Six Months already and - WOW!

First, let me just say how WONDERFUL the past six months have been! Rodney and I constantly say to each other how much Emma has changed from the day she was put in our arms for the first time!

I'm sure those who traveled with us remember how much she cried those first days in China. Almost every time we were together as a group, Emma was crying, and crying, and crying. Rodney's famous saying to Emma was, "There is no crying in the United States!" Well, something must have sunk in, because she is truly the happiest little girl I have ever known! Also, in China we had to struggle just to get a bottle into Emma. Now, while we are still having some difficulty getting table food into her, she is eating many things. Unfortunately, she has daddy's sweet tooth and she LOVES chocolate, and she has my salty tooth and she LOVES potato chips - especially salt and vinegar ones!

We are amazed every day at how smart she is! She is learning more and more each day and picks up on things so quickly. She has always been our "Peanut," but now we call her "Monkey." As in - monkey see---monkey do! Rodney is Monkey see and Emma is Monkey do! She loves to imitate her daddy!

Emma loves to sit and read with mommy and all I have to do is tell her the title or a few lines of a book and she will go and get it and bring it to me to read. She also loves playing with her mega blocks, doing puzzles, and writing on her magna-doodle. One of her favorite things to do is playing with all kinds of containers - taking the lids off, putting them on, putting things in the containers..... It can keep her amused for quite a long time! She always wants to play with Play-Doh, but really she just wants to play with the Play-Doh container!

She is also learning new words every day. She has recently begun saying Emma, yellow, purple, and hugs. I need to sit down and make a list of everything she can say. Last time I counted, it was well over 30 words. We have also been using some sign language with her and she knows about 10 signs. I need to brush up on the signs so I can teach her more!

We have just completed an evaluation for Emma for early intervention services, mainly for help with her eating and some mild sensory issues. The teachers who evaluated her were very impressed with our little Emma. In many areas, they felt she was advanced compared to other 19 month olds, let alone one who has only been in the country for five months. She did qualify for some help, and she has started getting an hour of occupational therapy services this week.

I just can't emphasize enough just what a joy Emma has been! In many ways we think - Wow - has it been six months already?? And other times it feels like she has been with us forever! She is such a fun, fun, fun little girl. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Sorry no pictures with this one.....I will update more soon and include some pictures of the past few months. I hope to be much better about updating regularly!