Pierced Ears, or Not

When we first met Lydia her family surprised us by coming to the orphanage within about five minutes after we'd met her. One of the things they did was give her some earrings and a necklace and that's when I noticed that Lydia's ears were pierced. We had suspected they might be in one of the photos we had but weren't sure. I said, "Uh oh, looks like I'll need to let Lalie get her ears pierced now too." Sister Lutgerda agreed. Lalie was all excited about that possibility.

So, today was to be the big day that Lalie got her ears pierced. We saw the movie Nim's Island (which is really good!) and before and after the movie I could tell Lalie was getting cold feet saying, "Maybe I'll do it when I'm ten." I told her she could of course change her mind at any time. At the store I could pretty much tell she wasn't going to do it (which I was kind of thankful for - I had wanted her to wait longer anyway). A friend of hers from school was there getting her ears pierced again (double on each ear) so we watched. The girl had no problem with it but just watching the procedure was the clincher for Lalie. No ears pierced today. We got Lydia some earrings and Lalie got lip gloss instead.

They did ride the carousel at the mall afterward which Lydia really enjoyed. I had made sure to have my camera to document the ear piercing experience but got this picture instead. Lydia is wearing full princess garb - tiara, clip on earrings, rings, a wand and even shoes. My mom took the girls to lunch today and got the princess stuff at Walgreens beforehand. The shoes are these plastic high heels that look very uncomfortable to walk in. I made her change her shoes for the movies (she is always cold so she would have been freezing in those). Little did I know that she switched back between the movies and the mall and clomped into the mall with those princess shoes on. Most days she also wears several necklaces of Lalie's. The funny thing is that I was thinking she might be kind of a tomboy based on the pictures we had and what she was wearing in Ethiopia. But, it turns out she loves everything pink and sparkly and princess-y.

I also took the girls to Target yesterday to catch Lydia up a bit in the toy department. We've been struggling at home with whose stuff is whose so I cleared a toy drawer for each of them in their room and put their names on the drawers. I could tell Lydia really liked dolls and Lalie's never much been into them. In fact we had recently gotten rid of her only baby doll because she never used it and we were trying to clean out the room to accomodate Lydia. I sure wish I'd kept it. Anyway, we got a few Barbies and a baby doll with a little bathtub. It was so hard picking out the things because she'd see another and have to decide to trade it or not. However, she is a much faster picker-outer than her sister (who got to choose one item as well) and was so pleased with her purchases. They're both happy with their drawers and it has helped with the arguments a bit.

Lydia's skin is really dry - either from the change in soaps or our climate or whatever. She also had a raised rash on both hands up just past the wrists that really hurt. I figured it was from hand-washing so I switched her to a milder hand-soap in her bathroom and looked online for tips. I was reading on the Center for Adoption Medicine that it's important to "dip them in a vat of scoop-it-out-with-your-hand thick, greasy moisturizer once a day." So, we headed up to Walgreens the other day and looked at the $17.00 tub of Eucerin vs. the $3.00 tub of Vaseline. Since Eucerin's active/main ingredient is petrolatum we went for the cheap version. They even had Vaseline with shea butter which smells wonderful. It feels kind of odd to be slathering Vaseline all over your child but it is working. I remember when Lalie came home from China with a bad cold and both ears infected. Her cheeks were really red and raw and the doctor said Vaseline was the best thing for them. It worked then too.

Hark! What's that I hear? "Pleeeasse, Lalie!" and "Mooom, Lydia's putting on too many shirts...and now she's putting on a dress!" I really must go...