First visit to house January 21, 2011

1/21/11

Today was the first time “O” came to our house and met the dogs! It went really well. Mika (foster mom) and “J” (foster brother) stayed during the visit, which lasted about 2 1/2 hours. She was very interested in looking all around the house, and very serious while walking around. She still has not been told what's going to happen, or that her room is HER room. But we think she definitely senses something, and is probably a lot more aware than what we give her credit for. After touring the living room and kitchen, it was time to go back to her room. I did not say, "let's look at your room", I just introduced it as, "you wanna see this room?". She walked in and lit up when she saw the baby in the baby stroller (thanks Sarah and Chris!). She pushed it for a bit and then did a slow walk around the room, noticed the pictures on the wall, and then when she got to the bed, pointed to it and looked at me saying "you make this for me?". My heart skipped a beat and I think I just replied with "you like it?"

She was not afraid of the dogs at all. Dolly LOVED her and kept giving her kisses on the face. She quickly learned to say, "no more kisses, Dolly!" She threw the ball for Cash (who pretty much sniffed her once and then ignored her to go find the ball). She and Blaine picked snap peas and carrots, washed them off together at the hose, and then ate them directly from the garden. She even shared with Dolly:)

Blaine and “O” played a game of opening/closing the door, saying hello and goodbye, walking down the hallway and shake hands/tell a joke (some of the pictures show this).

Other funny things: she likes her food in separate groups (as you can see in the photo of her eating her snack), when told to "ask nicely" when she wants something, she says "nicely". She loved the princess sippy cup with a straw from Chris and Sarah, and used it to drink 3 full cups of water. Part of the game that she and Blaine played was that he would leave the room and start snoring somewhere in the house. She would listen and go find him. I was telling Mika that Blaine actually does snore quite loudly, and that sometimes I have to tell him to roll over. Right after I told Mika that, “O” went to find him and said, "roll over!"

Tomorrow Mika is bringing her back for a morning visit and will leave her here for a few hours (yikes!).

-joni