One Month....

One month ago today, the 24th of February (it is the 24th on this side of the world) we were sitting in a parking lot in Xi'an in the snow waiting for Lilli AnHui. A taxi drove up at exactlty 5pm. It was Lilli. It is really hard to imagine that it was just one month ago... she is doing so amazing! We can't remember her not being in our family... it is like she always was!

Her language skills are increasing exponentially ~ If I wrote all of the words she has mastered, this would be a really long email! A few of the funny ones (remember we have 3 teens teaching her) are "Chill Out", "No Sportscenter. .. Watch a Movie Please", "Go Jeff Gordon" (she watches Nascar with us) "Be Nice","Pancakes Please","Momma Loves Coffee and Lilli loves chocolate", "Ten Minutes" (after being told bed time in 1 minute or 5 minutes), "Come-ma Here", "Help Me Please", "My turn or Abby's turn" and "I love-a you". She can count to 10 and say her ABCs and knows her colors in English... really too much to list! She is pretty amazing - copying everything that Abby does. She loves taking a bath and playing on their playground but her favorite thing is climbing all over her daddy like he is a playground! And... yes, we have another basketball fan!!! She begs to play basketball everyday! She loves it! She also LOVES Dora! She can sing along with the cartoon - "Backpack, Backpack.... "!

Her eating is fine... not as hard as I first thought it was going to be. She loves Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup... but really is a protein girl! She likes meat... any kind of meat! She loves steamed Brocolli and after telling me "Yuck" to carrots... she tried them raw and crunchy and loves them too! She picks out peas and corn from all food... she does not like small things in her food! Too funny to watch! She does like rice but has taken a liking to plain noodles and butter... and will do anything for a fried egg! Her favorite meal so far... stewed chicken! She chowed down!!!! She loved it... "Yummy Momma"!!! She did tell me that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese smells bad! Holding her nose with one hand and waving the other hand in front... I KNEW what she meant!!!

The greatest thing... she is a snuggle bunny! She loves hugs and gives them fairly easy and every morning creeps into my room around 6:30 and climbs into bed and snuggles in close for another good hour of sleep!

Abby and Lilli are finding their way to friendship each day. It was rough the first couple of days... really rough. Neither wanted to acknowledge the other was in the house... I have to admit - even after reading all the books - I was worried. But each day brings them a little closer. They are playing together beautifully and the "tattle factor" is getting smaller and smaller. They are learning that it is fun to have a forever playmate!

We have a ton of Dr visits scheduled for the end of this week. We saw her pediatrician last week who was amazed at how healthy she is - we will see the specialist soon and see what needs to be done to ensure Lilli's health is the best that it can be!

I will keep everyone posted! We are forever thankful for our little Lilli (who has grown 3 centimeters since our visit to the Medical Clinic in Guangzhou) and our entire family... and will be riding off into the sunset complete and happy!