HI/LO Thursday

Okay, I know I'm such a stick in the mud I never participate. But today it seems so easy to post the high and low of the week, because they both came today.

HIGH
Obviously the high was finding out that I passed court, along with Sunday another single mom who has been my adoption buddy from day one, as well as Shannon, Kristi and Christine (those people have husbands in case you're wondering).

LOW
And the low was finding out that A is going to be terrified of me. Lovely! Autumn was so kind to check in on my sweet boy while she was picking up her Elias (who incidentally wasn't thrilled at the site of her either). She wrote the following (and I totally appreciate her honesty and the preparation):

The first time we saw A he was on the "po po" aka potty. They had about 20 potties lined up outside against a wall and all of the toddlers were going at the same time. So although I do not know to what degree he is potty trained, he is at least in the process of being potty trained. They have them sit there until they go :(. There were 3 nannies keeping watch to make sure they went before they got up. He was on potty number 3. I was holding Elias and my sister had one of his toys. It was a silly little vibrating toy. She put it on the first boy's arm and he died laughing. It was so cute. She went to boy #2 did the same thing and got the same response. The moment she made a move toward A he started screaming. She quickly walked away and he remained inconsolable until a nanny walked over and started hugging him. She went down the line and the kids were having a great time. As she walked back up the line she held out her hand to A and again he started crying. At that point Almaz came down and told us we had to leave because we were distracting the kids from pooping. Oh well :)

I saw him again later that afternoon. All of the toddlers were playing in a small grassy area. I look over and what do I see? A is WALKING!!!! He was full on walking all by himself and it was very uneven ground. After about 6 steps he ran into a road block. A soccer ball. :) The poor guy didn't know how to turn and so he just walked straight into it. He fell belly first right onto the soccer ball and did a little balancing act before rolling off onto the ground. He was fine. Not hurt or crying. That was until he looked up to see his special mother who comes RUNNING toward him as though he had just
taken a nasty fall. He sees her "poor baby" face and immediately he starts crying. She picked him up and held him on her lap. I have to say she unabashedly shows extreme favoritism to him. It is very obvious that she prefers him to anyone else and vice versa. At that point the toddlers left for naps and I didn't get to see him again.

In all honesty, Erin (and I say this because I wish someone would have helped prepare me for Elias) you are going to have a very very difficult couple of days. A is flat out terrified of white people. That's really all there is to it. We tried toys and those didn't work. I truly have no suggestions for you other than stay strong and know he will be scared. Anytime he would even see me or my sister look at him or hold out a hand to him he would start crying. I felt so bad because truly he was just scared.

So there you have it. Most children take about 12-13 years before they start hating their parents. Mine is 16 months old and already does :)