lots going on

This past month has been really busy and really good. School started, of course, and my new class is great. I absolutely love the beginning of the school year - the excitement of getting to know a group of young people, the change in season, the fresh start. It is a busy, busy, busy time, though, and all the work has been putting me in bed before 10pm every night. The adjustment from being home with me to being with her babysitter again has been a bit hard for Little A. Her four molars coming in at once isn't helping things, either. But she is as resilient as ever and continues to amaze us.

On the adoption-related front:

• STILL not finalized. We don't even have a court date yet. Besides checking this off our list, I am anxious to get a birth certificate and social security number so that we can renew Little A's passport. My husband had to cancel his trip with Little A to Chile because her passport wasn't going to be valid for the time required by the Chilean government. However, his cancelled trip turned into a three-week visit to the states by Little A's abuela and uncle - who haven't seen her since she was 3 months old!!
• We recently went to an open adoption picnic at our agency. We saw a couple from our homestudy and met their beautiful daughter for the first time. We also met another couple who have recently adopted a girl (she's 4 months old) and they live in our neighborhood. I'm over the moon to have met this couple. I don't know any other adoptive parents (in real life), and to have met this mom that I connect with and with whom I share the open adoption experience is AMAZING. I am really, really happy about this. And the fact that they live in our neighborhood? It's the icing.
• We confirmed that K hasn't received any of the recent letters or pictures that we've sent to the agency. In other words, she hasn't had contact with the agency for many months. We know that she got the first letter and pictures we sent, but nothing since then. Now that a year has passed I am feeling less expectant. I still do have hope that we'll establish a relationship in the future, but I've lost that feeling of expectancy every time the phone rings.
• We also found out that we could actually start the process of adopting our second child even before we finalize Little A's adoption. I guess that means we could start getting our homestudy updated, etc... In any case, Mr. P is still on the fence about this, so we won't be making any moves in the near future.
• We are going for a developmental playgroup at our agency this weekend. It's something they offer to every child adopted through the agency. Your child goes in and plays while speech, occupational and physical therapists observe them and then they give you a report, noting any potential delays. They also help get you any early intervention services they recommend. I'm not really concerned about Little A, but I'm looking forward to hear what they say. I am a big believer in early intervention, so I think it's a great service the agency offers.

All in all, life has been pretty damn good lately.