Arsema's Reflections of 6 Months Home!

Mommy thought you might like hearing about my six months at home from my perspective! I have lots to share.

My new family had been well-warned that I was slow to warm up to strangers. They had no idea how hard that would be. I was so scared, not understanding what was happening to me. Poor Daddy ... I was really rough on him those first weeks. I gave a whole new meaning to the term "cold shoulder", it was more like frozen. Oh, but you should see us now! My daddy is about my most favorite person is the whole world! I save my best giggles for him when he comes home from work. He teaches me all sorts of fun little tricks and I even love his whiskery kisses.

Since our house still hasn't sold, Daddy decided it was time to move me up to my own room. Can you believe it? ... he was done sharing his bedroom with me! It's probably better this way, because mommy was right, his snoring woke me up. I am SUCH a good sleeper. You may have heard that my big sister hardly slept the first two years of life, aging my mommy & daddy a great deal! Now that I'm all settled in here with my family, I'm a pro-sleeper. We're talking 12 hours at night and a nice afternoon nap. It really helps my mommy keep her sanity.

I have some fooled as being SO "easy-going". One set of my grandparents think I'm really mild-mannered. They'll probably eventually see that deep down I really have some spunk! All is well, unless it's time to sleep and my bed is no where around (like long days into the city). Then I truly just LOSE-IT! A girl's gotta get her sleep, ya know? OR ... when I don't get my way. I can REALLY put up a good fuss!

Everyone wants to know how things are going with me and my big sister. Well, between you and me, I think she's been intimidated by my size. I'm not all that much smaller. And ... if we're being really honest, then I have to say that I'm kind of a cry-baby. It's true. Back in the Gladney Center I had Mr. Belay really figured out! When he came into my room, I'd put on a good show acting like I wanted him to hold me SO MUCH. He fell for it often! But just as he'd reach in and get me out of my crib, I'd dive for my favorite care givers. I'm kinda tricky like that. Who could blame me ... I was rather sick of being in my crib. Besides, I had some of the best care givers in the whole world and I could never get enough of them holding me and loving me. Back to my big sister ... she can be a little territorial, but really we're gonna be great friends. It's hard on us both to share Mommy. Good thing Mommy has a big lap!

Did you know that I have the greatest big brothers??? I mean the BEST! They think I am pretty amazing and have taught me SO many new words! I crack them up all the time with the new things that I say. Now I'm figuring out how to put my words together and I rarely stop chattering. EXCEPT when company comes! You wouldn't believe how QUIET I can really be if I want to. Mommy says it's like I have a mute button. She wishes she could push the mute button when I'm too noisy in church!

I suppose I should tell you that one of my most favorite things still is bottle-time. Yes, I still get two bottles a day. No flack, okay? ... I came home taking at least 7 a day! I like my bottle/snuggle time about as much as Mommy loves her cup of coffee. I really love it when mommy kisses my forehead and tells me over and over again how much she loves me. We're doing our best to make up for lost time.

Mommy shows me on the computer that many of my friends at Gladney are now home with their new families too. It really took me awhile to get used to all these changes. I looked scared for awhile. I wondered if this was for real. Now I'm doing great. OH!, except for when Mommy took me to the doctor. That scared me to death. I screamed the whole time so loud that Mommy and my doctor could hardly hear each other. Mommy said it was to get papers for the court. Aren't we DONE with all those yet? It really was not necessary to scare me so badly, was it?

I LOVE music and dancing! The reason I'm screaming in a couple of these pictures is because my mommy took away my music toy in hopes I'd stop moving to get some non-blurry pictures. As you can see, I didn't like that one bit! I am even learning to sing along now and it makes my family smile really big. I especially like listening to music and dancing while I look at my favorite books. It's great fun!




That's about it I guess. It looks like I'm all settled in. Now only strangers or goofy cashiers get my timid/shy looks. Oh, I suppose I should add that I'm not really crazy about getting my hair done, but then again who is? I can really screech and fuss about that. Usually mommy gives me something amusing to play with and it's not so bad.