Settling In

I think Toma and I are getting used to each other. Sometimes she will lean on me, the way kids do, but it tells me she is accepting me and her new family. I look at her and see a teenage girl. She has grown so much since we first met her back in 2007.
Toma's glasses will be here next week. I saw the Doc at work and he stressed how bad her astigmatism was. She is almost fourteen and has never worn glasses, even as bad as her eyesight is. You can't learn if you can't see.

Papa Dennis

Three Weeks Home.

I noticed June has not made a post. Things are progressing better than I had hoped for. Little by little, Toma is becoming part of the family and is even growing closer to her Papa. I bought a car from Midland County, and took an overnight trip to pick it up. When I got home, I could tell she had actually missed me. Y E S! A good thing. Today we took a drive in our old, new car and had lunch specials at the Mexican Restaurant. Miss Karina has not reached two years with us yet. She too is still adjusting and beginning to understand that she does not control the universe. Besides, that job has been taken for years by my first born daughter.

17 Days Home

It has been over two weeks now. Last night I think we had a breakthrough with our new daughter, Tamara. She has not been completely happy and we believe she has been testing us. A few days ago during her late night anxiety time, she said she wasn't my daughter and I wasn't her father. She also wanted to go back to the orphanage. Not exactly what you want to hear. Karina was so much easier for me. Toma has never been close to me at all. I get a corporate hug when I get home from work and that is it.
Last night we had a slight confrontation and later she came to me and hugged me and told me she was sorry, and she loved me. It wasn't the corporate hug I am used to and consider it a milestone. Today she seems to be more relaxed. I think maybe she is starting to trust us just a little. How can this little girl believe that this new family is forever, when all she has ever known is abandonment and disappointment? She is making progress.

Papa