COATS, SNOWMEN, SANTA....

Good news...we found a coat that Mekdes likes--yahoo!  Every time we have been in a store with winter apparel, I will hold up a coat and ask Mekdes if she likes it.  For weeks, the answer has been a definitive NO.  That is, until the other day.   I held up a purple coat with fur on the hood and Mekdes' eyes lit up.  She yelled AHWOH/yes and was jumping up and down in the cart!  So, the long search for a winter jacket is over and Margo and Mekdes are now easy to find as they are always in matching purple, furry coats.  

Finally, it wasn't so cold that the girls didn't want to step foot outside.  It was decided that a snowman was in order and the girls began the process of suiting up for the venture.  Mekdes lasted for about 10 minutes as she didn't see the point of mounding up all that snow.  She watched the rest of the process from the family room window.  With each addition to the snowman, she would shout out with such glee....NOSE.....EYES....MOUTH....HAT.  We have been working on all of those english words and Mekdes was delighted that she was able to use them in describing the strange sculpture created of snow!  

It was down to the wire as it was the last night Santa was going to be in his house here in downtown Geneva.  Our schedule was crazy, as usual, so I was going to take Mekdes, Margo and Emme to see Santa while Anna and Kate went to hitting lessons with their father.  My crew got dressed up in their holiday dresses and Mekdes was so excited.  She had no idea what we were going to do, but putting on these fancy dresses was a real treat!  It was going well until we got to the part where you put on the tights.  I could tell Mekdes was thinking..What in the world are these long socks that you call tights?   Do you  people really wear these things?  Is this a joke?  It was hysterical!  She did get used to the new apparel item and we proceeded to go  out for our special evening.  When we arrived at Santa's house, the line was a mile long.  ARgh!  What a nightmare!  The girls were all in their Sunday best and in no way were we prepared to stand outside for hours waiting to see some crazy guy in red suit.  We lasted about an hour and finally Margo decided that we could leave the picture she made for Santa with the cookies Christmas Eve and we could go home.  No one could feel their toes and we were all thankful to get into a warm house.  I wonder what Mekdes thought of the entire exercise!  What a strange tradition to dress up and stand out in the cold for an hour--ha!  We'll try again next year.

SOCIAL WORKER...

When you mix a licensed social worker and the Geary clan crazy things are bound to happen!  We had our first home visit since Mekdes arrived yesterday and as per usual, the visit was colorful!   First of all, we all had to be home for this home visit and that in and of itself is a challenge for our crew.  We managed to schedule a moment when we had everyone home and thus our first post placement visit was scheduled.  In the past, both Shawn and I would shoot the "look"  to which ever child was saying something we really didn't want recorded in our home report, so I gave the girls the speech about being nice to each other and not saying anything inappropriate.    Well, the doorbell rang and 4 girls went scurrying around shouting "SHE'S HERE, SHE'S HERE!".   The fifth girl was just scurrying around with the others as it seemed like a fun thing to do.  Cherie (our social worker) came in and I took her coat.   In the moment I was gone hanging up her coat, I heard Emme say, "Oh, ya, we took Mekdes over to my friend Grace's house.  She didn't eat anything, but she had fun."  I couldn't sprint back fast enough.  "So you are not cocooning," Cherie said to me.  I assured her that we were and that going over to the Keegan's was just a brief outing.  Argh!!!!!     Regardless, STRIKE ONE....both Shawn and I were giving Emme the "look" as we proceeded to the family room.
We got through the initial  segment, how much does Mekdes weigh, what does she eat, when were your court appointments, etc. and then came the dreaded sibling segment.  First up, Margo. At this point, I am soaked with sweat as it has been rolling down my sides since the cocooning incident.  "So, Margo, do you like sharing with Mekdes?"  WHO ASKS A FIVE YEAR OLD IF THEY LIKE TO SHARE????  A swift and brief, NO, was given and then promptly written down in the post placement file.  "Does Mekdes do anything that you don't like?"  Margo proceeds to elaborate on how Mekdes will throw herself to the floor and cry when she doesn't get her way and that you can't understand anything Mekdes is saying.  I then had to field the questions of how do I handle the situation and how did I prepare our four older girls for Mekdes' arrival.  I won't bore you with the rest of the interviews, but suffice it to say that I was soaked in sweat and my tongue felt swollen by the end of that dreadful segment in the post placement interview.   Ha!  The other girls were interviewed and after each interview, the girls were dismissed to go down to the basement and play.
We continued on with more formal questions about social security numbers, citizenship, etc. when you started to hear some giggling coming from around the corner.  Before I could get my sweat ridden body out of the chair to investigate the source of the laughter, Mekdes came running into the family room releasing one toot after another.  It was like she was the leader of the tooting parade!  Margo was on the floor rolling and clutching her sides she was laughing so hard.  "So much for putting your best foot forward," Cherie said to me with a smile on her face.  "In case you haven't figured it out by now," I said,  "you never know what you are going to get when you enter the Geary household.  One thing is sure, you get an honest slice of our crazy life!"
So, our first post placement visit summary:  Mekdes is eating foods that generate an enormous amount of gas, yet she looks relatively healthy.  Margo isn't all together thrilled with sharing, but seems to have taken Mekdes under her wing and  Emme is willing to rat our her parents at the drop of a hat when they do not follow the rules.
This is the family picture we had to take as part of the post placement requirements.  Anna and Kate had just gotten back from hitting lessons, I just couldn't get warm that day and was wrapped in a blanket, Shawn had just spilled half his dinner down the front of his sweater.  Emme (of course) looks perfect and my two little M&M's weren't thrilled at having to take the photo in the first place!  I set the auto timer on the camera and came running over to join this motley crew.  Immediately, laughter broke out as Mekdes  tooted and no one could escape its wrath.  This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it as we are all laughing, except the tooter.  I wonder how this photo will read to the Ethiopian government?

Sisters...

Mekdes wants to be with Margo every moment of the day.  She wants to wear what Margo wears, play with whatever toy Margo is playing with and generally shadow Margo in every way.  For Mekdes, this is WONDERFUL!    For Margo, however, this has posed a bit of a....challenge.  Margo is accustomed to being the one following her older sisters around and trying to do everything they are doing.  She is not too sure about having Mekdes mimic her every move.  One thing is clear, they have become sisters in every sense of the word.  The love they have for each other can be seen in little moments sprinkled throughout the day.   Today when I looked in the rear view mirror I saw two girls bundled up from head to toe braving the arctic blast, holding hands across the aisle of our van.  Or when Margo needed a pair of socks as she was getting ready for school and Mekdes ran upstairs to bring her down some socks.  There are also moments that show the competitive nature of sisterhood.  Margo will be sitting on Shawn's lap and Mekdes will come sprinting over to sit on Shawn's lap too.  Or both wanting to wear the same pair of shoes.  If Mekdes gets to eat cereal for dinner, so does Margo (according to Margo).  My little M&M's are sisters!  For me this bonding has been both a joyful and an exhausting experience--ha!!!  We ain't as young as we used to be!!!

Mekdes wanted to wear glasses like Margo, so we got her a pair with clear lenses.
Also notice, Margo has lost her first tooth!!!!  According to Margo, this means she is
now officially  a "big kid".

SNOW, ENGLISH, DOGS...

Ohhhh, the snow!  This was not only the first snow of the season, but the first snow for our Mekdes.  Her reactions range from  flailing her arms wildly over her head trying to keep the snow from getting on her, to pointing to the snow and screaming, to making grimacing faces showing her clear distain for the falling white stuff.  What a riot!  She did come to the realization that a coat, hat and mittens were a good idea when playing in the stuff.  The snowball fight was great fun and Shawn was also thrilled at what a natural throwing arm she seems to have--ha!  As with every snowball fight, at least at the Geary household, it came to a screeching halt when someone got nailed in the face with a large snowball.  That someone would be Mekdes and it took several hours for her to get over the horror of it all!  Once again, nothing a little carmela/candy wouldn't cure eventually.

This white stuff is so...COLD!!!

Good news, she's got an arm!!!

Each day she seems to learn more English.  The frightening part is that she is hanging out with Margo most of the time, so exactly what she is learning is unknown.  Take yesterday, for example.  Mekdes was playing on Anna's bed with Anna.  Anna has an old rope bed from when I was a girl and the matress sits very high off the ground.  Somehow in their playing, Mekdes fell off the bed backwards.  Anna looked over the edge of the bed in absolute panic expecting the worse.  Next thing she new, Mekdes popped up and put her hands over her head and said, "Oh my gosh!".   Anna was laughing so hard you could hear 

her downstairs.  

Mekdes' relationship with Ruby is really an interesting one.  Their journey started with Mekdes screaming in terror when she saw Ruby for the first time to now wanting to sleep with Ruby in the dog bed.  With five girls in the house, there is always something on the floor and Ruby always finds it.  Whenever we see Ruby run by with a marker or a sock in her mouth we call out for Mekdes.  Mekdes immediately leaps into action and goes charging after Ruby yelling "NO, WOOSHA, NO!!!"  Moments later, Mekdes will emerge with the item Ruby had in her mouth and a look of satisfaction and utter accomplishment on her face.  Who knew our little Ethiopian angel would become our dog trainer?!  

They call me the woosha trainer...