Did you know that Piper's official name is Chaltu Dennis Elliott? Poor thing. They gave her her Dad's name as her middle name. He doesn't like the name for himself, much less his daughter. I am going to call the lawyer this week to get that readoption ball rolling. Anyone know a ballpark figure on that? I'm skeered!
This weekend we went to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch in San Antonio (or at least outside of S.A.). It was really neat. The kids loved seeing the animals up close and got to feed them. The ostriches were a scary bunch and pushy, too, so we had to roll up the window quick on them.
This past month has been such a whirlwind. Piper has done amazingly well and it's getting better every day. She has learned some limits and responds well to time out. The swatting is getting less and less and now when she does it, she catches herself and sometimes, just sometimes, will stop herself. I consider that a success! We have been one sick family the entire month. Just this morning I woke up with double pink eye. Thankfully it is just me. I will wash my hands and not smear eye gunk on anyone. Please, please, please, don't let anyone else get it...I HATE pink eye. It is so hard to deal with at their young, gross-touch-and-share-everything ages. Brodan had the puke and poop twice, Cam had it once. Piper with her parasites and fungus. Busy busy busy...
I saw on Tami's blog the other day the question on how I will incorporate Piper's heritage as an Ethiopian and her future self as an African American into her life. How will I teach her or learn with her about the cultures she represents. That is a lot to chew on and there are so many answers that I don't have time to write them all down. I have many in mind, but I am sure there will be more ways than I can think of now, as she grows and I learn. When I read the book "In their own voices", I learned one thing. It is that it is vital that I extend us into the African American community so that she has a sense of belonging no matter where she is, but especially amongst other African Americans. No parent wants their child to be looking from the outside,in. Hopefully, we can do our part to instill in her the confidence she needs to participate whenever, wherever, and with whomever.
1 comment:
Rachel,
Couple of things ... We just called the readoption attorney ourselves. $965 attorney's fee, and then we have to do the fingerprint thing again ($30). Your 3 month post-placement will work as the new homestudy. I was expected a LOT more $ ... maybe this is just the tip of the iceburg?
As for the other stuff, I too have been thinking about that. Our town is pretty homogenous but getting more diverse every week. We have land in a smaller town not far from here (just as homogenous) and were going to build a house there soon, but I am now thinking maybe we should stay here, since the diversity is growing.
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