6 months since Family Day

Today marks the six month (or 180 baths) anniversary of our Family Day! When we think about that moment we first saw her, how beautiful she truly was and how afraid she was, she hardly resembles the happy, joyful little girl we are blessed to call our daughter. Before we met her, the orphanage described her using four words. The words they used were outgoing, brave, active and cute. At the time, we didn’t know how well those words portrayed her personality. She is truly an extrovert, loves being the center of attention and really enjoys praise, even giving herself a loud “ta-da” when she finishes doing a task. She is brave, trying new moves at the park and at the kid’s gym. She knows we are at the gym when we pull into the parking lot, squealing and laughing with excitement. Her balance has improved tremendously; she climbs with ease and grace. She hangs on the bar and kicks her feet, her gross motor skills are very good. She is active, moving from one thing to another and she is very persistent when she wants something. The orphanage was right, she is so cute. One of the cutest things she knows is the ringtone on the phone. When I am at work and call home, she recognizes the ringtone and says Mama! She has started to really blossom in her language skills. She clearly understands English, even complex instructions and has recently begun to make a bunch of new sounds experimenting with sounds. Her new words are ball, bubbles, fish, Dora, and aye yea yea. She is eating all kinds of new foods, has a great appetite and still loves watermelon. She was 18.5 pounds at the physical in Guangzhou, she is now 23.5 pounds, still small, but growing. Next month is her 2nd birthday. Sometimes I feel sad we missed the first 17 months of her life, and then I remember how blessed I am that we were matched with this beautiful, sweet, smart, funny girl and all I can say is she was worth every second of the wait!