Funny Mimi =D

Things I want to remember that Mimi has said:

First word: Hola (7 months)

First full thought she was able to express: I'm hot. I want agua.(1.5 yrs old)

Recite The Lord's Prayer (sort of) 2.5 years old 

This year she has started talking so much, everyday she says something funny or silly! Here are a few of my favorite "Mimi phrases":

" it's ok, it was an accident." - anytime she breaks/spills something.

" Papi is sickyface, that's why no hair" - although we've tried to tell her otherwise, she think shawn has Cancer and that explains his lack of hair :-/

" it's 'cause,  it's 'cause...." -whenever she tries to explain why she did something she wasn't supposed to.

" I told you, I no like those pants!" - explaining why she had an accident and had to change into a skirt at daycare.

" where's my sista Molly go?" -Molly is our dog

" it's ok, you still my girl" - When I accidentally forgot her backpack at daycare.

" ohhh, mommy wearing fancy pants!" -when I wear anything other then jeans.

" Papi a prince!" - if Shawn is looking extra daper ;-)

" I want the face! I want to eat the eyes!" - on what piece of birthday cake she wanted.

" Dye" -instead of Bye, which made it extra creepy when she just said it but didn't wave (about 1yr old)

" oh no, I can't, my knee hurts" - whenever we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, like pick up her toys.

" what you said? I no understand you." - when you say something in English that she doesn't understand but once it's repeated in Spanish she gets it.

" Shake your booty! Shake your booty!" - while shaking and pointing to her booty in the middle of a Costco aisle. 

Noemi cracks me up at least once a day :)  

Thankful

In a previous post, I had mentioned how sad I was for my little girl but in fact, I'm very grateful for all that we do have and can share with her regarding her adoption.

In this month of Thanksgiving, I'd like to list just a few things I'm grateful for:

1) Noemi! For soooo many reasons. For her giggle. For her heart. For her endless energy that means she's healthy. For her anger which means she's strong-willed and hopefully will apply that in a positive manner when she grows up. For her love of learning. For her acceptance of others. Soooo many reasons.

2) I'm grateful for meeting Rosita.  Very few intercountry adoptive parents have that privilege. We may have had our issues but I had the opportunity to see Rosita and Noemi together in the good and in the bad. I was able to truly understand how and why Noemi became our daughter. I was able to hold the hand of the women who gave us the greatest privilege ever, that of parenting beautiful Noemi. 

3) I'm grateful for knowing Noemi's medical history.  If something were ever to arise, I'm grateful we have the referral report and we were able to chat with Grandpa Peter. He has already given us insight into how and why he adopted Rosita and that's invaluable information. 

4) I'm grateful for our wonderfully supportive family. Every single person, on both sides of our families, have accepted and welcomed Noemi with open arms and with no judgement. And if they haven't, they've kept it to themselves and have never made any negative comments towards her or us. 

5) I'm grateful for our wonderfully supportive friends. Our friends, new and old, have stood by our side and helped us grow as a family. Their genuine interest in her adoption story and development has helped us understand how unique and special our little family truly is.

6) I'm grateful for those who did make inappropriate/hurtful comments. They helped me realize who is really important in our lives right now and helped me learn to stand up for my family. I also believe they didn't understand how it could hurt our feelings at a time. I honestly didn't know, myself, how sensitive we'd be to other people's comments but I'm glad we found out and now know how to react. 

7) I'm grateful for our Minnesota Marshallese group. Although, we spend most of our time chasing Noemi, I'm thankful when I can sit back, listen and learn from others going through the same things we are.  Their support and understanding is incomparable since they know exactly what you're going through in regards to birthfamily, adoption identity issues, and the general development of squirrelly toddlers and preschoolers.

8) I'm grateful for YouTube! We watch YouTube all the time to see "majuro" videos. We've learned so much about the Marshallese culture just from those videos. Noemi now knows and sings Marshallese children songs. I've been able to translate 2 of them so far and I love singing them in both languages with her. We watch beat dancing. We watch people singing. We watch people dancing and laughing. And most importantly, I think, we watch people who are happy even with the little that they have. 

I could go on and on but obviously, I have to cut the list somewhere.

We're truly blessed to have been able to adopt from such a unique program. We're blessed to be a tri-cultural family. We're blessed to add a new culture to our lives, that we honestly try to incorporate as much as we incorporate our Mexican and Swedish traditions. 

We are Thankful every. single. day.

I just like this picture :)

3 years old!

Little Noemi is officially a big 3 year old! She requested a mermaid party complete with a "chocolate cake that's pink with a mermaid". Although it was 90' outside, I think everyone had a good time :)

Who's Mimi's Mommy?

She not quite 3 years old but the questions have started.  They started easy enough, "Mommy brown. Mimi brown. Daddy pink? Mimi pink?" We explained that we all have different skin colors and tones and even though Mommy and Mimi are brown, we are different browns and that's ok because that makes us each special.

But yesterday's question caught me off guard.

Noemi and I were in the kitchen. While I prepared dinner, Mimi played with the magnets and pictures on the fridge.  We have random pieces of Mimi art and family pictures of cousins, grandparents and friends at her eye level. We also have a picture of Rosita (Noemi's birthmom) holding Mimi as an infant.  I noticed that she had stopped playing and was studying the picture.  I explained like I had many times in the past, "That's Mama Rosita and baby Mimi!" She stared at the picture and with tears in her eyes asked "Rosita Mimi's mommy?" There was so much sadness and confusion in her voice.  My heart ached for my little girl as I watched it all dawn on her that she had another mommy who was not here.  I knelt down next to my princess and answered, "Yes, you have two mommies.  When you were a baby, you were in Mama Rosita's tummy." She leaned into me and hugged me but continued staring at the picture.  I continued, "she loved you so much she wanted to share you with mommy and daddy so you could live in Minnesota instead of Majuro".  She hugged me tighter and buried her head into my shoulder. We sat there for a few moments holding each other then she sighed and let go.  I asked her if she was sad and she said "yes".  I told her that everyone on that fridge loved her very much and that it was ok if she was sad.  She laughed, stretched and called me a pickle head.  All was right again in the world of a 2 year old. 

I'm not sure if I answered her question in accordance with the adoption books; I'm not sure if it even made any sense to her.  All I know is that the questions are starting and it makes me sad.  I'm sad that I don't know what to say. I'm sad that she was so hurt. I'm sad that at 2 years old she's trying to process her identity. Like most adoptive parents, I had rehearsed a million times in my head what I would say when that first question came. I always pictured it as a casual, "Mommy, when I was a baby, was I in your tummy?" kinda question. Then I would casually reply,"No, my tummy was broken and Mama Rosita loved you so much she decided it would be nice to share you with us"- or something along those lines. I never pictured kneeling on my kitchen floor hugging my sad 2 year old. 

We have not skyped with our birthmother like others families have. I'm wondering if it is now time. We've expressed interest before but have not been able to set up a time.  I think she needs to be reassured that she's loved and that Rosita is ok. We talk about Majuro and tell her the story of when we went to Majuro on an airplane (she loves airplanes!) to bring her home.  I have a feeling the next time I tell the story she's going to be listening more intently and ask more questions. 

We're on this journey together. Sometimes we'll laugh and I guess sometimes we'll cry but we'll do it as a family. A family that God created for a reason. 

Learn more about The Marshall Islands

Here's a link to the Marshall Island's Visitor Authority's website and their latest visitor guide: http://www.visitmarshallislands.com/images/download/MIVA-GUIDE-2013.pdf Lots of cool information about the RMI and beautiful pictures too.

Mimi has a problem..

No no no..... Mimi's PARENTS have a problem! We have a 2 1/2 year old who is definitely showing her defiant personality these days! Oy-vay! A very snippy "NnnnO" is what we hear all day and a constant battle between pants and no pants, nap and no nap, food and no food.

She's most happy these days strutting around the house in a pair of my heels (kids/princess/dress up heels just don't cut it) and insists that her pants be rolled up above the knees when doing so. I have no idea where she gets that from! I swear I don't walk around the house in my shiny stilettos and shorts! And i really don't think she's learned it from Curious George either, although maybe I missed the episode of George being curious..... ;)

She still sings her heart out to whatever is playing and her favorite songs are "I knew you were trouble"-Taylor Swift and "A-Team"-Ed Sheenan. I admit they're a little adult, especially a-team but she loves them so much and sounds so cute singing them that I figure what's the true harm... I mean really, she's 2. At this point she's just learning vocabulary and pronunciation not so much context, right??

We mastered potty training a couple weeks ago and have had just a couple accidents since. She loves pointing out everywhere she has potty-ed. "Chuch E Cheese, Mimi potty there!" "We go Target? Mimi potty Target!". I should make her a push pin map of all the places she's gone to the bathroom in :)

Let's see, what else is new with Ms.Mimi.... She was quite sick a few weeks ago :( She had pneumonia, an ear infection, an eye infection and a stomach bug all at the same time! She recovered like a champ and was making up for lost down time for a while there! She was non-stop jumping and climbing and dancing and running. It was great to see :)

I guess the other big news is that Noemi as signed to a modeling agency! Meredith Talent and Models called us and said they wanted to represent her. I had sent in her info months ago after a friend suggested that her exotic look might be in demand these days and boom, one day out of the blue they call us, we meet, they like her look and voice, love that she's bilingual, we do some headshots and she's signed! The color picture is her current headshot and the black & white is from a recent kemem :) Thanks again Kari for the shot- I love it!

I still can't figure out how to post videos off my iPad but I'll attempt again over spring break.

Take care everyone! Oh and again, please feel free to ask questions, reach out or leave a comment :)