A breakthrough

Yesterday, I had Z standing at the ottoman in the living room eating a little snack, while I tried to vacuum the dining room. Well, she lost her marbles when I turned on the vacuum. I'm not just talking crying, no, this was red-faced, ear-splitting, blood-curtling screaming. I've never heard her make a sound like that before. I ran to her, sat down next to her on the floor, and before I could even hold my arms out, she held out hers, toddled over to me, and grabbed hold of me, burying her head in my shoulder as she sobbed. Now this may sound terrible to you, but I was delighted. Fellow adoptive parents will recognize this for what it was: a major step in the attachment process for Miss Z.

She's been doing very well in this department so far, but hadn't yet taken this little step. She knows who we are, and prefers us over strangers (a good sign, since some adoptive children will turn on the charm for anyone who gives them positive attention). She fusses when we put her down or leave the room. She accepts unlimited affection from us -- holding, hugging, kissing. She accepts our comfort when she is upset, and it helps her feel better. However, she had not yet sought our comfort, and hadn't yet really held on when we held her. So this is huge. It means she's realized that we are a dependable source of love and comfort.

Maybe I should do some more vacuuming today to try to get her to do it again. Just kidding, of course.

I don't have any pictures to post at this very moment, but today is the official weekly B-Z-Mommy Super-Fun Day, and I promise to take many and post them by this evening. The only item on our agenda for certain is baking cookies. A neighbor brought us dinner last week, and I don't want to return her tupperware empty. Plus, we're headed to Grandma & Bumpa's on Sunday so Z can meet my brother, his wife, and their two teenage kids. These kids are absolutely amazing -- so well-adjusted and fun to be around. B adores them (and I think they adore him too), so I'm betting Z will too. Anyway, I've been instructed by my mom to bring cookies, so today we're baking a double batch of Grammy's famous chocolate chip cookies. Just in case you want to bake yourself a batch, here's the recipe:

Grammy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2c flour

1t baking soda

1/2t salt

1/2t baking powder

1c white sugar

1c brown sugar

1c shortening

2 eggs

2c oats

1t vanilla

small package chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream together the sugars and the shortening until they are fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix together the flour, soda, salt, baking powder and oats, and add them to the sugar-egg mixture in batches. Last, add the chocolate chips. Drop in 1" balls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.