TWO MONTHS with our girl

In some ways, it seems like much longer, but Emily has officially been part of our family for two months today.  Two nervous people wondered out of an elevator on the afternoon of June 29th and saw a little toddler with a tight ponytail on top of her head running around the lobby in hot pursuit of a small green balloon.  She was everything we expected and nothing like what we expected all at once.  We knew - from pictures - that she could walk and talk and we knew that she enjoyed being outside (since almost all of the pictures we received after submitting our "Letter of Intent" for her showed her outside).  We also knew that she had a good bit of hair (many children in orphanages have their heads shaved regularly to help with outbreaks of lice) and that it was usually styled in a tight ponytail on top of her head.  What we didn't know was that she is feisty and funny and smart as a whip and that she has a very happy personality.  We didn't know how tightly she could squeeze when she hugs you and we didn't know how she can pucker her lips to give kisses.  We didn't know that she loves music and dancing and loves to make people laugh.  We didn't know that she likes to go fast on ride-on toys or in strollers.  We didn't know how much she loves water - whether in pools, tubs, sinks, or fountains.  We didn't know that she loves to play dress-up (mostly in her big brothers' clothes!!).  We didn't know that she loves animals.  We didn't know that she would learn almost a new word a day and that her great ability to imitate what she sees helps her learn all kinds of things much faster than we ever expected.  We didn't know that she could make her voice very high and soft and then answer the telephone (or try) with a low-pitched loud "HELLO" like a parrot. 

 

But, now we do... 

 

Now that we've had two months with her, we know these things and more.  We know the little lines and dimples in her fingers and toes.  We know how soft her skin feels.  We know how her hair only wants to part on one side.  We know how her chubby arms feel when wrapped around our necks.  We know how her bottom lip pouts out before she cries.  We know that she loves having brothers and we see that they can't wait for her to wake up in the morning or for her to come pick them up from school. 

 

But, best of all, we know what it feels like to love her and

 - I really believe -

to be loved by her in return. 

 

She is everything we hoped for and dreamed about and MORE.  We are so grateful for the relative ease of her transition into our family.  Except for not wanting to sleep alone (which can be very trying and tough and I'm praying daily for more patience), she is doing amazingly well.  All professionals who have examined or evaluated her agree that she is developmentally on target- which is not typical for international adoptees at this stage.  We are so thankful and so happy that she is doing as well as she is. Sometimes, when I'm walking through the yard with her and we are holding hands, I can't believe that my dream of adopting a little one from China has come true - and that she is this little amazing and wonderful person standing beside me and calling me "mama."  And when I see my boys rushing into her room for kisses in the morning and proudly showing her to their friends and teachers and announcing, "this is my new little sister Emily," my heart is so full.  Jackson was asked to tell his second grade class his favorite part of summer vacation and he said, "adopting my sister from China!" :)  I walked into Graham's room the other night and found this note that he had apparently written while sitting at his desk:

 

 One "big" part of the past few weeks has been getting glasses for Emily.  I wrote about her first visit to the eye doctor and, a few days later, we received her new glasses.  Pretty cool purple frames that she "picked"!  So far, she will wear them most of the time.  She occasionally rips them off if she is sweaty (she is a little bit of a sweat-er) or if she's in the car.  I can usually distract her by putting something into her hands and quickly pulling the glasses back over her head.  I think she seems to see better with them on, but time will tell.  We also had an evaluation done at home by the Center for the Visually Impaired.  It went very well and the social worker/vision specialist was impressed with her abilities and progress.  We will have a functional vision evaluation done there in mid-September, but the person who came to our house thought that the results of that should be good - given what she saw here.  She also noted that Emily seemed very comfortable and happy at home.  That made me feel good and I was really pleased to hear her words.  I think Emily functions like any other child.  She goes room to room, she feeds herself (even using spoons and forks), she plays with toys, she enjoys looking at books, she can put her brothers' tiny Legos together, she sees and recognizes people in pictures, she has no problem walking or playing or climbing ladders, etc...  I recently watched a webinar on albinism and vision that was created by NOAH (national group for persons with albinism) and it very much reassured me about Emily's vision.  It may not be like mine, but it is fine and her limitations - particularly "in this day and age"- are really very few.  The Center for the Visually Impaired evaluator also told me to ignore doctors who say that a 1 year old will never drive.  She said she has seen plenty of people with low vision with whom she has worked obtain their driver's licenses and technology is ever-changing and there is no way to predict now what driving may look like in 15 years. 

 

So - there we are...  Other than that the sleep situation can be tedious and I can't really get anything done during the day and the house is a perpetual wreck (not so much new there), things are really, really good and Emily is a beautiful, wonderful, funny, loving, amazing addition to our family.  She was so worth the wait and crazy paperwork - and there are SO MANY CHILDREN LIKE HER who just need a chance and a family to help give them hope and a future.  This was a HUGE leap of faith for us, but I am so glad that we didn't let fear hold us back.  Emily was well cared for at her orphanage, but an orphanage is not a family.  The love of a family is something every child deserves.  We are so happy to have been given the chance to be Emily's family.

And now for some pictures of Emily in August:

 

Splash park with awesome brothers:

   

 

Reading books:

 

Waking up and going to sleep with brothers by her side:

 

Loving her pets:

 

More fun outside and with brothers and toys (she chose to wear her brother's ninja turtle socks...):

 

Taking brothers to school on their first days of second grade and kindergarten:

 

Waiting to go her favorite place - OUTSIDE:

 

Modeling her cool purple glasses:

 

Shopping at Target (and eating the Pirate Booty almost before I could pay!!):

 

This girl loves water - sink, tub, pool - doesn't matter to her!

 

Swinging with brothers:

 

Watching birds with Daddy:

 

More fun at the zoo:

 

 Playing dress-up:

 

 

EMILY JEAN