, so I am not stressing about this at all! When it happens, it will happen.

Growing up I always imagined having a blue-eyed, blonde haired little girl. I can remember thinking that child died right along with my dream of experiencing pregnancy.

And then Little Bug came along.

As my heart was opened to adoption, I quickly learned that genetics so don’t matter when it comes to mothering a child. Genetics are just genetics.

When I look at my Little Bug, I see my childhood dream being fulfilled despite the fact my genes are stopping with me, because, even though I share not one strand of DNA with Little Bug, she is the blue-eyed blonde haired little girl I always dreamed of.

Infertility wasn’t the end. It was the beginning of something bigger and better than even my wildest dreams.

I am forever thankful for the way God orchestrated this little girl to be my daughter two and a half years ago.

- Elaine