Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Steve, Patty, Caleb, Danae (daughter-in-law), Logan, Drew and Annika!
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
So I have also dedicated her to the Lord; as long as she liveth she is dedicated to the Lord. I Samuel 1:27 - 28
Merry Christmas from China. Yes, I know that today is only December 24th, but for some reason everywhere we went today they said Merry Christmas. China does not celebrate Christmas, but you would never know it. It is probably their biggest shopping season and it is decorated to the hilt everywhere we go.
Annika celebrated her 16 month birthday on the 22nd and I can not believe that we have officially had her for 1 week now. What a joy and what a blessing this little girl is to us.
We started off this morning going to Annika's Medical Exam. Complete chaos and for those previous adoptive families, a complete joke. We have a Pediatrician in our group and I am sure that she was just shaking her head with the archaic exam. Oh well.
Annika passed with flying colors and she is officially 8.8 kg. You multiply that by 2.2 for the lbs.
Off to Shamian Island for more shopping. This did not go as well as it had the other day, so I am glad that we got the majority of our items the first time we went. The Medical Exam room was very loud, hot and there were several adoption groups there, so very crowded. Annika was at her wits end. Especially when they took her clothes off and then put the stick in her mouth after she had just fallen asleep.
We were able to get a few photo shots in with her little China doll outfit and you can see that in this post. Annika is starting to say da da and ma ma alot. Not sure that she knows who is who, but she likes to hear herself and giggles when she does it. Oh yea, did I tell you that we found dimples. So cute.
She is a bit more adventurous wanting to stand and trying to walk with help or the wall or whatever is nearby. She thinks this is neat and laughs when she does it.
The one picture sports her doing her famous split. Most all of the China girls are very, very flexible and Annika is no exception. You can lay her on her back and put her feet up to her ears. I know, OUCH!! But she just laughs.
She has definitely found her comfort zone and she is very much in tune to what she wants, when she wants it and how she wants it. If she thinks you are putting her to bed with her blanket when you snuggle with her, she immediately takes it and tries to throw it on the floor. Or if you give her the wrong toy, she will take it and then toss it aside. I am so glad that she is feeling comfortable enough with us to express her wants and desires. The first few days that we had her, she was so sad and had completely shut down and it was very hard to see her this way.
We definitely have the child that was meant for our family. She is truly the little girl that I've always dreamed of and I thank God everyday for her.
Headed to get another foot massage with another adoptive mom. My tendonitis in my shoulder has been pretty bad today, and the foot massage is basically a body massage and it is cheap and so worth it.
