Loving, and Learning

We passed the one week home mark!  Monumental indeed.  In a short week, I have learned a lot about my children, and about parenting.  We have a loooong way to go, but so far, it hasn't been as difficult as I knew it could be.  I have been thinking about the positives, and all of the things I love about our children, and, I wanted to add in a few words from a new parent's point of view.

What I love about Muse and Biskut:
1.  Their sweet smiles and their giggles.  There is nothing in the world like waking up to a child's laughter! 
2.  The way they call out, "Mommy, Daddy!"  To hear those words, for the first time...well, there is simply nothing like that either!! 
3.  Watching them eat in delight!  They love to eat!  I especially enjoyed watching them lick their first ice cream cone, and watching their faces when they realized they could actually EAT the ice cream cone!  Wowzers!
4.  Watching them laugh and play in the water, either in the bathtub, or in our pop up pool in the backyard.  They could spend hours dunking their heads, and wiping their faces, screaming and laughing.
5.  Riding in the car.  They are all about the "makeena, makeena!"  And, whenever we turn on to our street, they scream and clap their hands!  They are always so excited to be home!
6.  Listening to them talk to each other.  We have no idea what they are saying, but, they understand each other, and right now, that is what matters most.  They are not alone during what has to be an unbelievably "alone" time in their short lives. 
7.  Dancing.  Our kids love to turn on their "Bole to Harlem" CD, and dance, dance, dance!  (BTW, we bought 2 other CDs and a DVD in Ethiopia, and they didn't make them home :(  -- customs went through all of our stuff....not sure why they took our music....I was so bummed!!!)
8.  Sleeping.  They have probably never slept alone a day in their life.  So for now, they are with mommy and daddy (hopefully that will change soon).  Muse and Biskut can sleep through anything and everything though, which means, they sleep through the night...almost 12 hours!!!
9.  The grocery store!  I thought children hated grocery shopping.  Not ours!  They rode in the cart, and loved adding goodies to their laps.  When they saw the corn, they gestured...more, more, more! 
10.  I love loving my little girl.  I was secretly hoping to get referred two boys.  I love little Biskut.  I love that she loves me.  I love her girlishness.  Muse is a daddy's boy, and that is okay too. 
11.  All of their "firsts."  First trip to Target, to the grocery store, to the park, to the playground, flying kites, swimming, bumper boats, lunch on a picnic table, arcade, ice cream cone, airplane trip, car ride in their car seats, etc. etc. etc.


Things I have learned in the past week:
1.  You can never, ever, take your eyes off of children, even for a minute.  We had a bicycle "accident" a couple of days ago because Mommy was watching Muse, and took her eyes off of Biskut for a minute.  Next thing I know, Muse is yelling "Mommy, mommy....Biiiiiiissssskuuuut!"  I turned my head and there was Biskut, cruising down our short driveway, across the street, and into the neighbors lawn.  Thank goodness it only ended with a scraped elbow.
2.  Parenthood is wonderful, and, *very* exhausting.  I guess I should have realized that adopting two children who are active would be!
3.  I was so concerned about what I would feed them, and come to realize, they like everything.  I know it isn't typical, but it was a relief for us.
4.  Communication.  It hasn't been easy.  Gesturing works well.  We have picked up on a couple of the words that they use frequently, and although it will be sad for everyone when they lose their language, I am looking forward to being able to communicate with them.
5.  Learning to be stern, for their own safety.  Tough love is always hard, but if they got hurt, that would be even harder.
6.  Learning to set some ground rules, e.g., not leaving the house without Mommy or Daddy, wearing shoes in the yard to avoid getting stung (poor Muse.....he got stung several times by a few wasps in the yard :( ), or taking their bicycles beyond the orange cone we set up at the end of our driveway.  Its amazing.....they have already picked up on the rules, and yes, they do try to test us, and yes, tough love is hard.
7.  Maintaining some sort of schedule....wake-up, brush teeth, change clothes, breakfast, play, snack, play, lunch, nap (sometimes), play, snack, dinner, bath, television, bed.....
8.  Their first trip to the doctor.  And yes, it hurts parents just as much as it hurts our children.