Home 2 weeks....

It's hard to believe that its been two weeks since we've been home. The time has just flown by and China is just a memory now.

Every day, we see bits and pieces of Susanna's personality emerge. She is a happy, funny little thing and we are so grateful that she is a part of our family. She is really happy most of the time. She wakes up for a bottle in the morning, plays for a few hours, then takes a late morning nap. Then she'll be up for a few more hours and take a late afternoon nap. She's generally ready for bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and sleeps all night long. Yes! We have a sleeper!

She has quickly found out that big brothers are a great thing to have. They play with you, they fetch toys that have somehow managed to fall (or be thrown) to the floor and they will hold your hands and walk you wherever you want to go. Since we've been home, she's gotten a bit of a cold and is getting in 3 new teeth (she already has 4). She went for her first doctor's visit and weighs 18 lbs and is 28 inches long. She had 3 shots and is healthy. She's so close to walking, she'll at times take as many as 10 steps by herself before getting on her hands and knees to go explore whatever it is that had her attention. When she does crawl, it's usually with one foot straight out to the side, pushing herself along, kind of a combination of crawling and walking. She loves her baths that she takes in her rubber duckie blow-up bathtub and she's learning to put up with dogs being in her way occasionally. The dogs are learning that if they pay attention, she will occasionally drop food. She still isn't too thrilled with food other than her bottle. We did find out last night that she does like chex mix, for some strange reason. She's a little monkey who loves to be wrestled by Jimmy and the boys. She still has some times when she gets nervous or stressed with new things, which she'll show by pulling on her ears or scratching the back of her neck. There are times when she's had a lot of activity out of the house, where we have to just step back and stay home for awhile until we feel she's ready to go again, but for the most part it is amazing at how well she is adjusting and how she is embracing our family. She's a very busy, curious little girl who is just taking in the new world around her. And she is the biggest blessing to us.

Catherine