[ocracoke]

You must be so excited!

My daughter was 21 months when I met her. It was an international adoption so there was a language issue too. My daughter had been separated from her bparents for 3 months on our first meeting and she was doing some serious greiving. She was not happy at all. Our first meeting was for an hour. She let me hold her -- but mostly because she was not able to get down. She cried a little but it was more of a whining to let me this was not her idea of fun. And when she really gave up she became more like a cage animals. She was scared and sad and wanted down. She was not sure of me at all and wasn't about to fake it. The next day I had her for the whole day and opted to "wear" her. I changed her diaper, I fed her, I held her when she cried. She had to rely completely on me. On day three she became a kid again.. She smiled for the first time, she played games. I let her walk around but I was still the only one who changed her and gave her meds, and fed her. I was the only one who comforted her when she cried. On day 4 she let me know that I was now officially mom and I best start acting that way.

Anything can happen. It is emotional. It is amazing. It is scary. Good luck.

Samantha