At the 12 month mark I stopped blogging our monthly anniversaries. For us we really hit our stride when we hit our 1 year anniversary. Her adjustment and attachment to us for the most part has been picture perfect. It's not to say it hasn't been without a few hiccups and out of respect to her and her privacy I won't go into details, but at 12 months it was like she let out one last big sigh of relief and settled right in and we moved forward as a family of 3 living our daily lives.
Little things have happened over the past week that have reminded me once again just how far we have come. We went to urgent care the other night and she was understandably scared. We worked hard to get her used to her pediatrician and here we were going to see someone new. As I sat in the exam room with her in my arms waiting for the doctor I had flashbacks to the medical exam in Guangzhou where she was terrified and screaming (and struggling, and flailing) for mama as they examined her. On this night as soon as the Dr. entered the room Chen Chen introduced herself and then eagerly jumped up on the exam table giggling and laughing and asked to have her blood pressure checked. Last week we took her to screening through the school district and even though we are still working through some delays, it was reassuring to know that she was on track in most other areas. We are about to retire her tricycle and start shopping for a (Hello Kitty!) bicycle for her 5th (gasp!) birthday that is coming up in June. I purged her closet of clothes that no longer fit and finally retired the last few items that she had been wearing since she got home...sniff, sniff :( Taking those Rubbermaid containers down to the basement was the hardest thing ever!
So here we are at (almost) 16 months since Family Day and I can't help but stop to recognize this anniversary. The picture on the left is her about 10 days before we met her and the one on the right was taken just a few days ago. The girl on the left is existing, the girl on the right is living life to it's fullest and all it took was a little (well o.k., a lot!) of love ♥ Even if we're not counting days and anniversaries, there isn't a day that passes that I don't marvel at her resilience and recognize that our lives are infinitely better because she is a part of our family.
A few more pics., well just because!
We broke out the carrier we used in China the other day, she still (barely) fits in it
Giving me a Hello Kitty manicure
Hair...when we were waiting to bring her home I was reading threads on forums about caring for fine, straight Asian hair. Ha! Her's is thick and wavy and anything but fine and I constantly have hair envy. Even her bedhead is awesome :) We took those Santa pj's to China with us, she never wore them on our trip but they are still a favorite of hers. They are 2 sizes too small but I can't put them away just yet.
