I feel like a lot has happened since I've last written here. Many of you know by now that about a week ago we finally received a date of April 1 for the official termination of Elizabeth's parental rights! I almost cried when I got the call from the attorney. Then there is a minimum 30-day waiting period after that before we can go to the court to have the adoption finalized. So the attorney thinks we have a good shot of having the adoption finalized sometime in May! In the meantime I have been doing a lot of research on converting Sami to Judaism, followed by having a baby naming for her at the synagogue. I am still assuming this will all take place during the summer, and I'm hoping it will be closer to the beginning of the summer than the end. Sami will either be converted Conservative or Orthodox. My feeling is to have her converted by the most observant form of Judaism as possible, so that later there is no question she is Jewish, as the different movements of Judaism do not all honor the other's conversion processes.
Sami and I have began to go to a Mommy & Me class on Monday mornings that we both love. At four-and-a-half months old, Sami is the youngest member, but there is another baby who is 7 months old. Sami is drawn to other babies, and laughs and smiles whenever she sees one. On Friday, we visited my friend Stacey, and her daughter, Hannah, who is 5 weeks older than Sami. They had a great time, and when we put them next to each other on the activity mat Sami and Hannah couldn't stop holding hands. It was so sweet to watch. Sami and I have also joined a local Mom's Club and met some of the other mothers on Thursday, and will be seeing them again on Wednesday for a picnic in the park around lunchtime. The Mom's Club is a national organization with chapters all over the country. Its mission is to reach out to mothers who choose to stay at home with the children instead of working full time outside the home, and they have activities almost every weekday so that if you have a day in which you feel the need to get out of the house with your child and visit with other mothers and children the opportunity is there. The activities are either free or very low in cost. I have met some really nice women there already, most of whom live nearby.
Working from home and taking care of Sami simultaneously is still challenging, but still so worth it to me. I love being with her all of the time, and am grateful to not have to take her to daycare at this time. I love being there for every laugh and smile, and yes even all of her screaming and crying moments.
Sami is doing pretty well with her slow transition to baby food, and has been eating rice cereal for breakfast. For dinner she has so far tried apples and sweet potatoes, and I think she prefers the sweet potatoes over the apples. On Sunday, it is time to try something new. She is an extremely messy eater, and for some reason she finds the need to try to shove her entire hand in her mouth along with the food, and then take her hand out and wipe it on her head and in my hair. After each meal she needs a bath and I need another shower. She is still getting most of her nutrition from her bottles/formula, of course, but it's a nice to change to have her eating baby food.
Sami takes very little, if any, naps during the day now. If she does fall asleep during the day, it's a 15-20 minute catnap at best. But she is sleeping around 7 to 9 hours each night, which has been really nice. Her most recent sleep schedule has been averaging from around 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. She is still sleeping in our room, and I am starting to prepare myself of the idea to transition her to sleep in her room in her crib. I think it may be more difficult for me than for her to not have her close at night. I will miss knowing she is in the room and hearing her soft breathing at night.
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