Then.......
Now...Zoe is 18 months old today and it's been 9 months since we first met her. As of today she's spent half of her life with us and from here on out she will spend more time in America and then did in China. I have conflicting emotions about that. On one hand, the past 9 months have been the happiest of my life. Eric and I marvel everyday that we were given the amazing opportunity to be Zoe's parents. She is such a joy. On the other hand I'm sad for the circumstances that made it impossible for Zoe to be raised in China. I read the blogs of adults who were adopted from other Asian countries and sometimes there is such anger in them about having been taken from their birth country and raised by Caucasian parents, often in places with few other Asian people. I hope that Zoe will grow up happy and secure in our family. I hope she knows that everyone in her life is just doing the best they know how to do..from the orphanage where she spent the first 9 months of her life, to Eric and I. I was reading a book to Zoe the other day and it's a nice poem about adoption with pictures of both a Chinese mother and a Caucasian one as well as a little Asian girl. Zoe pointed to the Caucasian woman and said, "MaMa." I know she's too young to understand, but I made sure to point out that the other lady was the little girl's China mommy and she also loved the little girl. Adoption isn't a one time decision, it's a life style..one that is often full of trial and error.
Zoe continues to do really well. She's adding new words daily and today said a funny two word phrase...she said "bye-bye dog" while she closed the door on Herman's nose. From the pictures above you can see she still loves her dog, but sometimes he's just in the way. I think she's mad at him for eating two of her crayons yesterday and causing her parents to spend $60 on a 30 second phone consultation with Animal Poison Control. Oh wait, I'm projecting my feelings on to her :)
5 comments:
What a nice post. It dawned on me yesterday that you'd reached this milestone and I know how you feel about the conflicting emotions in regards to having Zoe in the US and not in China.
Ava gets so made at our dogs when the steal her Cheerios that she dumps all over the floor.
Those pictures are fantastic!!!!
Karen
Hey, your dog shrunk!
Zoe has grown so much over the last 9 months. She is just beautiful. Sera has a similar relationship with our dog.
How fun that you have a "Then" and "Now" photo with Zoe and Herman! What a way to watch her grow!
We struggle with the same transracial feelings with Lil. I know it will be a struggle to give her an identity that transcends our Caucasian world into the African American community and I hope that she can embrace both in positive ways.
Melanie
Wow, she sure has changed and her hair is so much longer. Cute photos Cute Zoe!
I'm a little late reading this post but it was just beautiful. We haven't reached this milestone yet, but I think about it often. Thanks for sharing your thought on it.
Zoe is just so beautiful. I love seeing how big she's gotten next to Herman. So cute :-)
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