Leaps and Bounds

We have been home 5 days and the strides in our new little girl have been nothing short of amazing. She is happy almost all day even when she doesn't get her way. She is learning so much by the hour it is hard to keep up. Her English is flying out of her mouth and her confidence is brimming over. She is sweet with Philly now and can even tell her to Sit and Shake! She is eating well and showing us all her new likes and dislikes. She can play by herself for quite some time but prefers to be playing with one of us.

Fu Mei is taking to her dad very well. They have made dinner together and Al has given her a bath with no problems. She will let him hold her sometimes and she likes to put her index finger up next to his to mean "I'll be right back!" They are both doing really well together!

We just sorta hit the ground running as far as getting back into our lives and hectic schedule. On Saturday morning, all four of us were headed out to one of Julee's weekly soccer games. Thankfully, this one wasn't too far away. She thoroughly enjoyed watching Julee play and I was teaching her to yell out "Julee!" really loud. From the field, Julee shot me that look that said "Mom, that is really distracting." Ahh, success! Hahha! So far, Fu Mei loves her car seat for which I am eternally grateful! In fact, she falls asleep in it almost all the time if the trip is longer than a few minutes!

She has been sooo well received at Julee's school and church and all about town. So many people love her already and are so excited to have us home with her. We can feel the love everywhere we go!

Now, all we need is sleep! Night time is still proving a bit difficult but not near as bad as that first night. Basically, I can get her to sleep either in my arms or on the floor and I can transfer her to her bed but usually, she is up in a few hours crying and wanting to come in to our bed. For now, its ok! Just that we can't sleep well when she is in there with us. She is sleeping but we aren't! It will come!

And here is some interesting news. As we suspected, we have learned that Fu Mei was indeed in foster care for a period of time. I contacted Love Without Boundaries who sponsors Fu Mei's orphanage and a nice lady responded quickly saying she did indeed know Fu Mei and will be sending me a CD with reports and pictures dating back to March 2006. That is incredibly rewarding to me. I am thrilled.

Lastly, we are beginning to add Chelsee to her name. Right now, we sometimes call her Chelsee Fu Mei and she turns her head. She can even say Chelsee. She can say anything you ask her to if she wants to. She is a delight and we are falling madly in love..............