One Year With Katie

One year ago today, Katie joined our family.  Although unsure, she didn't cry.  She was so brave!  It has been amazing to watch her learn and grow and change in the past year.

Even though she sobbed for her (foster) mama the first night or two (broke my heart!), I was grateful that she allowed me to comfort her.  By the end of our trip, she was really warming up to us.

Even through hours and hours and hours of travel with a sick mama, an exhausted Baba, and a screaming brother, she could still muster a smile for the paparazzi at our airport homecoming.

She quickly grew to love her sisters, and has one of her brothers completely wrapped around her little finger, which is adorable.

And she adjusted to sleeping in a big girl bed.  Mostly.

She doesn't seem to mind our strange holidays.  Especially ones that involve candy.  Which is most of them, now that I think about it.

I think in many ways, having Hannah here for Katie to watch and imitate made Katie's transition so easy.  But part of it is her spunky personality.  She's made her place in our family.  Cracks me up to hear her yell at (15 yr old) Sam and call him names.

Even now, a year later, she still refers to herself by her Chinese nickname when she sees pictures of herself in China.  (There's one hanging over my desk, and another in my bedroom.)  I'm glad we kept her Chinese name as part of her legal name.

She's been an amazing trooper through serial casting, and doesn't complain or fuss about wearing her brace.  The can put on and take off her leg all by herself, and recently learned to put on her own shoes.  Her "special needs" are easily manageable.

It's been an honor to teach her new things and get to see so many firsts, including her first steps.  Katie can now get herself a drink of water, fold napkins, remove her dishes from the table, move the chairs into the kitchen so I can vacuum, and clean up her toys.  Her English is coming along beautifully, and we mostly understand each other as much as any other 3 year old and mama do.

I love the passion she has for life, and her excited, "I did it!" when she tries something she was nervous about.  She's smart, capable, and sweet.  And she's very excited about wearing training pants.  She's brought me the book Big Girl Panties (affiliate link) to read to her every day for almost a week now.  She's doing great, with only one wet accident so far.  I think she might be trained before our summer road trip after all.

She's a happy girl.  Equally content to hang out with us in the schoolroom or play off on her own.  Always ready to make a picture or do a project or work on puzzles.  --I'm really impressed with how well she does puzzles!

Katie has been a bright spot for me during a tough year.  I love what a snuggle bug she is!  Her spontaneous "Thanks!" when I help her get dressed makes me smile.  As does her love of shoes and clothes and purses.  She's always excited when she sees new clothes and asks, "Is that Katie's?" and yells, "Thanks mom!" when I tell her that it is.

I am so blessed to be Katie's mama.

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