Almost 2

Well Eliza just finished up her 726th day. It was a happy one; the joys in her life are many.

• Smiley face stickers--one for each pudgy hand
• Strawberries and blueberries
• Peek-a-boo--an old favorite
• Proudly pronouncing her own name on request
• Gently patting the feet of a baby we met at a store
• Cruising around the block on her trike
• Planting hear head on the ground from a standing position and waving her hands around
• Helping to feed fishy
• Getting close to doggies, but not too close
  
• Throwing rocks in the creek
• Putting anything we allow in the trash can
• Walking in other peoples yards
• Dancing to the 1980 rock band Duran Duran
• Seeing her reflection in her dinner spoon
• Watering the pavement with her yellow pail
• Flushing the toilet and saying "bye bye"

The joys in our lives are many as well.

A Tricycle!!

Eliza's God parents gave her a tricycle...and it's a hit! The second she saw it she got excited, requested help to climb aboard and boldly said "bye-bye" as she looked up at me with "O.K. lady push me" in her eyes. Her feet don't quite reach the pedals, but it won't be long at the rate she's growing.


Mother's day was fantastic. It was the kind of day you can't plan. Everyone was happy, the weather was perfect, and we had a great day together. We worked in the yard a little...Eliza included. She was very helpful.


The two pictures below were taken one year apart on Mother's day. It's hard to believe it's the same sweet girl, but it is. Where did the baby go?

Related News

Several years ago, the founder of our adoption agency, Joshua Zhong, started a great organization called Chinese Children Charities. For years, he and his wife have traveled to China to lead medical missions, to teach child care training courses at orphanages, and have successfully lobbied the government as child care advocates. The have founded several well equipped child care facilities in China all the while applying state-side cash donations to the purchase of critical orphanage supplies such as formula, clothes, blankets, and heaters.

All of us with strong emotional ties to China, have been deeply saddened by the recent earthquake in China's Sichuan province. The epicenter was only several hundred miles from Eliza's orphanage. Recently Joshua did an interview discussing the situation in the earthquake area. Here is a link to the video.

Barney Leg

May 2nd was a rough day for Eliza. She fell...over and over and over! By the end of the day she wouldn't put her left leg down for standing or walking. We didn't know if the falls were a result of the leg pain, or if the leg pain was a result of the falls. I talked with a nurse at Children's hospital and the verdict was..."bring her in". We ended up in the Children's urgent care center from 8:45 pm to 12:45 am...YUCK! Xrays were negative, but little Eliza still wouldn't put her leg down. The nurse practitioner on duty decided to splint her leg and recommended we follow up with our pediatrician on Monday. So, you see above the splint. Eliza got a little upset about it until we called it her Barney leg...ahhh, Barney. Turns out "Ba Ba No Wak" (translated: Barney legs don't walk). We are fortunate in that our pediatrician has office hours on Saturday. I called and we decided to give her leg a test run before any more visits or diagnostic testing. The test run occurred Sunday at 4:00pm and she was fine. No more Barney leg, no more doctor's visits, no idea what happened. Just happy it's over!

Now back to work.

Spring!

It is amazing how fast the time is going. I am amazed every day at how big Eliza is getting and how much she is learning. She got two molars for our "Gotcha Day" anniversary. Two more and we're through with teething. I can't wait. I am sure I speak for Eliza as well.

She is fun, fun, fun! We go to the park, the zoo, music class, swimming...she loves it all. Our first really warm day occurred on April 15th. Eliza wore shorts and ended up getting her first skinned knee/ "boo-boo". We had to keep a band-aid on it for 10 days even though it had healed. She would burst out crying at the sight of her well healed knee and say "boo-boo" over and over. Very funny.

The video below was taken on the April 15th. It was quite windy, but over 80 degrees outside. The following day it snowed and was below 30 degrees all day. Crazy. I apologize for the sound...the wind is bad, but the girl is sure cute.

One Whole Year!

How is it possible to put the gratitude, joy, love, compassion...into words. It is absolutely incredible to be celebrating our one year anniversary with our sweet Eliza.

The memories of our trip to China are fresh and sweet. Seeing her for the first time, watching her while a nanny from the orphanage soothed her, watching as the same nanny approached us and presented Eliza to us!! Remembering the first few days with Eliza is still very emotional.
She was so weak, gentle, and scared.




Now our dear girl has such fantastic energy and joy. We are beyond blessed. She is changing so quickly. Thank goodness for pictures and video. My memory just can't retain all the information I want it to. My heart is a different story...it remembers everything and grows in love everyday.

Easter

Eliza is walking independently now. She took off on March 14th and is better every day. She's making some attempts at walking outside, but has less success on uneven surfaces.

She spent the week before Easter battling a cold and sleeping rather poorly. She perked up on Easter Sunday and seemed to enjoy Easter festivities. For Kyle and myself, Easter was very sweet. We brought Eliza home one year ago on Good Friday.

Today is the one year anniversary of our arrival in Hong Kong. We were crazy excited, anxious, and ready to love our girl. Not much has changed...although the source of the anxiety is different (will she sleep, hope she doesn't fall, did she eat enough, is she sick or is this teething...poor kid has neurotic parents).