Friday, November 28, 2008

Emma turns four, and 2yr Anniversary



The end of October is a busy time of year for us- Halloween, Emma's birthday, and our anniversary together. Emma was a cute-as-a-button Dora for Halloween- we went trick or treating at the nearby shopping center, it has a walking area.. what a scene, full of tots in costume. Emma was wide-eyed at all the candy being given out.. I don't think she knew that much candy existed. Very fun. The photo is of her preschool class in their Halloween finery.

We had a "Dora" birthday party, complete with a Dora adventure (Swiper stole the bday cake, the girls needed to follow the map to find it). "Big kids" Sam and Helen dressed up in costume for their roles, part of the hunt wound thru the back yard, etc. Kind of hard to explain in a sentence/two, but Emma is still talking about it.

On our "Gotcha Day", I gave Emma a Chinese silk dress. Two years is a bit of a marking point- for only now has Emma has been with me, as long as she was in China. This is a thoughtful time of the year for me- we celebrate Emma's birthday, and at the same time I think of those in China that took care of her for so long. I can't even begin to imagine parting with a child after two years, and I wonder how her foster parents are. And of course her birthparents are in my mind at this time.

Emma is still recovering from her fall, both physically and emotionally.. this next week we will start getting some additional help, on both accounts, to hopefully help things along.