Halloween

It is virtuously impossible to get three children to smile and look at the camera at the same time, isn't it? The boys picked out their costumes before we even left for China, and they were so excited to get to wear them! They wanted to dress their sister up as a princess, but I figured we would freak her out enough as it was. I like this puppy costume because it is warm, and the kids don't even notice they're wearing it if the hood isn't up. (We tried to put up the hood/puppy head and she wasn't having it.) It's also the same costume that Ben and Will wore when they were 1. All in all, she liked Halloween. She LOVES to carry bags around the house "collecting" things, so the pumpkin bucket was right up her alley. And then she discovered that people put chocolate in it! She gave her best bye-bye waves to our neighbors in thanks for their generosity.

Bumblebee and Optimus Prime - Ready for Action!

We are sort of getting settled in around here. We still don't have a routine, really, but at least we are sleeping through the night. She likes to sleep late, and her brothers get up early. If they are quiet, this works out fine, but if they get loud, then Mama gets a bit upset with them.
In this picture, she had slept until about 9, so she woke up a happy little girl. Don't you just love footy pajamas? We have tried to take it fairly slow this week, and Kate NaNa adjusts more and more everyday. The past few days, she has been trying to repeat after us when we talk. I have reverted to "teaching baby to talk" mode, repeating basic words over and over like I used to do with the boys. She loves the telephone, and so I often say "telephone, hello?" On Thursday she picked up the phone and said, "Hemmo?" When it rings, she almost runs me over trying to grab it out of my hands.

Also Thursday, when my friend, Melissa, went out of our front door, Kate waved and said, "Mye, mye!" H's and M's are really the only distinguishable consonants going on, but we are so happy that she is learning new words. She continues to respond when I speak in my limited Mandarin, but I know that won't last forever. We have already contacted our state's early intervention program, so hopefully we will have speech therapy going on soon. We still don't know when we will have her surgery. We see a doctor sometime next week, and there are several more forms that need to be filled out for the cleft team. It seems that the paperwork still isn't finished. Ick.

Last, a BIG congratulations to all of you who got your Letter of Acceptance from China this past week. I am so excited for you all! Blessings!