Been a long time...

Wow! We have been home for nearly 2 months and I have not updated my blog! I can't believe how time flies!

Ginger is well-integrated into the family now and we are into a regular groove. She has finally bonded with me and calls me mama and cries when I leave the room (unless of course Daddy is around).

She has several English words, "up, shoes, ball, uh oh". She calls Cuyler go-go, which is her dialaect for gege, which is Chinese for big brother. She often looks right at me and screams, "Mama! Mama!" Sometimes she calls me "MaBa", which is mama and dada all rolled into one.

She is still eating like a horse and has put on 3 pounds, weighing in at nearly 20 pounds! She has become a bit more selective in what she eats, but she still eats nearly everything I put in front of her with the exception of applesauce.

We have had several playdates with her "sisters" who live near us, and that has really been great. Maybe more for me than her! I feel so connceted to the people we travelled to China with and I miss their presence.

Ginger hasn't bitten anyone in weeks, which is a relief! She bit her brother a couple of times, even leaving a bruise and little teeth marks on him one time. She doesn't even relaly hit anymore. We have taught her to be gently, and when I say "Gentle", she will reach out and stroke her brother's head, or the cat. or whatever.

All of her blood work came back perfect: she has had all the immunizations they saidshe had and she doesn't even have so much as anemia! I perfectly healthy, happy and delightful child!

I cannot overstate how grateful we feel to her foster family; they took such good care of her. And what I think of what a delightful child she is, I feel sad for them, as I know they must miss her terribly. If I lost her now I would be devastated. I cannot imagine my life without her.

I go back to work in about 3 weeks, and anticipate a smooth transition. I have taken Ginger to childcare at work several times and she has done wonderfully well. Her brother is there with her, which helps alot, of course. One of the women who works at childcare is now coming over every Wednesday for a couple of hours in the afternoon and babysitting, which is not only helpful to me, but gave Ginger someone to identify with at childcare. It also gives me a chance to get some errands done.

I think the biggest struggle we have had is just going from one child to two, jsut as any family would. Cuyler has been really great about telling us when he feels a little jealous or when he needs extra hugs, so that is extremely helpful, too.

Well, that is all the news that is fit to print to night. I am exhausted. We are just now starting to catch up on sleep, as we began letting her "cry it out" this week. It killled me to do it, but tonight she cried for 3 minutes then went to sleep, so that is pretty good!

Thats all for now!