Feeling A Bit More Human

Lana seems to be feeling better. She has had good sleep the last few nights and is in a much better mood. She has been happy and affectionate - offering kisses and hugs and wanting to be held.

She met David's parents (Nana and Poppa) yesterday evening. She was shy at first, but, warmed up to them, and spent some timing laughing and playing with them. It seems to me that she watches Gabe for clues as to who to trust and who to show affection to. I notice that began to offer freely kisses to me once she noticed that Gabriel often kisses and hugs me. Sometimes, if Gabe is cuddling or snuggling with me, she comes in to "get in" the hug. I find this endearing - I think Gabe finds it both cute and annoying at the same time. The last two nights Lana has been to sleep about an hour before Gabe went to bed, so, he has had some one on one time with David or I - which he seems to need. He slept by himself two nights ago, but, last night he was back in bed with us. One day at a time...

Lana has taking a liking to my sister and we are hopeful that David and I may be able to go out to dinner for Valentine's Day and that Lana might be able to stay with my sister for an hour or two. She played very happily with her cousins the other day at my sister's house, and actually left the house with them to walk around the block without Dave or I. (It could be that they were taking the dog for a walk, and the lure of being able to walk the dog was greater than the desire to keep Dave or I in her line of sight.) She also sat on Stace's lap while Stace got her nails done. The Vietnamese-American nail tech tried to get her to talk to her in Vietnamese, but, no luck. It was clear that Lana knew what she was saying (for example, when asked if she wanted her nails painted pink, she nodded quickly and picked up her hand to put it on the counter.)

Lana and David have been visiting Apple Tree (soon to be Lana's preschool) every day for a little while. Today Dave left the room for a few minutes and watched her from the observation window. She is not entirely comfortable there yet, but, I think each day she will become for comfortable with her new teachers and friends.

Gretchen