Different and the same, then and now

I did not finish writing about our time in Ethiopia, i got too caught up in remembering it, but we had such an amazing time, and the kids have come so far, so highlights.
Gabe, on his first whole day with us was great, funny, sweet, cuddly, kissy, and starting to be quite chatty, but when it came time to take a nap, he pitched a fit!!! My little guy screamed in my face, kicked me, bit me, slapped me, spit at me, and tried his best to get as far away from me as possible. I put him down on our bed and he would roll as fast as he could to get off the other side, screaming the whole way, then I would block him from rolling onto the floor and he would kick out and roll the other way, oh what fun that day was!! In contrast we just re-experienced the rolling on the bed thing recently, he was rolling and screaming again, but this time it was to get away from Julianna tickling him, and his screams were of supreme excitement and laughter!! He no longer kicks and screams at me(often), and has learned to trust that we will always be there and sleeping is not going to make everything change. He has truly blossomed into a sweet and funny little guy, with a very bossy attitude, funny little man!!
Amelia has changed in more subtle and sweet ways, in Ethiopia she was very funny and happy, but detached. She was very interested in having our attention and affection, compulsively so. But she had no interest in receiving comfort from me, only Jon would do, and even he had a hard time calming her down. She was so overwhelmed by things that at times she got a completely glazed look and shut down, and it could take hours of quiet soothing for her to resurface, these were scary times for me. Now Mia is a happy, spunky, gentle, daring, funny, smarty pants who does not hesitate to sulk upon not getting her own way, but is willing to be coaxed out of her frowns and big sad-angry eyes by either daddy or mommy., Mia is still bright and eager to please with an unending thirst for knowledge, about everything, and boy can she talk a mile a minute!! My little girl Mia is a very sensitive little girl at times, other times as dense as the fog she seems to wander around with her head in;), but she is so attached and easy going now with a generous heart and a bit of a drama queen nature, she never hesitates to tell us what is wrong anymore(all the time it seems;). One thing that has changed dramatically is that she no longer feels the need to be solely responsible for Gabe, she truly trusts us to take care of him now, to the point of running past him when he is crying and not even slowing down, just jumping over him on her way as the Pony Princess!! She now gets to be a little girl, with no cares or responsibilities, and can not really be trusted to keep an eye on Gabe, she just does her own thing now with a single minded focus. She is still a great helper though, and loves to help out with household chores or making lunches, she is a helper at heart, not a caregiver, but that is as it should be I think.
Things that have not changes, Mia's big dark, slightly tip tilted eyes, they are the windows to her heart for sure. In them I see everything she is thinking and feeling, and they are devastating when upset, and melting when happy and full of light, she is a killer with her eyes, Heaven help us when she figures out how to use them against us!! She still has a sweet smile that light sup her face, and a laugh that bursts with joy and a passion for life, she is infectious and thrills and entertains those around her with her interests and queries and quests.
Gabe is still a love bug, with his melting hugs and cuddles, and his giggles, so full of fun and infectious. She has the same slow smile, that consumes his face, he just blooms into smiles, it is so sweet. G loves hugs and kisses, but still chooses cuddles and pets, and those he loves most get huge quantities of them. Gabes is also still my biggest drama queen, a simple "no" can send him off into tears and sobs, but thankfully he is now able to regain control better and knows that mom and dad are not swayed by his tantrums, not that that changes anything, he still can have a fit at the drop of a hat!!
Well that is all for now, I will post some photos of our trip again in the next few days, and some recent pics too, and hopefully they will capture the full scope of our beauties personalities:)!!!!