Jin Xiu's Journey

As I look back on all the pictures and video that I have taken of Emilee, I am amazed at how much she has achieved in the past 5 months since she was placed in my arms. Emilee has gone from a smiling, delightful infant who could barely keep her head up, into a beautiful, confident, compassionate, strong willed toddler who always has a smile on her face.Developmentally she is on target. She is FINALLY walking and giggles with glee and accomplishment when she waddles across the room. She seems so proud her herself with every step, almost as much as we are of her. Emilee loves to climb. She should have been born in the year on the monkey. She has amazing upper-body strength and can pull her body up almost anywhere. I am in the process of getting her a bed because she loves to climb out of her crib. I am afraid that one day she will fall from the top and hurt herself. Verbally she is also coming along. Although she is still incoherent, she babbles nonstop. She will look you straight in the eye and babble as if she is trying to tell you a whole stare. At times it is frustrating to her that we cannot understand her, but she has learned to communicate with other methods, via hand gestures, placing your hand on what she wants, or pushing your head in the direction of what she wants. Its amazing how clever she is. The only word she does say is a version of "thank you." Its always the same every time you give her something. It sort of sounds like " Ank Oh".Emilee loves playing with her dolls and will hug and feed them in play. Its so funny, she get jealous when I hug the doll. She comes over rips the doll out of my hand and hugs me. Then she will pick up the doll and give it a hug. Emilee is a very compassionate child. She loves to give big hugs and has learned to kiss. She still gives you her forehead when you ask for a kiss, but if you pucker up your lips, she will kiss you back. Its so sweet.Emilees favorite trick is to clap her hands. She giggles every time you ask her to clap. The cutest is when a song ends on TV, she claps. I guess she is ready for the theater.This past month we went through our first illness. The poor thing was so sick for over a week. She was running 104 fever and would not eat. ( which for Emilee is unheard of) She was diagnosed with a double ear infection, Streep, and coixaskie. She would not sleep, would not each, and would cry nonstop. I felt so helpless. The only good thing was that it broke her of her finger sucking habit. Because her throat had blisters in it, it was very painful when she put her fingers in her mouth. Now that she is well, she has never put her fingers back in her mouth.Emilee is such a good eater. She loves her food and has a very sophisticated pallet for such a little child. Her favorite foods are Korean, Vietnamese, Lobster and wild Salmon. Its amazing, she will eat almost anything.Emilee loves to dance when she hears music. Her whole body bobs up and down and she shakes her bum. She also picks up one foot and shakes it. Its so cute to watch.Emilee loves the beach and the waves. She is such a beach bum. She loves jumping in and out of the surf all day long. My cousins have a house in the Hamptons and we visit often. She loves spending time with her cousins, Rebecca, Anne and Sara. And her Aunt Fay and Uncle Neil. They are so good with her and spoil her rotten.My nephews Joseph and Andrew are also fabulous with her. She get so excited when they come to visit and follows them everywhere.Its amazing, I don't remember a time without Emilee. She is just such a joy to be with.Until my next update. Take care.