6 days

Naomi has been home for 6 days now. Has this been what I have thought.... yes and no. Naomi has not been shy she is quite outgoing with us and her siblings. She likes to tell you what she thinks and has a definite opinion on everything from clothes to the earrings I bought her. She wanted silver hoops and nothing else, though she was polite about it. The first couple days she thought that throwing tantrums and laying on the floor would help her get what she wanted, to be picked up, food, to not go to bed. These tantrums included mostly whining, but she did have two meltdowns that included screaming. We kindly told her this was not acceptable and that she could tantrum in her room. We told her when she was ready to stop she could come out. She quickly realized that whining and screaming does nothing for her, because we tell her we will not listen to it and walk away. She tires of it quickly and is back to her normal happy self. The past 2 days she has had no tanrums and very few whining sessions. She just tells us what she wants. It is getting easier and easier to understand her. When I tell her I did not understand she says "I show you Mama", and shows me what it is she wants or needs me to do.

Naomi is just a great kid! She is polite, funny, sweet, affectionate, smart and gets along so well with her siblings. She seems to know we are mom and dad now, as she is very shy, but polite with stranger and the few family members she has met. She will shake the persons hand, but nothing else. She follows me around a lot of the day and is very eager to help me clean up and cook. She LOVES dusting and washing dishes. When our two year old wants a bottle ( yes I know... 2 years old with a bottle!) Naomi will get a bottle out of the fridge, fill it with milk and give it to my other daughter. She is really a joy and fits in so well here. She is so easily redirected. She LOVES going to the store as well. She is very excited about Christmas and loves pointing out the christmas trees in the store, and says everything is for Christmas, including food in the grocery section. Naomi loves to dance and loves soccer. She says she is going to be a "fooot bal plya".

The other day I took out Naomi's braids. I am not very good at braiding so I put it in three puff, two on the sides and one in the back. I saw this style on t.v. the other day, and again on a little biracial in Meijers. I purchased colored ribbons with sparkly threads going through them,that are connected to pony tail holders. I put them in her hair, whatever colors match her outfit. At the store I met a lady from Haiti who asked me if we had adopted Naomi from Haiti. She said her hair looked like she was from Haiti. I guess it does a little.

I think we have made good progress this past week. It was strange at first, but each day gets better and better. This child is so easy to love.