Two months!

It's been two months since we brought Olivia home and amazingly she acts as though she's always been part of the family. There is now no doubt that she loves her daddy as much as Mommy and squeals with delight when he comes home. She is so sweet and affectionate, always giving smiles and kisses and she has the biggest belly laughs when tickled. I still haven't seen the shy introverted child they said she was--she waves and says hi to everyone she sees!

She's picked up a lot of English and most people wouldn't guess she's been here such a short time. I can still hear some Chinese, but based on her tiny size and her telegraphic speech, one would probably just assume she's a toddler who is just learning to speak. When she's more fluent I hope she'll be able to share with us about her life in China and the people she loved.

Some days it's hard to believe what amazing stuff has transpired in the last few months. When we asked for a child with a heart condition we had asked for a baby girl, but agreed to put the choice in God's hands. When we were presented with a four year old it was quite a shock, but we are so glad we said yes and took that leap of faith! We couldn't have chosen a better match for us if we'd tried. We still can't believe how happy and easy going she is. As you can see by the video clip, she is just so fun and full of joy. She is such a blessing, as is Emily :)

As for Emily... Never underestimate the power of sleep! I've had Emily take a nap the last couple days and she is more like the girl we know and love :) Naps won't be an option once she's in first grade next year, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm hoping that in the mean time the novelty of sharing a room will wear off and they'll actually go to sleep when we tuck them in. The girls love sharing a room and I really hope we can make it work, but for now we've set up a back up plan. The girls were shown a laid out sleeping bag in another room and we tried to impress upon them that that if someone (Olivia is usually the guilty party) is being loud (giggling and talking) they will be separated. They didn't like that idea and were quiet enough last night that they got to stay in their own beds, but I imagine some follow through may be required. I much prefer the giggling to wailing and crying, but sleep would be better yet!