Black and White Wednesday - "Due Dita"

I finally took a little time to go through the backlog of photos on my computer and while sorting, I came across this picture that was taken on Day Four in China.

Just last week, I had dressed Reagan in this same outfit and happened to snap a few pictures of the girls as they were playing.

So I started to compare the snapshots I took last week to the ones I took in China and there were a few things that really struck me.


Her hair has REALLY grown a lot since we met. In fact, I am debating taking her for the first cut/trim.

The second thing I noticed was how much she has filled out. She was not eating very much when we were in China. Those first few days, she barely ate or drank anything at all. By the time we left China, she was downing lots of formula, but not much food except for cheerios:)

Well, that has ALL CHANGED. She LOVES to eat(just like her Mommy)and has eaten and enjoyed almost everything we have fed her, even her veggies!


When I first looked at the photo taken in China, I was immediately drawn to her expression. Her eyes really looked so different. The sparkle that we see today was not there, you could see that she was still a little shocked and unsure of her surroundings.

The biggest change in her has to be those two fingers!!
She had her fingers in her mouth 24/7 that first week. I kept checking them to make sure that they were not chapped or calloused because she always had them in her mouth and never took them out.

A lot of people were commenting how cute it was to see her with those fingers in her mouth in every picture. My uncle had sent me a text while we were in China to tell me that he was going to call her "Due Dita". That is Italian for "Two Fingers".

By week two, Marla and I both noticed she wasn't sucking them quite as often as she had the week prior. We knew it was her coping mechanism and it was the only way she knew how to comfort herself and the longer she was with us and began to trust us, the less she needed to suck those fingers.


Seven weeks later, "Due Dita" only sucks her two fingers when she is tired and ready for bed, or if she is put into a situation where her surroundings are unfamiliar and there are a lot of new people around her. Those fingers are the tell tale sign that she is feeling uncomfortable and insecure.

These days it seems she is keeping those cute little hands busy playing with toys and......pulling out her hairbows.....just like her big sister!

Just wanted to thank you all for the words of encouragment on Monday. Reagan did really well and didn't even cry when I left her and Sarah with the babysitter. As I expected, the change has been harder on me than it has been on them. Monday felt like it was as long as the plane ride to China. I arrived home a little after 5pm and was greeted by some very happy faces. I let Reagan stay up a little later than normal just so I could get some extra cuddle time before we had to call it a night.