Michella's Breakthrough with Daddy!!!

Something great and unexpected happened last night. Michella had fun playing with her Daddy! We bought a few bouncy rubber balls earlier that day. When Andrey came home I tried to get her to play with him and she was okay with it as long as I was holding her. Then we got the balls out and she just came alive! Who knew this would be the thing that would do the trick? And this morning, there was more of the same - with Michella initiating play with Andrey and even letting him throw her in the air a few times and hold her for a few moments! Yay yay yay!!! I nearly cried!!! Lucky for you I got a bit of it on video. (Well the video is taking forever to load right now and I need to get to bed so I'll settle for the few photos I have and will post that video asap - hopefully tomorrow morning)

And since I started this post, we had an even better night tonight. I am amazed. Michella and her Daddy were having so much fun throwing the balls around that she totally forgot about me! She pointed to the door, indicating to Andrey that she wanted to go outside, so they did and I hung back just to see what would happen. To my surprise, she didn't appear tentative or ever look back. This is HUGE! As she walked out the door with him I realized that this was the first time she'd ever been this far from me physically since we got her (4 weeks tomorrow, by the way). She was having so much fun. The sound of her continuous laughing is the best sound ever. For the first time since we got her, I was the one to clear the dinner table while Andrey played with Michella. When she wanted water to drink, it was Andrey she looked to. He responded and she accepted. We are hoping and praying this is the start of a new norm. Hooray for another breakthrough!! Thank you for praying specifically for this, friends! We believe this is a direct answer to all of your (and our) prayers.