One Year later...Happy Gotcha day to Sophie

Today is the anniversary of the day we met and adopted our Sophie. Amazing how fast a year goes, amazing that only last year we saw this beautiful, spirited little girl, who has changed our lives forever.

For those who do not know the story of our journey to Sophie WuMei, feel free to check out my baby jelly beans site at http://www.babyjellybeans.com/ and type in Sophie and our last name.

Sophie has grown so much in the last year, and has learned so much! When we met her she had about 10 signs, mostly our names. Now she has over five hundred signs, and is beginning to finger spell everything she can. In May she will get her cochlear implant, so we are excited at the possibility that this will help her to hear and to be able to develop speech more than she has right now. Sophie has an uncanny ability to lip-read and to approximate words. The speech therapists and doctors who have seen her are simply amazed with her. They say that her hearing (or lack of it) should not allow her to produce the sounds and words that she has been able to produce. Quite simply, she is a mystery.

Adoption is truly a miracle. It is like watching a magic show with Sophie around. She is very challenging, as everyone who knows her understands. She is smart and stubborn, and can be amazingly independent and then totally dependent, all at the same time. She can challenge the parenting skills of the best parent, and has brought so much fun into our lives. Suddenly, our teenagers are playing hide-and-seek and performing numbers in our kitchen in a make-shift band, led by Sophie herself. Matt and I are once again reading bed-time stories and tucking in little ones, instead of them tucking us in!!!

People ask me about her transition into our home and I can tell you it was almost seamless. Sophie was more than ready for us, thanks to her time in Swallows Nest with Pam. She was learning signs, had seen our pictures, pictures of our house, etc and she desperately wanted a family.

Last night we were talking about our trip to China to get her. As she learns more signs and more concepts, Sophie is beginning to tell us more of what she remembers from her life in China. Last night she signed: "Mama and Baba, fly plane..Sophie alone."

You are not alone any more, Sophie WuMei...happy Gotcha Day. We love you.