For the Love of Savanna

My Mom to me: "I went to a different salon to get my hair done and I had an uncomfortable encounter with the hair stylist. She asked me if I had any grandchildren. I told her I had ONE beautiful granddaughter that came into our lives 4 months ago. I told her, with pride, that you adopted Savanna from Guatemala."

Hair stylist to Mom: "What color is your daughter's (my) skin?"

My Mom to hair stylist: "She is very fair, like me".

Hair stylist to Mom: "Why didn't she adopt a White baby from here (California) then?" (Like California only has White people? It's the most racially and culturally diverse state in the US!)

My Mom to hair stylist: "She has always wanted to adopt a baby since she was a little girl. And, adopting in the US can go on for years and is unpredictable. Guatemala was the best choice for Betsy." (Guatemala was the only country available for a single woman to adopt from)

Hair stylist: "But your daughter's skin is white and the baby's is brown".

Me to Mom: "I'm not sure how to respond. I feel sad for the hair stylist because she is so limited in her mindset. On the other hand, not wanting to parent a baby because the color of their skin is different than mine? What a complete IGNORAMOUS!"

I am not making light of the need to be sensitive to the racial and cultural differences with our internationally adopted children. The "differentness" can cause our children to be "singled out" and hurt. These situations need to be handled with wisdom and sensitivity. But come on, not to parent/love a baby who needs a home, because of his/her skin color?

You can WALK! You can take ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR steps all by yourself. I am so proud of you.

Oh, oh, mercy me... what is she into now?!

Gotta go.

Happy 10 months Savanna! Each month you get more and more beautiful. You are a ray of sunshine and I am so grateful to be your Mom.

You now have two bottom teeth and one upper incisor. It looks very funny when you laugh or smile. Of course, I try to make you laugh a lot of the time just so I can see those pretty 1/2 tooth stubs.

You are standing by yourself now and I have a hunch that in a week or two you will be walking all by yourself. Right now you walk by holding on to my one finger on one hand. I will have to admit, you look pretty drunk each step you take.

Granny Goose is teaching you about where your nose is and where her nose is and you think this is so doggone funny. Your Aunt Billy Goat is teaching you the word "duck" probably because everything that walks is a  "dog" to you.

You love to give open mouth kisses to your Granny, Patti, me, and your baby doll.

You have become pretty attached to your bunny blanket and wiggle your legs and arms in delight every time you see it. Your favorite toys are cars.

Diaper changing is still a HUGE challenge because you don't like to stay still long enough for me to velcro your diapers (and I'm very fast too).

I have found a nice one-story house in a wonderful neighborhood for you. You will have a great time playing in the big back yard. The schools are excellent. To say the least, your Mom has been very busy packing and you are getting tired of it. You want ALL of her attention. Mom can't wait to get settled into the new house so she can spend nearly all her time with you. (I move around July 13th).

I got an email from your fmom, Aura, yesterday. She is missing you terribly and so is Chrisopher, her 3 year old son. I don't think she got the letter and pictures I sent to her 2 weeks ago. So I wrote her (with the help of freetranslation.com) another letter to let her know about how you are doing. I am so glad so many people love you and want to be part of your life.

I love you baby girl,

Mom

  (Double click on the picture to enlarge) Yes, I know, I don't know when to stop with the pictures. But, I just love having Savanna's pictures taken. The gals at Sears LOVE to take her pictures too. I just HAD to share them!

Okay, update... Savanna did pretty well last week at the baby sitter's. She did a few things I had to talk to her about... like spitting peas in the face of the baby sitter, Patti; pulling the dickens out of a 7 months old gilr's hair, taking off her diaper in the middle of the room and peeing all over the floor, screaming bloody murder every time Patti answered the phone, and taking Jake's (2 1/2 year old) cars and shoving them under the entertainment center. Other than that, she did great!

My girl loves to play with cars. I think I've got a "Tom Boy"! Well, Tom Boys know how to have more FUN! I know, because I was one. It's really strange how much Sassy Savanna is like me even though she is not of my womb. I think we are a PERFECT match! I love her so.

As for me, I'm getting used to the routine of work, play, and home. I'm a bit tired because life is go, go, go, busy, busy, busy, ALL of the time. By 7 p.m. I'm ready to hit the sack (I don't of course, because I need to prepare for the next day).

Hope all my RL and internet buddies are well and happy.