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We're Home
December 2007
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December 2009
Thursday, December
3, 2009
Yesterday, December 2nd, 2009, marked the two-year anniversary
of the day we received our daughter, Cecelia Grace Zhifan, in
Jiangxi Province, China. What a time it has been! In many ways
it feels like yesterday, but in most ways it feels as though
Cecelia has always been part of our family - and it is our
belief that she has ALWAYS been a part of us; that each child is
God-ordained, from time immemorial...but our lives are only
slowly unfolded to us, day by day, minute by minute...we do not
know what each day will bring, but God does...and the gifts he
has bestowed on us, including our littlest daughter Cecelia, are
incredible! One of the most wonderful things we have learned
with Cecelia's adoption is that the love we feel for each of our
children, no matter how they joined our family, is the EXACT
same; nothing at all is different...
When we first met Cecelia in China, she was a tiny, sick, scared
baby of 22 months. She was just beginning to sit on her own,
weighed 17 pounds, and was in most ways more like a 9 month old
baby. At 46 months, she is still tiny (26 pounds)...but is now,
not only has caught up to her peers, but she dances her way
through life!
It is hard to recap the milestones of the past two years but
here are a few:
Cecelia has had two surgeries for her cleft: one to repair the
hard palate and one to repair the soft palate. Both were
successful. She will need several more surgeries in time but we
are very pleased with her progress so far. She continues with
speech therapy three days a week and has come so far.
Cecelia takes ballet lessons and LOVES it. This week she is in
her first production, the Nutcracker. She is a cherub. Cecelia
is completely dazzled by the stage and LOVES every aspect of it:
the make-up, the costumes, the lights, the stage, and the
excitement.
Cecelia has done a bit of traveling since she has been home. She
has gone to Germany twice to see very close family friends. She
has also been to Oklahoma and to Washington D.C., along with
many smaller trips. She is an incredible traveler!
Cecelia has become an aunt twice since she joined out family.
She now has an 11 month old nephew, Liam, and a 3 month old
niece, Amelia. She loves both babies and constantly talks about
them. Her doll goes by the name of Liam one day and Amelia the
next. Cecelia really loves dolls and is very nurturing and
attentive to them. This makes my heart swell.
It would be wrong for us to say that everyday has been a fantasy
come true. It is hard for a child who does not join a family
until almost two years old. But each day was better and better.
We both feel that it took every bit of these past two years for
Cecelia to truly feel secure, attached, happy, strong, curious,
self-assured, and loved. But all of these things she now is! She
is one tiny little girl, but that tiny body is packed with one
"BIG" person.
We would also like to take the time to say thank you to our
family, friends, the People's Republic of China, a special set
of birthparents in Jiangxi Province, China, and most of all God,
for giving us the most priceless gift in all the world - a
child...OUR child...Cecelia Grace Zhifan...It is said that a
child born or adopted by parents in their later life is a
"bonus" baby...Cecelia is that and so much more. She is the
"bonus" in life that we never could have imagined, not in our
wildest dreams. We are in love, in awe, and so happy...
Norie and John |
Still in China
First week home
Second birthday |
28 months old
Home for one year
Chinese New Year |
Third birthday |
At a castle in Germany |
Halloween ladybug |
First day of school
Baking
Lantern festival
Cape Cod, age 3.5 years
Washington D.C.
TODAY, at the Nutcracker ballet
Web site by
myadoptionwebsite.com
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