I've Been Home for 2 Months!

Time  is passing so quickly. I can't even believe that Grace has been home for 2 months! After raising 3 sons, I realize how easy it is to get so busy as a parent that you forget to stop and appreciate the blessings that are all around you. Today, I just want to take note of what makes Grace extra special:

1. She is a survivor. Through the past 2 months I have started to really realize how much Grace has fought to overcome, and I marvel daily at her zest for living. I sometimes watch her and wonder about her experiences during the past 5 years. In my heart I know that there were angels watching over her and she was not ever alone, but this week I wondered if anyone here on earth loved her during those long months when she was in the hospital. Somehow against all odds, she kept a gentle spirit.
2. She has a way of making everyone she meets smile. At times I wondered if this was a survival mechanism...being cute and lovable helps you to get what you need in an orphanage...but I truly think that she just has a loving heart. I hope that she is learning to trust family, and I hope that some day she will distinguish between the loving care of her family and the temporary attention of strangers. I don't want to stifle her energy and overflowing love, but it is important for her to form a special bond with us.
3. For a child who has lived with lack, she is very generous. Even when we were in Bulgaria, she would offer us bites of her food, help us finish our work, and share. She doesn't know the word "share," but she does it naturally. She will give her shakers to kids who are crying at Baby Talk, hand buckets to Mommy and Daddy from the bathtub to play with, and give gifts without concern for herself..
4. Grace has a servant heart. She wipes off the table, covers up her dolls and family members with blankets, pushes the snow shovel with Daddy, helps to fix broken toys, sets the table, folds the clothes, makes her bed, helps Adam sort his laundry, tries to get uncooperative children to sit on the rug in Sunday School, is troubled by crying babies and says "ne plachi" with a sad look on her face, reminds people to put on hats and button up their coats when they go outside, and likes to help make dinner.
5. She doesn't like for people to leave. She walks outside, even when it is freezing to say, "It's cold outside, as te obichem, Gracie wave, die me kiss, and I love you," as Adam leaves for work or relatives come to visit. She stands at the window watching every car leave, talks about when that person will return and where they are going, and asks over and over about where they are going. Sometimes she sounds like a worried mother asking 100 questions before her teenager leaves for the evening. She remembers the special people in her life and still talks about Leelee and Neska from the orphanage, her friend Emanwewe, and her aunts, uncles, and cousins that she sees infrequently.
6. She is observant. She knows when we are headed to church and even plays a game of "Where is it?" She knows that she sees K.J. at church and looks for him, she identifies the UPS, FedEx, and the daily mail vehicles as mail trucks, notices every truck, car, and schoolbus on the road, can walk directly to any restroom that she has previously visited without taking a wrong turn, and puts her toys and clothes in exactly the same place everyday. When the trash gets close to the top of the can, she pulls out the bag, picks up all of the cans around the house and empties them into the kitchen bag so it is ready to take to the garage. I never have to remember when to clean anymore, because Grace will notice and tell me if something is dirty.
7. She shows her love freely. She throws her arms wide and says, "Die me kiss" so that Mommy and Daddy will kiss her cheeks simultaneously while she sings, "I love you. As te obichem" over and over with us. She meets Daddy at the door with shouts of "Daddy's home, Daddy's home" and squeezes in between us anytime we kiss. She smiles back at me when she is sucking her thumb and rocking with me in the chair before bed as if she just can't contain all of her joy. 
8. She is very polite. She says, "Bless you" anytime you sneeze, and says, "Thank you" without prompting. She even says, "Thank you" when she hands you something as if to remind you that you should say it to her. When I help her get dressed in the morning she says, "Thank you, Mommy!" and reminds us to say, "You're welcome" if we forget.
9. She learns quickly. Already she uses over 300 English words and will repeat nearly anything that you say to her. She has the cutest Bulgarian accent, though, so it is difficult for others to understand her sometimes as some of the sounds, like long o, seem to come from deep in her throat. She also pronounces some English words like our translators in Bulgaria did, such as "shoes" with the /s/ sound instead of /z/ at the end. I also like the way she uses Bulgarian and English words contiguously in her sentences. She will say, "Tichay running," or "Iash eat," like she is making those language connections all the time. We spent a week trying to keep track of all the words that she knows and uses and her vocabulary exceeds 300 words. Here is our list: