Friends from China

We just had a wonderful visit with two of my coworkers and their daughters.  They brought us gifts for EmmaLin once again.  They are way too generous.  It was very interesting to listen to them talk to her in her native language, much like she was spoken to by her caregivers the short time that we were together.  EmmaLin could understand them and respond a little.  Everything hinges on the fact of whether she can hear you or not.  When spoken loud to, she mostly will respond.  Hopefully the ENT doctors will be able to tell us something this week when we go to meet with them.  Oh how we want her to hear more clearly, but if that is not what is meant for her, we will take a different path.  We have already started signing with her and that helps the barrier in communication for now.  That, she can always hear.  I took some pictures while my coworkers were here and then a video at the end after they had left.  Her in her dress and plastic clop, clop dress shoes.  Oh and don't forget the shopping bag, sister has to sport all of the accessories while out shopping.  Too funny.  Here's the pictures.

Playing with Dolls

Oh how she loves to work on both her dolls hair.  She has such finger dexterity that it amazes us sometimes what her finished product looks like.  Here is a sample.

First Week Back

Hello Friends and Family,
Wow what a first week back.  Travel in China was a good experience but there is nothing like being back in your own home and in your own bed.  Smiles from everyone in our household.  Living out of a suitcase and in different hotels is no way to live.  Now that we are back we can settle into somewhat of a routine, something that she can count on.  She is able to sleep in her own room and in her own bed.  She will seldom cry in the middle of the night.  After a quick visit from mom and a reassuring that everything is ok, she goes back to sleep.  For the most part she sleeps through the night.

For those that were not around to witness our arrival, we were greeted by many friends and family.  It was good to get back to see familiar faces and be able to communicate in our own language.  We were exhausted.  For those of you that have traveled soo far away from your own time zone know how jet lag is.  This is the first time for us to actually have that much of an affect.  It took almost a full week to get back into normal sleeping habits.  When we arrived at our home we showed her the picture in our album and she was happy to see it.  Then it was off to exploring her new home.  When it came to her bedroom I wanted to video it so that all could see her reaction to her new surroundings.  We also had a picture in her album of her room.  She was soo happy to see all that was hers.  She loved it all.  She especially likes princess type stuff.  Frilly dresses and there were some plastic dress up shoes that she loves to wear around the house.  You always know when she is coming because of the shoes clop, clop, clopping on the hardwood floors.  Things are starting to settle now and she is warming up to all of us.  For the longest time it was just Lisa and the three guys had to scramble for some time she would let us have with her.  Now all of us are starting to equal out.  She still loves mom the most and we are happy with that.  I did not realize how hard it was to have to keep up with all of the hair bows, rubber bands and clips just for her hair.  They are everywhere.  Her favorite dolls have their fair share too.  Crazy I tell you, crazy.  If you asked me what kind of girl she is, I would tell you that she is the girliest of girls.  She loves everything frilly.  We love our little princess.

Tomorrow will be our first pediatricians visit.  Hopefully we will get a good start on finding out how we can help her hear better.  This will be crucial as to her being able to pick up English quickly.  We are not rushing things, but the sooner the better.  We are still awaiting a SSN for her to get her on our insurance.  Hopefully this will come soon.  Thank you all for your kind words and comments on the blog and of all of all of the pictures.  We have slowed down on the communication here but I will try to keep it updated because I realize that not everyone on here lives in Tallahassee and can see her progress.  Things are going just as expected. 

We had our first trip out on the water on Saturday and it was good.  She wasn't too sure about being out in it alone but did sit on Baba's belly in the water.  Soon she will be swimming like a fish.  Here are some pictures we took while out.

For those that followed our blog all the way to the end and see how God's hand was at work as we traveled back to the states and Tallahassee you will know we met an amazing family along the way.  She posted in her blog about us today.  You can see it here.