Funny Face

One of my favorite moments from our trip to Ethiopia happened the Thursday morning that we were there. We had been looking at pictures of Ana Luisa for six months. She had been with us five days. I had her on my lap, and Juan Pablo suddenly came up to her, got very close to her face, then backed away and said, "Mami, what happened to her lip?" This was the first time he had indicated noticing anything different about his little sister's lip.

I explained that she was born with a little hole in her lip, and that we were going to take her to a doctor who could fix it. He just kissed her forehead and said, "Te amo (I love you), Ana Luisa." And then he went right on playing. And he hasn't said anything about the hole in her lip since. I love that it took him so long to notice there was anything different. And I love that when he did notice, he didn't care. He just loved her.

Tomorrow, Ana Luisa is going in for her first surgery to repair her lip. The last few days, as we've gotten closer to the actual surgery, the thing that has been most upsetting for me to think about is that she is going to look different when this is done. We first saw her face about eight months ago, on December 8, 2009, in a picture sent by our adoption agency. We fell in love right away. Over the next six months, throughout all the uncertainties and challenges of the adoption process, we spent hours looking at her face in all the pictures of her that we had received. We memorized every detail. And since we actually met her, just over two months ago, we've come to love that little face even more. We love her expressions, how HUGE her smile can get, the way she always has her little tongue sticking out, and that giant first tooth in the very front.


I said to Jeff last night that I almost feel like we're purposefully disfiguring our daughter's face. Obviously, that's ridiculous. In place of a gap in her lip, she'll be left with a scar that in a year from now, will barely be noticeable. Her nose may still be a little asymmetrical, but it will definitely be more symmetrical than it is right now. She will look more "normal". And she'll be able to drink out of bottles and sippy cups more easily. She won't get food stuck in her nostril anymore. But it will take some getting used to. Because we love her funny little face. To us, she is absolutely perfect and beautiful in every way....hole in the lip and all.