3 Months and 19 Days

It has been just about 3 months and 19 days since the moment Marty and I laid our eyes upon Elizabeth in person.

And when I think of it in those terms it is so amazing how far she has come--both literally and figuratively.

Slowly but surely we are getting to know this little wonder of a girl as she weaves her way into every aspect of our lives.

Just about three months ago two scared adults and one sleeping child were making their way across the ocean from China on their way to make a new life together.

Marty said on the day we got Elizabeth that "Elizabeth had 9 and a half months of practice at being a great baby and we had zero months of experience at being good parents". Well, we are trying to catch up for sure...but I think she still has a good lead on us.

I would say that Elizabeth is doing great, but I am Irish and that would be mean I would have to knock on wood--since anytime you say something is going well it is a sure invite for trouble.

But I can tell you that Elizabeth is learning so much! We have been teaching her sign language and she is picking it up extremely quickly. So far she knows the signs for:

"More" (she learned that one in China when we taught her how to ask for "more" food)

"Eat" (yes, that is one of her favorite signs)

"Please" (that is a cute one and hard to resist when she makes the sign for "please" and wants a dangerous kitchen item)

"Up" (as in get me up out of this high chair. She just learned this sign this week and she is using it a lot!)

"Book" (she asks for books all the time...although her attention span is such that she keeps asking for more books before you get to page 3)

"Bottle" (she learned this a while ago also)

"Shoe" (I taught her this one but not sure it so helpful, especially when she is going to sleep and then asks you to get her her shoes)

The sign language has been great for the most part. This morning she was a little cranky and then made the sign for "eat" and I realized the little darlin' was hungry.

As for the spoken word so far she is pretty much just saying "mama". Ahhhhh, how do you like that. She is however making a lot of sounds and I think a few more words are just around the corner.


And as for walking she is walking as if she has been doing it forever. And, thanks to a day at the park with a couple of older girls (2 year olds) she learned how to climb and is now trying to climb the stairs and everything else in her path. We had to call BooBoo Busters Babyproofers service on an emergency call the day after Elizabeth played with the 2 year olds. She learned so many new physical skills in one day that we were overwhelmed and realized we needed heavy duty babyproofing.

And on the social level she is really blossoming and communicating. Now she waves hello to lots of people and generally seems to understand and be able to communicate a good number of of her thoughts and feeling.

Yes, "Elizabeth the baby" is evolving into "Elizabeth the little girl".

Funny how everytime Elizabeth seems to understand and communicate I am continually amazed. I suppose when babies are little they are really more like dolls than they are like people. And then all of a sudden in the blink of an eye--this little person begins to emerge.

And Elizabeth, what a lovely little person you are.