It has been 3 months since we picked up our Angel, and it has been such an incredible experience. I feel so blessed to be her mother, and to have her in our family! She is doing so incredibly well!
She is progressing great with the language! After a priesthood blessing from her daddy promising her that her ears would be open to understanding, she has understood nearly everything we've asked, she has begun going to sleep on her own (though I still love our time together in the rocking chair before laying her down), and her words have been coming quickly.
She can say kitty, puppy, bird, bye bye, daddy, mommy, Josh, baby, owie (every time I do her hair, she says it now), ah oh, hello, eyes, ears, nose, and so many other thing. She also has been trying to sign a few things to help us understand her (rain, drink, milk - meaning chocolate milk).
She loves chocolate milk and we made the mistake of giving it to her because she wouldn't drink her milk. Now that is all she wants! She is a trooper running the kids around and supporting them in their sports. She loves shoes, wants every pair in the store, as well as to wear all of ours (especially daddy's). She loves to carry around a picture of our family that includes her, and she'll sit and point to each member, trying to say their names, and then to her. We always say, "Lizzie's family", and then she smiles.
She loves music, singing, and dancing. I love to listen try to sing "I Love To See the Temple" along with me. She often starts to sing softly as we sit down, asking me to sing to her. She walks, runs, climbs on everything, empties every drawer she can, she is doing all those things that a typical 2 year old would do. She is, in my eyes, perfect.
She is.....attached! And so am I!
Below is a Facebook Post from Jake:
What a transition. To go from home to China, to parents of a toddler again, to back home, to needing to toddler proof the house again, to struggling to adjust the first month or so, to questioning our sanity, to seeing her play and bond with our other children, to seeing her smile, to finally seeing her expression change and become calm, to knowing that she is finally becoming comfortable, to being amazed that she fits in so well with our family and our personalities, to now finally feeling like life is getting back to normal. Well, almost normal. Normal plus one. Well again, as normal as I could ever possibly be.
Ryann & Josh
Lizzie as our little black cat
Nathan as our China Man
Meleah, Brianna and Tanya
Keira & Zach
The Saturday after we arrived home, we headed up to Heber to say goodbye to my sister who was moving to New Hampshire (sad face). Lizzie jumped on the tramp for the first time, petted my mom and dad's baby horse (born just before we left), and tried out the swing.
That Sunday we took her to eat dinner with the Anderegg family and meet cousins, pet the dog, Buddy, and eat icecream. She has absolutely loved her siblings, and I was able to capture a few of her and her big brother, whom she adores (and he can't get enough of her).
We like to go for walks. She enjoys discovering new things and being outside.
And this photo I just had to take to show that she is not always happy, we are all adjusting, but she is always adorable!
This is Lizzie with her foster mom at the orphanage...the one you probably read about in my previous post. My mom just happened to snap this photo. Can you see the love in her eyes for my little Lizzie. What a lucky little girl!
