handsful

Two months ago today, we received an amazing gift! In a way, it feels like so much longer than two months…almost like she’s always been here. She’s changed a lot since that day in Hefei!

The other morning, Ethan asked if Lainey was up yet. I told him I was going to get her in a minute. He asked again about a second later and I asked him why he was so anxious. Without blinking, he said “cause she spreads joy”. The big kids rush to see her in the morning, love playing with her during the day, and insist on giving her kisses before nap and bedtime!

A few notes on how she’s doing these days…

* her sleep is consistent, naps and bedtime. She doesn’t fuss at all, just smiles and waves at us from her crib. It wasn’t always like that, so we’re thankful.

* she still eats great, and likes pretty much anything we put on the plate. She loves fruit (mandarin oranges), veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes), pasta, rice, yogurt, etc. We give her daily antibiotic to her in a few spoonfuls of yogurt each night. She gets so excited when she sees it’s medicine time!

* She’s doing well with her signing…more, all done, food/eat, water, milk, shoes, want, ball, night-night, daddy (which she seems to use for both of us), and please

* “umma” and “ma-ma-ma” are still her main vocalizations. She does have a first word that she started using about a week ago. She points to her eye and says “eye”. She can now say “oooh” and “ohh”, but not too often. She will purse her lips together for kisses.

* She can point to her eyes and nose and sometimes mouth. She understands lots of words, too many to list. She’s still not consistent understanding mama and dada, but we work on it a lot.

* She’s been off the bottle totally for more than 2 weeks and is doing perfectly with a sippy cup (no spill-proof valve, though, she can’t suck due to her cleft…so drinking can get messy).

* She’d still prefer him to stay away from her face (we call him the “lick-headed mutt”), but she actively approaches Jack all the time now. His new favorite place is directly under her clip-on chair at the kitchen table…wonder why?

* Remember at first she hated soft things…no blankets, pillows, and she really hated stuffed animals. Loves them all now. Especially her toddler sized pillow (hand-me-down from big sis Marley) and pink flowery blanket.

* Just today, she has started reaching out to us to give us hugs and kisses. Tonight, she was lying on the couch and I had my head right at her head. She grabbed the back of my neck, pulled me close to her face, and gave me a kiss. Does it get better than that?

Happy 2 Months, Lainey.