Celebrating our one year anniversary at our favorite VN restaurant.
W
ell somehow we made it. Today marks our one year anniversary since Adoption Day. One Year ago we became a family. Hard to think that there was a time the kids were not with us. Impossible to imagine when they weren't here running around, demanding something, getting into mischief, saying how much David Lum Daddy, Emma Lum mommy (love).I wish i could find a way to express all the happiness, surprise, concern, thrills that have been part of our life this last year. I look at the peapods two, and can't believe how big they've grown. They are getting along so well with their language development, and no question they are American kids now... every toy they see yields a request of "OOOOhhh David want that mommy". or Emma's emphatic: EMMA'S!
So much has happened in our lives. I wish so much I could go back to those first few weeks in Vietnam. If only i knew then what i know now. I would have been infinitely more patient with David. He had such a terrible time adjusting to those massive changes. I would have remembered to use that baby carrier we dragged all over Vietnam and spent so much money on and never used once! I would have enjoyed and savored every little second of our first few days together. We played the videos of our time in Vietnam for the kids recently. David watched with a smile the scenes of us in the hotel. He watched intensely the scenes from the orphanage... a little guarded and gone was his smile. Emma on the other hand was quickly bored and went off in search of some new adventure. Maybe she was too young to remember much of her past and seems to have little interest in it now.
Adoption Day is a lot like a wedding. You have this huge lead up to it.... then the day comes and it goes by in such a swirl. You think.. was i really there? do i remember anything about that day? it was over so quickly it seems. But i look at my napping Emma and i remember her crying hysterically when we were in the municipal building. how the nanny tried to hold and comfort her but i walked right up to her and took my child into my arms. How i held her and rocked her. wow, even then the bond was so incredibly strong. I wish we could travel back and i could show all the wonderful nannies how well our two are doing.
So much has happened and so much more will happen in our lives. All those "firsts" still to come. like when David finally feels confident enough to speak up in school. Or when Emma decides she no longer needs to be held by me or sit on my lap. Some will be good some will be hard. I wish i could capture all these precious moments. hold them in a jar. so i could look at them and remember when they were ohhh so little. before they became big kids. before they learned to do things on their own. I'm in no rush for them to grow up... but i do love the progress they make each day. I can't wait for them to (re) learn their Vietnamese language. I've been telling David how special this day is. how on this day, mommy and daddy flew (airplane, right mommy?) to Vietnam and asked the wonderful people there if David and Emma could come home with us. how we loved them so much. How we became a family. David always repeats Family?... yes David we are now a family.
