2 Months Home! :)

Well it's been a fabulous 2 months home with our baby girl!  She has come so far in the time we have had together.  She has fit so easily into our family it seems like she has been here much longer.  She is THE HAPPIEST little girl I have ever met.  She continues to amaze us and everyone that has met her.  It is almost like she knew what she didn't have and now that she does have these things, she is loving it and so appreciative and excited about everything!   We all agree that adopting has definitely been one of the best decision we have EVER made!  Seeing new things through her eyes has been so amazing and has made us appreciate each other and just life even more.  She has brought our whole family together in a way I never imagined. :)

Some new things about Charlotte:

1) She loves all of her clothes.  She is such a girly girl!  When she puts on her clothes each day, she looks & calls for "Baba" to clap and smile and tell her she looks pretty.  Then she is off to search for her brothers and wants them to clap too. It is so sweet!

2) She also loves shoes.  Sit her in the floor with a pile of shoes and she will be busy trying on all the different shoes. :) 

3) She is able to communicate very well.  LOL!  1 night she was fussy and Ben and I were trying to sing her to sleep.  She kept crying softly and we kept singing determined to get her to settle into sleep.  Then she had had enough....she put her finger to her lip and loudly said "SHHHHH!"  LOL!

4)  I have gotten her to start saying "mama girl" and we all clap!  She thinks it is fun so she says it often but, it comes out more like "mama, gul, gul"

5) She loves all food we have given her except grapes...it's like she doesn't like the texture and she spits them out after chewing them.  She also is picky about her bananas...she only likes them if they are really ripe.

6) We haven't even attempted to get her to go to the potty again like she did when we were in China.  We hope to try to re-introduce that in about a month.  But now, sometimes she will just bust out in tears when she poops.  It is like she thinks she might be in trouble for pooping in her diaper. I just tell her "it's ok, it's ok" and give her a hug.  Makes me wonder if she had gotten spanked or disciplined for not going in the potty. :(

7) When asked she will point out her hair, feet, ears, nose, hands, & belly.  We are working on her mouth & eyes. :)

8) She is facinated by any family pictures of us.  She will hold them and take them every where with her.  She especially likes the first family photo a friend of mine took on the night we arrived back in the U.S. 

9) She does continue to have night terrors occassionally.  Mainly when she is overly tired or if she is somewhere unfamiliar to her.  She had one of the worst nights ever (3 night terrors in 1 night) when we went to visit my sister in St Louis.   This was our first trip with her and the first time for her to sleep anywhere besides our house. 

10) She loves music and jewelry! :)  She happily dances any time she hears music and she loves her bracelet that Meemaw (my mom) got her, pointing it out to everyone! :) 

Right after Christmas, Jason's parents & sister were able to come for a visit.  Charlotte took up with them fairly quickly.  Letting Shelby & Riley paint her nails and helping Grammy feed Sadie (their dog).  I think it was unanimous that they too thought Charlotte was doing really well adjusting to her new family who loves her very much! :)

L-R Drew, Grammy, Charlotte, Riley, Granddaddy, Ben & in the back are Shelby & Will

Charlotte LOVES her brothers!  When we drop them off in the mornings at school they start pointing to the school and them and saying goodbye to her.  She has now started pointing to herself and then the school....she wants to go to Lakewood too! :)  She cries for just a few seconds every day when they get out but, then its mommy & Charlotte time.

She LOVES to play peekaboo!

We have had a couple of play dates with some of our new friends that are also adopted from China.  Adoption is such a special thing and sharing that with 2 new friends I have met has been awesome!  It is so nice to hear from someone that is a little further along & experienced in the adoption journey. Ms Macy (on the left) lives in McKenzie, about 20 mins away, with her parents & 2 brothers & Ms Molly Kate (on the right of Charlotte) lives in Benton, KY, about 45 minutes away, with her mom & dad & she has 3 grown brothers & a sister that is waiting China to come home probably in June of this year! :)  And the cute boy in the photo is Macy's little brother Brody. :)

She has this sweet, serious look on her face sometimes....love it!  Sometimes I just wonder what you are thinking baby girl!

Charlotte has a LOVE for my camera.  She wants to hold it which I don't want her to do!  Now she comes up when she sees me with my camera and starts grunting and pointing which means she wants it. :)  So cute but, not gonna happen Charlotte.  I need to get her a play camera.

This is her excited/laughing look.  She normally gets big eyes with a look like "oh my goodness" and then she covers her mouth as she starts her giggles. :) So cute!

DeeDee could hardly wait for a nice day to take Charlotte on her 1st gator ride! :)  He thought it might gain him some popularity from her....well not so much.  She did like the gator ride alot though.  Poor DeeDee wants her to sit in his lap so badly but, she just won't have it yet.  She does really well bonding with anyone that can get down in the floor and play with her but, he just physically can't.  In time I know she will let him hold her.

Sweet baby girl we love you so much and can't imagine life without you!  This is her smirk! :)

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