Thursday, May 11, 2006

Sixteen Going On Seventeen



Jemma will be 17 months on May 21 which means we've had her for as long as we haven't had her - make sense? It's hard to believe how much has happened in these eight and a half months. Now she's running and playing like crazy and talking up a storm. Here are the some of the words she says all the time: Mama, Dada, Rua (her dog), Lala (for Ollie-her other dog), shoes, ball, rock, bock (for block), banket (for blanket), book, feet, teeth, nose, mine, more, peek-a-boo, sit, hello, bye-bye, no, hair, push, bath, ruff, yay, yes, yeah... yeah is the best! She just started saying Mommy and she says hello to on the phone when one of us calls in. Today she said her first sentence, she pointed to Ellen's nose and said, "Momma's nose" - it's so thrilling. Plus, she imitates so many of the words we say - it's uncanny. Our little bug is becoming quite the chatterbox! She loves music and dances to all of it, and now she's singing, too. She sounds a lot like Marlena Dietrich when she sings - and like Marlena, she could break your heart with that voice - "la, la, la..."

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

August at the Orphanage



We recently acquired these photos of Jemma at her orphanage from a woman who visited in August 2005 - just three weeks before we held her for the first time. Jemma's in the back sitting up, being attended to by her favorite Nanny. We were so touched to learn that the play area was cheerful and full of activity and that the children were very bonded to their caretakers. We were not able to visit the orphanage due to the measles outbreak - in fact the woman who took these photos told us that she was quarantined in her hotel as a result of her visit!