NEW UPDATE AND PICS OF LUCI-Q

But first...for your sheer enjoyment - at the expense of my son and husband:

Look closely...notice anything interesting here???  Yes these are my men, and I love them dearly. 
I do have to wonder how this species made it to the moon, invented the lightbulb, ect...

Seriously - Moms..is there any circumstance (short of a house fire) that would compell you to just throw another diaper over your childs clothing??? Brian would say:  it is Saturday AM, it is too early for him to be up, maybe he will just go back to sleep...Does it look like any of that is relavent info?  NO...but then again - I get hours of comic relief out of these two!  I can't wait until Luci arrives on the scene...I hear from her last update that she is a pretty smart cookie...she will have a field day with them!

Which leads me to events of the week - I got more pics from Ann - out of the blue - and then she sent me the most recent CCAA update on our Luci.  It was still in Chinese but she got it to me - and Google Translate did the rest...sort ot.  Google Translate gives you a good general idea of the information but inserts weird words and gets choppy in places - but if you are already generally familiar with the information being translated then you can figure it out. 

Well after I did my Google Doc translation my adoption agency called and said they had an update from the CCAA (no kidding) and they were having their "Guy" translate it.  Well he did and it is all great news.  I will add that comparing his translation to what I got in Google Translate and one other translation program...the dude totally left some specific stuff out...apparently he was in a hurry and figures I will never know the difference.  Whatever Mr Under-Achiever - if you get a speeding ticket or a flat tire this week - you are welcome - golden rule..yadda, yadda...

The really great thing my agency sent me were two additional pictures of Luci that I had not previously seen so below are the pics from Ann and the ones from our Agency:

And now for the pics I just LOVE - you will see why I am sure:

The one in the middle - she is hugging the doll we sent her for Christmas and the hat she is wearing was also one we sent to her.  I am glad she is getting the care packages we are sending because we weren't sure for a while because as far as we knew Luci was living at the Orphanage.

Well we have found out recently that she is not!  She has been living with a foster family since last September!  It all makes sense now that the pics we received were always out at a park or playground...I figured they just got to go on a lot of field trips.

The little boy in the picture above is her foster brother and it makes me SOOOO happy!  Seeing these pictures along with the report we received we know that Luci has really taken well to being a part of a family with parents and brothers and sisters.

We are first time adoptive parents and we are educated from all directions to be prepared for an "institutionalized child" to not necessarily adapt well to a family environment and that if they have lived in the orphanage their whole life then they literally have no concept of the interworkings of real family relationships. 

I still expect there to be bumps in the road with her transition and all we can do is learn as much as possible about attachment parenting and then pray and love, love, love her!

These pictures and the update demonstrate that Luci has the ability to 1) develop bonds with her sibling and 2) that she has the ability to have feelings of empathy for her sibling (you will understand when you read the update).

They are little signs, but when you are waiting for a child that is living and breathing and developing daily  - across the ocean - this kind of update and the pictures are my equivalent of getting a 3-d ultrasound.

Translated Update from Agency:

In order to provide a better care and living standing to Luci, we decided to

send her to a foster family with a good family that has kind heart, so she can receive

love from a family orientated environment. The foster family sends her to our

welfare house to get education everyday and she goes back to her foster home everyday.

Luci loves her family very much. She likes the way that she can be a member of a

family and the feeling of home. She likes her foster mom and other brothers and sisters

that are in her family. She likes watching her foster mom cook and likes playing with other

family members. Every Monday to Friday, like other kids,Luci comes to welfare

house to study and goes back home during lunch time (12:00 to 2:00pm), take a

nap and go back home again after school around 4:00pm. After she gets back home,

she will be having dinner at 6:00 pm and go to bed around 8:30 pm

This fosterage program has been offering good living experience and helping her

improve her mental and physical development a lot. Now, she knows how to think

and analysis things. She is not only to be able to express herself and also has been

developed a very good heart and cares about others. She always gives her delicious

snacks and toys to her foster brother. One day, another foster brother was sick and

having treatment at hospital during the lunch time. The foster mom asked Luci if they can go to hospital and see her foster brother and deliver some food to him.

Luci answered immediately :"Yes,yes lets go see my brother", She used only 10

mins to finish the lunch which always takes her at least half a hour because she

wanted to see her brother so bad. When they finished lunch, they went to the

hospital, she was very excited to see her foster brother and hold her hand together

with her brothers and asked her brother:does it hurt to get these treatments?

Overall speaking, Luci has the best language skills, she says "how are you" to her

teachers every morning and expresses how she loves her new clothes every time she

wears new clothes.

She also has a outstanding ability to model and memory power. She likes to express

herself. Every time they have language activities at class, she raises her hand and

is always the first one to participate and sing songs with her classmates. During the

outdoor activity time. She always actively arranges games with others. Luci likes

to sit with her teachers and foster mom, she likes to be held sitting on their lap.

She also likes to ask her teachers and foster mom to tell her stories.

Luci likes to draw pictures, sing and tidy up her toys, especially the toys that

belong to her, she puts them back to the original place every time after she plays with these

toys. She puts her shoes in to the shoe cabinet everyday when she gets back home, she is

very smart and active kids among her peers.

Her physical condition is below:

Weight: 14 kg

Height: 90cm

head circumference : 48cm

Chest circumference: SOcm

Teeth: 20

She is very health and rarely get sick

Wuhan Welfare House

03/08/2011. When the weather is dry, we put babe cream on her face and she feels a lot more comfortable.

So...thingsthe translator guy left out that popped up in both of the other translations (bear with me - every it of info is important to a waiting mom!):

She likes to take baths and she likes for her foster mom to rub good smeling lotion on her skin - she enjoys doing things "like mom".

She is still participating in the "Little Sisters" of Half the Sky program and doing very well.

In Little Sisters language class she can be regarded as the strongest child. (yes - I am showing off my smart daughter - and I also realize that this information might be exaggerated for my benefit - but for now, let me enjoy it!)

Luci is a quiet and introverted girl, but with people familiar to her, she will be very talkative. When they praise her, she would bow to shy smile, when people like to talk with her, she will take the initiative to tell you a lot of things happening around.

She is a more sentimental, you need people to comfort the children, outdoors and in front of strangers, her little hands always take the initiative to hold their hand. Luci usually speaks Mandarin, Mandarin is the standard of her, and occasionally will say a little bit of Wuhan words.

Luci loves team games and activities and loves to play with a toy and she will share activities with other children.

She loves to help other children, she is the teacher's little helper. She likes poetry, "Three Character Classic", etc. She likes playing with toys, like to play with other children.

And compared to the same age children, and her performance is excellent. She is one of the best in class results kids.

Luci is a very obedient little child, she always listening to the teacher, the teacher says that she usually can remember things and  has good compliance.

She eats three meals a day, she likes to eat a new kind of food, does not like to eat the same food twice a day. Usually eat snacks, especially sweets.
 
She likes playing with toys, especially the new kind of toy, there is no favorite toys.
Sleeping: does not sleep with a toy, but like the little hands on the quilt top. She likes singing and dancing and drawing.
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Yes, it was a long wonderful update and I am so very happy that everything is going great for her - just can't wait to hug that little munchkin! 

We have received out I800a approval which means our Agency should be able to get our Dossier to China by our April 11 deadline....insert prayer here!

Now if you take the current stats according to your DTC date...it is looking like (stop reading here Mamma) .....

possibly September.....Ughh!  I know I tell everyone August - but I have been secretly hoping and believing for July....and now reality is pulling us the other direction - towards September.

I hope our Govt and China for some reason decide to speed things up, but for those of you that have been down this road - I know you are shaking your head.

I just need to stop counting the days and just let this thing ride out...it will happen - it just seems so far away.

My mom will be coming into Atlanta next Monday to hang out with me and Mac and she is taking the large dresser out of Mac's room to her house to make room for new kiddie dressers and cubbie's for both Mac & Luci's clothes.  I am trying to hold off on going into full blown nesting mode because once I pull the trigger on that - I know me - I will want it all done quickly...and then I will be stuck sitting there with a perfectly decorated set up room for two and then still have months left to go before we can get Luci.  That would just be torture...so I am taking baby steps on the room.  Wish me luck!

Love you all!

Tara