Zanna - 18 months

Hosanna will be 18 months in three days - hard to believe how fast time flies! She's been with us 7 months now. How precious she is to us. Of course both my children are precious to me - Will because he grew inside of me and I was so blessed to have been with him from the very beginning of his life. And for almost 7 years he was our only child and got all of our attention and love! With Zanna it's a bit different - Everyday I look at her and I thank God for her and I feel like the luckiest (blessed!) gal ever because of everything we went through to get her, the time we waited and now the wonderful person she's becoming everyday. With Will it was "easy" - we wanted a child, we were instantly blessed with one and I took a lot of that for granted. Don't get me wrong - I cherish both of them but their are moments I hide in the bathroom wondering why these people don't leave me alone for 5 minutes!
Zanna continues to amaze us everyday. After only hearing the English language for 7 months I cannot count how many words she has in her vocabulary she says so many. She'll hear a word and instantly repeat it - not only that but remember what it means or refers to! She loves to be charming to strangers when we're out by waving and saying "hi" and tends to attract a bit of attention! Her latest obsession has been trying to figure out how the belts on her highchair, bike helmet, carseat and grocery cart work. It didn't take her long to be able to click it together. She hasn't figured out how to unclick it lucky for us but then she screams "help" until we come and undo it so she can click it back together again. Wayne grabbed the backpack carrier to take her for a walk yesterday and all the belts were a tangled mess - he didn't wonder too long who did that! She knows most of the main body parts, the belly button being one of her favourites. She still likes to kick the soccer ball, has a mean throwing arm and has even caught a few! She's fearless as she climbs up our playstructure and goes down the slide (I can't watch). She's turned into a picky pain when it comes to eating - gone are the days when she'd eat whole chunks of broccoli with chop sticks. I have to be tricky now - baking cookies and muffins with apple juice concentrate instead of sugar, adding pureed pumpkin, whole wheat flour, etc. She does pretty good at feeding herself but when rice is on the menu it's one heck of a mess! I find it in different areas of the house for the next week! She likes to read books now which I love! Probably because I usually have my nose stuck in one or Will and I are reading one. And she'll try and go through Wayne's briefcase only to pull things out and declare "Daddy's" just for verification? We're in swimming class together right now and it's been a lesson in patience for her (and me for that matter). She doesn't like to wait in line for the slide, hates life jackets and if there's a ball in the pool, she wants it NOW!
We've had some contact with her foster family and we're taking it slow. I try to ask a few questions at each correspondence to try and "fill in the blanks" and have a better idea of the environment she was in 9 months of her life. It's clear she was well taken care of and loved - the answer to our prayers. Even though there's alot we don't know about her past it's so clear how the Lord was with her every step of the way taking care of her. To be doing as well as she's doing now is such a miracle. The way she anticipates a prayer by folding her hands or saying "A-Moe" (her version of Amen) at the end is priceless. This past week she's started giving real kisses with the pucker and noise - even a bit of suction when it's on my cheek! When I think a year ago there we times I cried myself to sleep waiting for her, I'm overwhelmed by the joy she gives us.