January 2006

My sister Beth and her family came to visit over New Years Eve, so we all went to the city and looked at the big Christmas tree. The weekend following New Years, we went to Dim Sum with a bunch of people that are part of FCC (Families with Children from China). Last year we went had Dim Sum with these people when we were still waiting so it was nice to see them with their kids this time. We had Alicia evaluated for early intervention and she tested within normal age range for all her abilities except for language. We of course expected that since at the time she had only been home for 3 months and also being in Spanish daycare will also delay her language. Soon after she surprised us by saying "all done" one day when she was finished drinking her milk, that same day she said "hi" when I walked into a room where she was. Since then she has learned to use other words regularily such as: no, hot, daddy, baba (that is supposed to be mama), ear, nose, mouth. Other than that she is a parrot by repeating words she hears now and then. I have heard her say: doggy, cup, water, thirsty, snooze, birdy... to name a few. Of course all of these words are her version of them because she can't quite get all the consonant sounds. On Sunday the 22nd, we went to a party that one of the families in our travel group hosted. All the families we were in China with were there. I recognized each girl fairly well, but they sure have changed and have adjusted nicely it seems. Then on Sunday the 29th we went to a Chinese New Year celebration where they had food, dancing, and vendors, all with the Chinese theme of course. Many people had on Chinese outfits, so did we. Alicia has been such a joy and delight. Her laugh is contagious.

~Judy