Ana (Angel) Update Two Years Later

Hi Amanda! Hope all is well at Starfish and you are enjoying the holiday season. Are you taking photos of all the kids this year? I remember that two of Ana's referral photos were ones you had taken the previous Christmas and it was comforting to know that she was so well cared for and got to dress up and enjoy a little of Christmas all the way over in China. We are getting about 5 inches of snow today here in Wisconsin. Ana and Sophie just went sledding and are outside my office window building a snowman right now. Ana still only wears her long dresses and leggings and she put on her snow pants and boots on right over her outfit. She had her Christmas program at pre-school yesterday. Patrick took the day off so we both got to go---it was very cute and they had a little cookie reception afterwards, They had a Santa and this time she sat next to him and talked to him al liitle bit. We also went to a magnificent Christmas Pageant Saturday night---although I would call it more of an off-Broadway production---they had real camels,sheep, hundreds of performers---Ana was mesmerized. Sunday night we had all our play-group families over for dinner and a couple of the moms were saying how they couldn't believe how well Ana is speaking now. She is in speech therapy two mornings a week and right now we are working hard on "F" and "S" sounds. She still calls Sophie "DOPEY", but we are getting there. She is learning to write her letters and her favorite thing to do is make "mail". She draws and colors pictures, then puts them in an envelope with tons of stickers and takes them to her friends at school or gives them to me and Patrick. She and Sophie also take swim lessons at our Recreation Center and Ana is moving on to level 2 now---took a while to get through level one, but she really loves it. I have to say that I have never met a girlier girl than Ana. She plays lots of dress up and likes to admire herself in the mirror. She likes to pretend to put on make up and do her hair. Everything has to be pink and "pretty". I don't know where this comes from. Ana's health is great---absolutely no problems. The girls were vaccinated for Swine Flu and Ana hasn't been sick this year at all. We need to find a new Cardiologist for her here, because it has been two years since her last hear check up. Her height and weight are just where they should be, but one thing that worries us a little is her need to have something to eat and drink almost constantly. She'll say that she is "very, very, very, very hungry" twenty minutes after we have a meal, She is very comforted by food. She has snacks that she can choose from whenever she wants, but I try to keep them healthy and hope that this phase passes as she grows. She always says that she wants to "go back to China to eat noodles". Yesterday she said that she wore a purple dress in China---which she did the first time we met her. She may know this from photos, but sometimes she says things that make me think she remembers Starfish a little. We think about you all every day and hope that all the kids get healthy quickly and find their forever families soon. Have a great holiday and please share the photos of Ana with her nannies to let them know she doing just great! Jennifer Life, Love and Laughter, Amanda