Happy 2nd Birthday, Dagny!

Dearest Dagny,

A year ago today, I was the saddest person in the world. It was killing me inside that I could not be with you on your first birthday. Even thou I wasn’t able to hold you in my arms, please do know that I was thinking of you every single minute. Your daddy and I got a piece of cake with a candle and we blew it out for you. I just want you to know that you were not forgotten one bit. We were with you that day in our hearts, don’t ever forget that!

Today, you are two years old. It is so weird for me to think of you in years. This past year you went through so many developmental stages and all categorized by months. So, from now on little boo, I will no longer be breaking down your age in months.

You are such a bright little cookie. You recognize your letters and you’re able to not only point to them when I ask you, but tell me what they are. You love to sing the ABC song, you still have gaps between the the letters, but you’re working on it.

Along with your letters, you also know your numbers. You have been recognizing them for a couple of months now, but now you can count in order from 1 to 10. I almost fell off my chair when I heard you doing it the first time. No joke, you stood in front of me and you started counting out loud and using your hand.

You also know your shapes. You have a puzzle that is made up of different ones. I sit with you sometimes and you love to pick a shape and tell what it is and put it in its place. The shapes are circle, rectangle, triangle, diamond, oval, octagon, and pentagon.

You are talking, talking, talking. You are not just doing the one word thing, but putting small sentence together. It’s an amazing thing to witness. What makes it even more neat is that you are understanding and responding in two languages. When I ask you in Hungarian, how old you are you respond in Hungarian, two. When I ask you the same question in English, you respond in English. That is so cool little boo. You also love to tell us “I’ll be right back” and run off to get a toy and then when you come back you say “I’m back”. You also love handing me things and saying “Here you go” with a big grin on your face.

This year you have learned so much from cognitive skills, motor skills, and social skills. I am so happy that you let us in your heart, because our hearts are overfilled with our love for you.

You are an amazing little girl. I am so proud to call you my daughter.

Seriously, when did you get so big?!

so big

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pee.
We love you so very much!

Mommy

Meeting You

Dear Dagny,

A year ago today we met each other and a love affair started.

I remember having all sorts of emotions that day, from nervousness to total calmness. I was nervous about the process but totally calm about meeting you. I had this feeling deep inside that without a doubt I was meeting my daughter.

Max, our driver, came to pick us up and drove us to the Ministry of Education (MOE) to get our official referral for you. Masha, our translator, met us there. I remember standing in the hallway waiting to be called into the room. We were called in to the room; we were the first of the day. There were two ladies in the room. Imagine the room where there was a desk that the head lady sat at and another table attached off it forming the letter T. Dad and I sat at one side of the rectangle table, Masha to the left of us, across from us was the Assistant, and the head lady to the right of us. They asked us some basic questions and then the head lady pulled out a file and in the file was this little black and white photo of this little girl. I remember feeling a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I finally saw my daughter. After giving a brief history about your background, the head lady asked us if we would like to meet you, Dad and I looked at each other and very loudly said “DA, DA, YES!”. The ladies cracked a smile and out we went.

From there we went straight to Orphanage #14. We were told that this was one of the best in the city. When we pulled up to the orphanage, my heart started to beat faster than ever. I was so excited to be meeting you. We were taken into the dance room, where Masha got your medical information and we went over it. You weren’t quite ready to meet us, you were busy having lunch. When we were done with Masha she went to get you. Your Dad and I were pacing the room back and forth. We both were so excited, we knew that our lives will forever be changed. Then the door opened and there you were in Masha’s arms. You were wearing a pink sweater. I remember your dark hair and your beautiful eyes looking around. Both your Dad and I teared up. I turned to your dad and said “I now believe in love at first sight!” I fell in love with you that moment. I really did. When Masha put you in my arms, I knew that you were my daughter forever.

My dearest Dagny you have made your father and I so happy and we hope we have done the same for you. You are our light, our heart, and our everything. We promise the very best for you. We hope to show you the world through books, travel, fun, and by being a family.

We love you so much, now and forever!

Here you are the day we met you.

1st day

Here you are today, one year later.

1 Year Later

What a difference a year makes.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Pumpkin Carving

Last night Dagny carved her first pumpkin. OK, not really, but kind of. She helped with the removal of the insides, which at times she thought was “yucky”, and at other times thinking it was cool.

Here is our Picasso designing her pumpkin.

designing

Here she is getting into it.

working hard

getting it all out

Then she moved over to Craig where the cute faces started.

She loves her Daddy

This is yucky…

yucky

…but, FUN.

FUN

I think she loved it.

I love it

The final product!

pumpkin

Barbara

Autumn Backyard Fun

Craig and I switched roles today. I went out with Dagny to rake some leaves while Craig was making Gumbo. Craig came out and joined us after awhile with our new Digital SLR Camera.

Here are some photos of the fun we had.

Beautiful Girl

YEAH

pretty

she loves it when we chase her

Hehehe

YEAH

loving the leaves

leaves are fun

Barbara