Rambling...

Abbey changes so much every day that I can hardly keep up with it. She is a very active little busy bee and I love it! Things that weren't issues before are now and things that were issues before aren't anymore. Suddenly she is not thrilled about having her diaper changed and really wiggles around. I've resorted to singing a new version of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt...Abbey Apple Alligator Ant, which definitley gets her mind off things. She is also loving the song 5 Little Ducks and folds her arms up to flap her little wings. Gerber fruit puffs are "out" now
and get thrown into the floor of the back seat if I try to give them to her. Instead of her stethescope she signs please for whatever necklace I have on so that she can wear it. Also new is stranger anxiety. She was startled by the man who did her hearing assessment. She came barreling around the corner into his office and stopped in her tracks and burst into tears. He was extremely tall and looked like Abraham Lincoln. He was very nice but she wanted nothing to do with him and we will have to go back for a retest in several months. From what they could tell her hearing did seem great. At Trader Joes our checker had a lip ring and that also set her off. I have to say that I secretly love it when she clings on to me for protection. For the first time she cried for a minute when I took her to the church nursery last week. Now that we are apart all day she wants to be with me whenever she can, and I feel the same way so we will just stick together!
We had a great time at her speech assessment. She will definitely qualify and I am so excited to learn how to help her learn to talk. I know it's just due to the change in language at a critical time and the lack of stimulation in the orphanage, but I'd rather be proactive than just wait for her to pick it up. Because of what all she's missed I want to give her every opportunity to catch up. Just this week I have been getting face to face and making consonant sounds and she is already trying them out.
One thing has stayed the same, I feel that I am the most blessed person on the planet. I know all of you mommies share this feeling. My heart is just so full of love and amazement to have her in my life. There really aren't words...