Week 4

This week was just a normal week. Finally! We just hung out, went to the lake, the pool, feed our koi, feed the birds, walked the dogs, and stayed home and did nothing. It was relaxing and enjoyable to finally just be. Laina and Jeremy played together well at times (they like to play Tom and Jerry) and sometimes Laina wanted to play by herself and would spend some time playing "pretend." It is amazing how quickly she has become part of our family and so integrated into our everyday lives. I just expect her to be there.

We went to the local carnival and when we pulled in Laina's eyes grew big and she squealed with delight. She then turned and gave me a big kiss and hug. She is tall enough (56") to go on all the crazy, big rides. We stuck with the little kid rides since Jeremy and Remy (Sandy's son) were to small. But, she soon got bored and begged to go on the bigger rides. I told her that I could not go on with her because I get sick. She said it was okay for her to go on alone. And she did, that brave soul. Before the ride started, she looked alittle scared and I wish I was able to handle those types of rides so that I could comfort her. But as soon as the ride started, so did her smile!

I received a call that her "house" director was flying into Newark and then changing planes to fly to Atlanta. It was suggested that I go and meet her to help her find her next flight, and also to make an impression. She does have a say as to whether or not we could adopt Laina. Well, I am not sure what type of impression I made, and I hope it was good, but I just couldn't tell. She spoke very little English, but seemed very nice. She spoke a lot to Laina, and I heard a lot of "Mama" and "Papa," but not sure what she was telling her! Yikes! It was stressful.

Laina needed a haircut and I thought she would enjoy going to the beauty parlor (who doesn't!). When we told her she was going to get her haircut, she exclaimed, "NO!" I was shocked. I looked up hairdresser again in my book and made sure it was the right word. Again, she said, "No!" and motioned that they were going to buzz her hair short. I explained to her that they were only going to take off a little bit, and she said she would only go if Jeremy went. So he did and she did, and Craig said that as soon as she realized that they were not going to cut off all her hair, she really got into it and relished in the attention. This does explain her reaction of one time when she had to go to the bathroom and there was a barber shop close by. When I opened the door, there were several men getting their hair buzzed. She panicked and said, "NO!" I thought it was because of all the men, but the poor thing probably thought she was going to have her hair buzzed!