There are moments that take my breath away because I see so clearly how far she has come.
Like tonight when I got her out of the tub. I wrapped her up in a towel and held her like a little baby as she gazed up at me with a smile. I sat down, still holding her, and with a mischievous grin she wriggled free from the towel and off my lap, heading full speed out of the living room and straight to the kitchen to see Daddy. A moment later she returned, laughing at her antics, and stopped for a moment to smack her belly.
And in that moment, I remembered. It was only 7 months ago, and we gave her a bath for the first time in China. She was tiny, and we weren't sure if she could sit up ok in the tub by herself so we used a baby tub. She was so quiet, so small. But the child now standing before me was such a different child from the one I held in my arms only a few months back.
Tonight I smiled as she smacked her big, round, healthy toddler belly :) Her legs are so strong from chasing her brothers and climbing all day long. Her arms are strong from stealing toys and chucking them at people! She is spunky and full of energy and talkative and opinionated and loving and so many things I just didn't know at the beginning.
I read her a story before bed, and we laughed at her favorite joke for the thousandth time...I ask her where the puppy is, and she points at the wrong animal and then peeks at me out of the corner of her eye. And I bury my head in her hair and say, "Noooo! That's not the puppy, silly girl!" And I tickle her, and we laugh like it's the funniest thing we've ever heard. Again and again and again we play this little game, until finally it's time to tuck her into bed.
I lay her down in her crib, put her treasured bear in one arm and a sippy cup of water that she never drinks in the other, cover her up, and play the "one more kiss" game that could really go on all night. She smiles at me as I say good-night, with the promise that Daddy will be in in a minute to kiss her good-night, and I quietly slip out the door without any tears. Every night I can scarcely believe that it's going this well, but it is. And we are thankful.
I think back to the little girl we first met, so unsure, so scared, her big, dark eyes taking in everything around her. I remember that first night when she laid on me for almost 2 hours, not making a sound, before falling asleep. I remember Brad whispering my name in the middle of the night, and when I looked over at Hannah lying between us, I realized she was wide awake, staring silently at the ceiling. It is so hard to think about what that must have been like for her, and I hate that she had to go through that.
I'm so thankful, though, that now we are on the other side. She is happy....so happy. She is one of us and she knows it. Sometimes when I tell her that I love her, she runs right over and gives me the biggest hug and the sweetest kiss on the cheek. She knows that she is mine, and I am hers...forever.
