The First Weeks

     This post is long overdue. What can I say but I am a happy mother, who feels very complete! We have been home a little over a week and finally feel settled into the new normal. Ella has adjusted beautifully. I was prepared for the worst but oh how we got the best. She has amazed us so much. I am going to write a little bit about her progress not only to share with you but also so that I can look back and remember these first few weeks.

     When we got this precious child she was very stiff. She held her hands to the side for about the first day and she did not do very much. By the end of the first day is when she attached to the little yellow comb. If you have seen any of our pictures from China you have seen her holding it because she carried it almost everywhere. At first she was very hesitant. Around the third or forth day she began to crawl around but just a very short distant and only when she thought we were not looking. She giggled when we looked in the mirror together and made funny faces. We also discovered she was very ticklish and love to be kissed and tickled. In China she mainly just took in her surroundings but she really attached to me quickly. By the end of our trip she finally would growl at us and we would growl back. Kind of funny but she laughed and seemed happy when we did this with her. It was the first form of communication and we loved it! We saw Hope through this and could see her coming to life day by day.

     Once we arrived home you could see the uneasy, unsure faces slowly fade. For the most part they are now gone. She makes them occasionally but now at appropriate times. Cooper and Avery are so good with her and love her already. She adores them and they have been good therapy for her. About the forth or fifth night we were home, Cooper and Avery wanted a snack before bed. I gave them a bowl of goldfish. She reached for one and Avery handed her one and she tried it! I about hit the fan!!! We tried so hard to get her to taste stuff in China but ended up backing off all together so that we would not frustrate her. She would only take a bottle while we where in county. She didn't like the goldfish, puff, yogurt melt, or marshmallow she then tried but she TRIED them! Thanks to C and A of course! She is now eating baby food from a spoon! Whoo Hoo!

     Everyday this little sunshine does something else. It amazes me at how quickly she has progressed. All this beautiful baby needed was love and attention. Boy, does she have that!!! She is now crawling all over the house. Even getting into things. Cooper and Avery never bothered much so she keeps me on my toes and I love it! She was pulling the lamp cord today and wondering why it was attached to the wall. I just am so happy to see her little mind working and her exploring her new environment. (Of course I stopped her!)

     So after three weeks she is eating wonderfully. She is now waving and saying hello. She will give me the phone or put it up to her ear and say hi. She shakes her head no and yes. It is funny! She plays well and throws and kicks the ball to us. She is on the move and all over the house. She is going to sleep easily and sleeping in her big girl bed and in the room with Avery. I am a happy mom. For those of you who are not familiar with adoption these things seem very normal especially for an almost two year old but for a little girl who wasn't given much attention, from an orphanage with 25 kids and one nanny, and from a place where she spent most of her time in a crib with a board as a mattress, I would say she is doing pretty well with her new life. I am so thankful God chose us to be Ella Huan Hope's parents and I will continue to be proud and blessed all of my days!