One Month Free!

Guess who has been free for one month?

This girl!

She is seriously like a different child.

This is the girl I picked up on May 16th.

And this is her, one month free.

I was so concerned with what I would find under her stiff blue jeans and itchy orange sweatshirt.  I was terrified she would have scabies, or some fungus, or much worse - scars from being mistreated.  She had none of that.  She had a tiny little heat rash and a skinny little body.   But the best thing I found under all of those layers?  Her huge personality, waiting to happen.

Katie is so excited about life - everything is new to her, and she is soaking it all up.  She wants to see everything, touch everything, and explore everything she encounters.  It is amazing to watch her see things for the first time, like dogs, and riding in a wagon, and popsicles, and splashing in a baby pool, and swinging at the park, putting clothes in the washing machine, eating a hot dog, going to a baseball game, watching a parade, jumping on the trampoline, having her toenails painted, or going to the zoo.  Everything is new for her.

This was her the day I picked her up.

This is her today.  

She's still tiny - about the size of a small three year old.  However, she's grown half an inch, gained three pounds, and grown half of a shoe size.  In A MONTH.

She's signing 15ish words independently and appropriately, mimicking our speech sounds, saying baby, bird, Bert, bubble, boy, bye, me, mine, and no.  If you say, "Who is Katie?" she will proudly point to herself and say, "ME!"

She's becoming very independent, doing things like this when she wants to reach things.

We are so incredibly lucky to have this little lady in our family!