Saturday, February 19, 2011

Sophia (Libby) Adoption 49

Hi Amanda,

It’s been just over two months since we’ve been home with our little girl and I wanted to send you an update so you’ll know how she’s doing. In a nutshell; fantastic! She has such an easy going personality and I think that has helped a lot in her transition going so smoothly. She sleeps like a rock, eats everything we put in front of her, loves to play with her siblings and always seems ready to do whatever is going on around here!

We’ve really been amazed at how quickly she began understanding what we’re saying to her. She was talking a bit before we got her (in Chinese, of course), and she still says some things in Chinese, but she’s got a pretty decent vocabulary of what she can say in English already, too. It’s been a good reminder that our children really do repeat what we say, and she is a great little mimic! Within a few days of being home, she started walking up to people saying “Hi Darlin’” – that’s the first time I realized I say that quite often. What I didn’t teach her was to call Rodney “Daddy Darlin’” – seriously, I don’t where she got that from, but it sure is cute!

She loves, loves, loves playing with Jackson and Elijah! She would be perfectly content just playing with them and their toys all day long. At first, the boys would bring her every toy they could think of to try to impress her, but… the honeymoon period has worn off for them and they’re not quite as eager to share all their toys anymore. She’s learning how to hold her own with them though, so it all works out fine. They all play together so well  – I just love looking over and seeing these three little precious gifts from God. At first, she called them both “JacksonElijah” as if they shared that combined name. So cute!

Madeline was her favorite person while we were in China, but once we got home and Olivia had a chance to start spoiling her, she’s decided she adores both her sisters quite a bit. She’s definitely never lacking for someone to carry her, play with her, or just sit and cuddle her.

We were so glad to be home in time to celebrate her 2nd birthday and our extended family helped us make it a very special party. We’ve decided she was the 2nd most important baby ever born on Christmas Day! Big Sophia even sent a special gift so she would have it on her birthday. This girl is so loved.

Our family and friends have been very supportive and honestly, I think she’s got every single one of them wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is smile and say “hi” and everybody just melts. She’s such a little charmer! Her grandparents gave us a big “Welcome Home Sophia” party and it was so wonderful to see all these people who are now her aunts, uncles, and cousins come to meet her and rejoice with us. Once she was an orphan, now she’s a member of a large family who loves her and think she’s so special!

Thank you, Amanda, for doing what you do. She is the precious, well-adjusted little girl she is because of the love she received in your home. You’ve made a HUGE difference in her life and we will be forever grateful to you for that. By the way, the hole in her heart is completely closed and we don’t even need to do any follow up appointments. How awesome is that?!!

Please let her nannies know that she’s doing well.
Blessings to you!

Rodney, Karee, Madeline, Olivia, Jackson, Elijah and Sophia

PS. I’m attaching some pictures for you of the past two months.












1 comment:

redmaryjanes said...

I just love seeing the follow-up photos from families. She is just darling and look so happy!