Although it has skated past quickly, we did manage to grab some fun this past mont
h and celebrated some more "firsts" for the girls. Tsegereda/Rosalie had her first birthday with us, turning nine. We chose the birth date of January 18 for her as that was the day, in 2010, that we signed the adoption contract papers with our agency committing to pursue adopting the girls. It's also close to Martin Luther King's birthday, which is so very special as well. She had fun and enjoyed an ice cream cake (she LOVES ice cream) and lots of princess stuff.
In early February, Tsegereda/Rosalie finally tossed off the training wheels and gave Noah and Wyatt a run for their money on her bike. Learning to ride the bike has been very frustrating for her--her gross motor skills and balance were not strong when she first came to America. Her frustration grew to where she avoided her pretty pink bike for quite a while. We've worked on her gross motor skills with family hikes, doing Wii Fit and playing basketball, and we took off the pedals of her bike so she could work on just gliding and thus getting a sense of balance. The balance thing just never seemed to catch on. Finally, on a nice winter's day, I coaxed her outdoors, put the pedals back on, and she did it! Now she's out there every chance she gets. Our next challenge: teaching her how to BRAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (0:
Valentine's Day was another first for the girls, and
once again we are all swimming in candy. I swear, America seriously is the land of sugar!!! The girls enjoyed giving and getting valentines and made sweet ones for the family. Colt and Tsegereda went on a fun "Daddy-Daughter" date put on by our church, but he had to be in Arizona (enjoying 80 degree weather, poor guy) for Valentine's Day. He just came home today to a valentine-filled home. Now we get to celebrate his birthday and reflect on how lucky we are to have him in our lives. He is an amazing father and husband and we love him dearly. Which reminds me, time to go fill some black balloons...(0;
Rodas Reyne and her dietary habits have not changed much. She IS trying new things more readily, but doesn't seem to like anything she tries. We have added cold peas to the list of vegetables that she'll eat (making that TWO items), although she's starting to rebel and now takes an hour to eat one spoonful. I'm trying to not let it get to me, but she's still constantly asking what's for dinner and when is it snack time...then doesn't eat half the time! As I write this, she is sleeping behind me in my chair, having woken up from her nap earlier than it seems her body wanted. The first thing out of her mouth when she truly wakes up and shakes off the grumpies will be "what's the time?"--Rodas-lingo for "is it snack time yet?"
Ahhh, life with a three-year old.
