Has it been a month already?

Tomorrow is the one month mark since we were blessed with Bronwyn. 

It still seems surreal... the 4a.m. wake up call in Bejing... the early morning check out and breakfast on the tour bus... the long bus ride from the terminal to the tarmack and the crowd pushing to get on that plane... landing in Xi'an and meeting our guide... "Come.  We go to hotel and then leave to meet babies at 3:30."... stepping into our hotel room and seeing the crib set up next to our bed... the bus ride to the civil affairs office... the nervous chatting with the other families as we rode the elevator up to the 6th floor... and finally...

"Wei Xiaoqian!  Wei Xiaoqian!"  The nanny holding our baby was calling out her name for us to recognize and come to her.  I've played the video of Bronwyn being handed to me over and over:  her hesitant eyes, her gentle cries as she reached back for her nanny, and within a few minutes, the feel of her relaxing and snuggling onto my lap. 

She has fit so naturally and quickly into our family that it's hard to believe she hasn't always been ours.  

Although our doctor tells us she's in the 5th size perecentile for her age, I can easily see she's gained weight and is turning quite roly poly.  She gobbled the first lunch we ever fed her, and has never turned down a meal yet.  Her rounded cheeks and pudgy thighs are two of my many favorite things about this new little family member.



On her fourth day in our care I took a picture of her in the bathtub - her first tubby that lasted all of 10 seconds.  She didn't seem to like it - rather she didn't like it that she wasn't attached to my body.  I would describe Bronwyn as a Velcro baby those first couple of weeks.  So she cried. 

I've sponge-bathed her and taken her in the shower with me ever since. 

A few days ago I began to put her in the tubby again.  What a difference!  She now splashes and spins around and makes silly faces in the water. 

Those little noodle legs that refused to bear weight the first few days have grown stronger and stronger.  At first Daddy would hold her up and pull her along, but she'd just fall forward.  A few weeks later, Bronwyn proudly lifts each tiny foot and slaps it down on the floor as she tries to walk.

When Bronwyn first met the puppies, they mutually agreed to have nothing to do with each other.  Within a couple of days, Darla & Dwayne discovered that babies drop food.  They come running if they hear the buckle on her booster seat snap into place, and then hover hopefully.  Soon Bronwyn decided she liked the two furry friends, and loves to scratch them under the chin. 

She's gone from baby food and formula to eating just about anything.  Our first Superstore adventure, I had Adrian along.  He wanted a cookie.  I got one for little B too, and broke off a small piece without any chocolate in it.  I handed that to her and set the rest of it on some groceries behind her.  I picked up a bag of bread and when I turned around she had somehow managed to grab the entire cookie.  She was so proud of herself - and ate the entire thing.

Each one of the older kids has a unique connection with Bronwyn - and as much as we are blessed to have her in our family, I see she is blessed with these older siblings that love on her with smooches and laughter and playing. 

It's hard to believe it's already been a month.  It's hard to believe it's only been a month.