Finally everyone is Woh Dee

Today Mindy got what she's been longing for, and has seen everyone else in the family achieve before her. Holly finally said, Mindy woh dee, which means, Mindy is mine.

Day after day Mindy has worked at developing a bond with Holly, and while Holly loved her, and was affectionate with her, she never said the magic words that everyone else had gotten weeks ago. Im just so glad I was sitting here when it happened. Mindy was so happy, and Holly clearly understood that she had given Mindy something special.

Life is plugging along and after all my worries that our life might never be the same again, I have found that not only was I right, but, that the change is wonderful and right in so many ways. Holly is a perfect fit in our family. She seems to be happy, and I gauge that by her sleep patterns, her appetite, the way she has relaxed and found her own space. She has had no meltdowns in weeks, and the longing looks are few and far between. She is comfortable enough to be able to communicate what is hers, and where the boundaries are as to what she will share and what she will not. She's not at all concerned to not talk about Nia Mah and Sun Mah, who she obviously was very close to. I haven't been able to actually have a conversation with her about her life in China, but, from what she has been able to communicate, I think the orphanage director and Nia mah were married, and Holly was their foster child during that time that she was in a foster home. Holly was trying to tell me something about her necklace that she always wears, and Nia Mah's name came up so I asked, did Nia Mah give this to Jun Jun, and she adamantly said yes with a look of relief as if she was wishing all along to be able to tell me that Nia Mah was very special to her.

The affection evident between the orphanage director and Holly on gotcha day, and the pictures of Holly and Nia Mah even when she was a tiny baby, during the time she would have been in foster care, leads me to believe they were her foster parents, but, until she and I can really chat about it, I won't know for sure.