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January 11, 2009  |  March 20, 2009

Friday, March 20, 2009 Hello all! Our little lady has changed so much! Her little personality has bloomed and we have been blessed with such a pleasant child. The little girl who used to be afraid of strangers and kept to herself now smiles broadly when spoken too, babbles and has a ready laugh, wave or high five for anyone she encounters. She’s also quick to give Mommy, Daddy and the multitude of her stuffed animals & doll babies lots of kisses & hugs. I mentioned in our January update that Lauren had started walking with assistance right after we got home. After less than a week of furniture surfing she started walking on her own, which soon turned into a run. She’s really quick and even if she falls, she just picks herself up and is off running again. She quickly mastered crawling up the stairs all by her-self and once I showed her how to slide back down on her belly she had that down pat too. This kid is such a water baby… she loves to lay in the tub on her back & just float while playing with those priceless stacking cups! She giggles and splashes and is always putting her face under water and then pops up laughing with a look that says “hey mom, did you see how awesome that was?”. Lauren is now trying all kinds of new foods and is learning how to use utensils. She’s a pro at finger feeding but man is she messy! She loves string beans, carrots, string cheese and chick peas but ultimately favors any meal made with rice or pasta. So it looks like we are going to have another carb lover in the house. She has also mastered drinking from a sippy cup and proudly carries hers around from room to room. This girl loves to be out and about and we’ve had a lot of fun introducing her to our friends and relatives. She’s been to visit both our jobs and I can safely say she’s won the hearts of many a co-worker. She’s even great on shopping trips, sitting contently in the cart or stroller while mommy gets her “retail therapy”. She’s really surprised us with how quickly she warms us to people (unless they are wearing a baseball cap….she doesn’t seem to trust them, weird huh?). One of my favorite memories is the first time she met her Aunt Megan. We met at the mall for lunch & were both pushing the kids in their strollers. Megan was talking to Lauren & giving high fives (another Lauren favorite) as we walked and next thing you know Lauren grabbed Megan’s hand and proceeded to hold it as we walked thru the mall – stroller next to stroller. It was honestly one of the most precious things I’ve ever seen! Our girl has really bonded with her daddy…..FINALLY! He brings out the giggles all the time and they are quite cute playing together –peek a boo is a favorite for them. I think it helped that Mike was the one to pick her up from daycare in the evenings so he has become the “hero”. She gets so excited when Mike shows up at the end of the day and especially likes it when daddy mimics her on their drive home from daycare: it just sets off the giggles. Anytime she sees Mike and I hug, she runs right up to us to join the hug and leans into her daddy for a big kiss. Oh how many years I’ve waited for “family hugs”! Lauren started daycare in mid February. The first couple of days were rough, as she would sob when I left her but now I can’t get her coat off fast enough as she’s ready to go play and have fun. What a relief! Her teachers report her to be “very sweet with the other children” and “extremely bright”. Her teachers have nicknamed her La-La, as Lauren often sings to herself in a way that sounds like “la la la la”. They are always commending her for helping them clean up the toys after playtime. We’ll take credit for that one because we do make her put away her toys when she’s done playing here at home. It’s comforting to know that she retains that for school too. It’s also nice to have another “neat freak” in the family as well because not only with Lauren pick up her toys but she also will take each piece of clothing that she removes at bath time and toss it into her laundry hamper. I can only hope that these are habits that she will keep! She is so bright, all she has to see is someone use something once and she knows what to do with it. Like lipstick, she watched me putting it on one morning & that night she picked up the tube, pursed her lips and pretended to put the lipstick on. Sometimes she will grab a clean diaper wipe or a dishtowel and go around wiping down her toys or the coffee table. Gee – do you think she pays attention to what I’m doing or what? I am happy to report that we were able to stop the nebulizer treatments after three weeks. Lauren’s blood work was deemed normal and she’s been given a clean bill of health; outside of the occasional virus and runny nose. She only required three immunizations thus far and was a trooper for the shots. I cried more than she did! We invited a team of therapists from Early Intervention to come assess Lauren’s development and were told that she is right on track with dexterity, mobility, comprehension, communication, etc… We were offered assistance with speech so a therapist is working with her once a week. So far, her vocabulary consists of “Mom”, “yay, and “ok” - the last two are followed with a nod. She has the cutest squeaky voice too; it makes us laugh. She is very observant and doesn’t miss a trick. She’s constantly pointing at everything. If she hears a noise she will turn to it, point and make a squeaky grunt as if to say, “what was that?” It’s so cute! She loves to wave “hi” and “bye” and will even do so if you say “see you later”. Strangers get a kick out of that one! She continues to use some sign language for “eat”, “water” and “more” which has all proven to be quite useful. She loves books! Picture books, storybooks, flipbooks, books that play music, you name it! When we read to her, she points at the pictures and as if on cue reaches out to turn the page to see what happens next. At the end of each book I’ll add “The End” and Lauren immediately claps. PRECIOUS! She makes the funniest faces and has really expressive eyes. I didn’t think a toddler could roll their eyes, but apparently our little drama queen has perfected it already (I wonder where she gets that???). Bedtime is still a trying time for us, as Lauren has yet to sleep though the night without waking at least a couple times to cry out. For the most part we can sooth her back to sleep but we welcome when the day finally comes that she sleeps peacefully thru the night with no interruption. She’s getting along great with the pets now. She thinks the cat is hilarious; I swear she thinks he’s a toy. He likes to lay by her side at night while I’m reading to her and she just reaches out to pat him, then he starts to purr and that in turn cracks her up. She and the dog have become buddies too. She likes to pet him and give him treats. She apparently caught on to the fact that he is blind, because after several times of her dropping his treat onto the floor and his sniffing around to find it, she now deposits the treat directly into his mouth! It’s so funny because she shows no fear – it’s just SHOVE “here’s your cookie dog!”. We get together with Pat & Ellie every month and in January we celebrated Tess’s first birthday, which was a lot of fun. It’s just amazing how our girls have changed so much - their faces have filled out, both have grown taller and gained a wee bit of weight. Their hair is coming in thicker and dare I say they are more beautiful? Oh yay it’s true! We are anxious to see the rest of our travel group soon and hope to plan an outing as soon as the warmer weather comes. We can’t wait to see how far all the girls have come along. Well I could honestly go on for days with all the things that Lauren is doing, but have to draw this update to a close. This is our last posting on the site. We have been blessed a thousand times over with a healthy, happy, beautiful little girl who fits so perfectly in our family and we are so proud to share our experience with all of you. Thank you for following along in our journey all this time… and thank you again to all that have sent their well wishes, advice and stories – we love reading every bit! For those of you who are still waiting for referral – don’t lose hope. It’s easy to become discouraged by these delays but when your time comes (and it will come) all of the stress, tears and frustration will be forgotten once you look into those beautiful brown eyes. God bless you and know that we are sending prayers your way! Lastly, I’m sharing a poem that was written by my dear Aunt Marcia. She was so moved by our experience that she wrote a beautiful poem for me. I think it’s perfect and wanted to share it with you too! LAUREN by Marcia Richardson 1-12-09 There was a baby in China Far across the sea. She didn’t have any parents, And God thought of Mike and Me. He sent us over to see her. We fell in love that day, And took her home to live with us In the good old U.S.A. At first she seemed to cry a lot, But once back over the sea She smiled at all the new faces And seemed happy to cling to me. And, We’re happy to be able to have her, To watch her grow and play. God surely blessed the three of us, And we’ll do his will each day. Her face is the smile of an angel. It melts your heart to see How happy this dear little girl is, Now that we’re a family of three.

Bed head! I love to ride my princess scooter! The right way.... ....and backwards too! READ TO ME!!! FINALLY...she’s Daddy’s little girl! Bath time is such fun Girlfriends Tess & Lauren - up to no good! Oh yay, those are some devil horns! Hiding from the Paparazzi Shoving “cookies” in Barkley’s mouth Yet another use for laundry baskets! Happy Easter – Picture by: Picture People

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