Little Miss Independent!

In light of the holiday this past week, Independence Day, our little angel has proved day after day that she wants to be "Independent" and when she says "Adoo" -- which means "I can do it" in 2 y.o. speech, it is true!

This morning, she must have pulled out 9 or 10 shirts, put one by one on and then changed to another, and then proceeded to put on one pair of shoes, and then another, and another. I was starting to think my daughter was just being very indecisive but then realized --- when we saw her in Russia, she usually wore the same thing every other day and always had the same pair of shoes or boots on! How wonderful it is now to have choices and access to variety!

At the entrance to the Grupa in the orphanage, all the "outdoor" shoes await little feet! Kristina's red boots (with Garfield on them) are at the very upper left of this photo.

Kristina trying on ALL her shoes. (I think Kristina's friends -- Olivia, Nico, and cousin, Cassidy, may recognize some of the shoes!)

I had a good laugh yesterday when Trish and Tony shared a photo of one of their little girls who they are adopting from Ekat right now. She's in the same orphanage that Kristina was in. There she was ~~ wearing the same dress that Kristina was wearing when our Coordinator took a picture of Kristina last October! I think I posted part of the picture (no doubt, headless back then....) but here is the picture of Kristina last October wearing the dress that is still getting love from Trish and Tony's little girl.

Our coordinator took this photo of Kristina in October, 2008 - about a month after we first met Kristina and six months before we'd see her again!

Getting back to Miss Independent, here are a few things that she insists on doing alone (and as an OT, I'm certainly not one to complain!).

Our morning ritual (getting dressed) until her attention is diverted to a doll behind her bed.

Kristina putting on a shirt...with determination!

A child who LOVES to brush her teeth (I think it's the taste of the toddler gel but we'll stick with the idea that she is a dentist's dream come true!).

Loves chicken noodle soup ~ minus the chicken and the noodles!

Kristina loves to cut up her food ~ this way her fingers don't get "messy."

If Kristina spills something (which is often), she'll run to get a sponge or paper towels. Yeah - we'll enjoy this while it lasts....

I'm sure Grammy appreciated the fact that Kristina cleaned up after we visited the Ranch when in Florida.

Our very own personal "porter" when traveling --- gotta love it!

I'll spare everyone of the independence with potty training although I have to jump in when she tries to go on her own. I found her carrying around her potty "bucket" wanting to dump it but I had the toilet lid lock on! Whew - mini diaster averted but it opened my eyes to keep them more focused on her at all times!

Being two years old, we feel that we've really missed out on coddling our "baby" and doing things for her, especially since she is so independent. At times when she gets "lazy" and guides my hand to her spoon to feed her, I jump at the chance. Perhaps all 2 year olds can do the above tasks, but for us -- it's still so new and we just feel so blessed and in awe when we see her learn something new every day. And every day holds for us more surprises!