Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Moffatt, Party of 5


I am going to post about meeting Rosie, but first I wanted to just throw in an update on how we're all settling in.

Rosie is doing amazingly well. Psalm 68:6 tells us that "God sets the lonely in families", and as we waited to see how old our referral would be and what our little girl would be like, we prayed repeatedly that God would bring us a child who would be the perfect fit for our family and who we would be the perfect family for. He has done that! Gareth and I continue to be amazed at just how perfectly Rosie fits into our family. She is cute enough and out-going enough to not be over-shadowed by the boys;indeed, going out has taken on a whole new dimension as now there are three little ones with me who all attract the attention of strangers. She is very like Nathan in her love of teasing and tickling and pestering, and she is very like Noah in her love of giving and getting affection. Her favorite joke at the minute is to point at one of us and shout "Ferenge" (Amharic for foreigner), and then laugh hysterically at herself. Every hour or two, she stops what she's doing and finds each of us for a hug and a kiss. She also loves to say "I love you" in Amharic.
Rosie seems to not have had any issues with time changes and sleep patterns. She sleeps for 2-3 hours in the afternoon (which is a God-send for me, as by mid-afternoon I need a little peace and quiet). At night, she sleeps for 10-12 hours, depending on whether or not the boys can stand to not wake her up as soon as they wake up. Amazingly, there is no problem with her going to bed and sleeping in her own room. I was prepared for the fact that she might be frightened to be in a room by herself, but after the first night, she sleeps through without so much as a whimper.
She is doing great in the foreign food department, too. We have discovered that she DOES NOT like rice and is not a big fan of string cheese or chocolate, but otherwise she eats everything. Sometimes she is a little reluctant to try, but as soon as we were home I instituted the "3 bite rule". She has to try 3 bites of everything on her plate, and with the exception of the rice and string cheese, she has had her 3 bites and then carried on to polish off the whole plate. She has a real hunger for protein and is making up for any lack of protein in her diet in Ethiopia. She also loves fresh fruit and vegetables. Yesterday, we caught the boys feeding her their carrot sticks during their picnic. Nice try!
Lest you think she is too good to be true, we have also had several meltdowns. She doesn't like to be told no, and if she gets angry she knows how to glare and pout with the best of them! Fortunately, she is settled well enough now, that she no longer rejects being held or refuses to look at us if Gareth or I need to tell her no or stop her from taking things away from the boys.
The boys are doing great, too. I'm so proud of them. They adore her, and look after her so well. Rosie still doesn't really like to share toys, but they have been very tolerant of her and are helping her so much. Last night while we stood in line at Sam's Club, I turned around and caught all 3 of them just hugging and kissing on each other for ages. They love to show her how things are done, and Nathan reminds her often to chew with her mouth closed! Noah is very protective of her, and keeps a watch on her almost constantly. Rosie loves to boss the boys around, but currently it's all in Amharic so they don't mind.
At church on Sunday, several people remarked that Gareth looked about 3 feet taller than normal. He is such a proud Daddy! Rosie is very much her daddy's girl. She adores him, and it's pretty obviously mutual. She loves to get dressed and then to go show him how she looks. Yesterday, I caught him eating peanuts because she wanted to feed him, and Gareth hates peanuts!
As for me, I'm great. I finally feel like I'm catching up from the jet lag. I am having to adjust to a whole new noise level in the house and the fact that I now have 3 children who want my attention all at once which means 3 children trying to talk at the same time in 2 different languages, and my windows are constantly filthy as Rosie just has to rub her hands all over them, but that is a small price to pay for the joy of watching the kids together and learning to be a family of 5.
We went out to eat after church on Sunday, and when the hostess called for "Moffatt, party of 5", I just couldn't stop grinning. It was the best sound ever!
Being a family of children aged 5,4 and 3 is definitely going to be busy and very loud, but we are so happy to be together.

3 comments:

  1. Sarah, it sounds like everyone is adjusting amazingly well! I have been praying that is how it would be. Your story has brought tears to my eyes more than once. I pray that things only get better and better!! Thanks for all the little details, I love em!!

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  2. Thanks for the great update. I've been anxiously waiting to hear how the transition is going. Sounds like you got a preciousl little girl.

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