Living, Laughing, Learning…Daily
Apparently either people over the age of about 65 are either color blind or the pink/blue stereotypes weren’t set in stone when they were younger.
Case in point: the babe is usually in head to toe pink, now that it’s cold, she’s covered, literally, by a pink hat, a bunting blanket and a fleece blanket. Saturday night at the symphony, and this morning at church, several well meaning elderly ladies asked me “how old is he?” “is it a boy or a girl?” “what’s his name?” It’s a little nuts.
Over the weekend we put up the tree. The babe watched intently as we put the branches on (not the most natural, I’ll admit, but stay with me) hung the star and strung up the lights.
The first two ornaments to go on were hers–keepsake gifts sent by loving friends. I hung the beautiful Lenox giraffe inscribed with her name first, then the crystal booties w/ the pink bow. And I stood back, and realized that was all our tree needed.
Now, of course, we continued to put up the rest of the ornaments– from vacations and assorted other places. Most of them have a story to tell. But each time I look at the tree, I see the giraffe and the booties first.
And the music…..I’ve heard all the carols 1000 times, but heard “What Child is This?” for the first time with our babe in my arms…they always say Christmas is for children, but as far as I can tell, it’s for moms too.
On Thursday we’ll dress up, gather the cameras and the grandparents, and head downtown for baby Kahuna’s adoption finalization. I know it’s a big deal, but it feels like more of a formality than anything. And an opportunity to write another check!! She’s been ours since the day we brought her home, in every which way we can think of. The lawyer told me on the phone that he’ll have to ask a few questions in front of the judge–have we been convicted of crimes involving children, and do we understand that from this moment on baby Kahuna has all the rights of a “natural” child. So if one of us dies, the other can’t nulify the adoption. I don’t think that should be an issue!
We haven’t told the birthfamily about this court date–I think they know that the adoption would be finalized before the end of the year. They waived all rights to notice of future legal proceedings, and their paperwork is done. I feel funny sharing the news with them. I know they won’t suddenly want to contest the adoption or anything, but we aren’t planning on mentioning anything til after the 1st.
Our first visit since the hospital is next Friday- so we may mention it in an offhanded way then.