Ahhh, when things go smooth!!

Tonight was someone of a turning point, one for my nose which now can breathe O2 semi-efficiently, and more importantly we had our first bedtime routine without meltdown and drama!! It may be the only one for a while but still I think Alejandra is catching on. She even wanted to kiss me goodnight!! It was a pretty big deal as she is getting more and more familiar with “time out” for bad behavior. The good news is that with each incident (of which I think she just craves structure but has to test us anyway) it seems she bounces back faster. It is giving me more confidence to handle the girls on my own when Grant leaves. Of course, there is my angel Ruth who can help me during the week. I wish I could post the pictures but the internet is just too slow. Tonight as Alejandra was helping fold laundry she puts on Grants shirt and says with her little mischievous grin..Mire!! Soy Papi!! Hola! Soy Papi!! So then Rachael joins in putting on my clothes and they dance around calling each other Mami and Papi. It was pretty cute. Alejandra is an amazing helper, organizer, and loves babies and toddlers. I call her the little Momi sometimes. She insists on doing things herself, I think I mentioned that before, but it is just so different from Rachael. After dinner tonight we were all drawing pictures at the table and she drew “her family” and pointed to the picture of each of us over and over, es mi familia, Mami, Papi, Rachael, and Alejandra!! We also drew pictures of Max, Isabelly and Nemo, which she loved. Even though she is a challenge at times, it makes my heart swell to think this little independent girl of only 4, who has had to fend for herself in an orphanage all of her life, is now embracing the fact that she has a family of her own. We also received good news that they did complete her new birth certificate today and the rest of the packet for the embassy will be translated hopefully tomorrow and Friday and then we should be submitted Monday or Tuesday. Keep you fingers crossed!! Once again, thank you so much for the individual emails, they really mean a lot!!