Tuesday, September 05, 2006

One Year Anniversary!



On September 5, 2005, Jemma Ancui Lawler was placed in our loving arms. This memorable day is known as "Gotcha Day" in the adoption world. So much has happened for us as a family over this year. It's hard to imagine what our life was like before Jemma, she's so thoroughly integrated into our thoughts, our daily activities, our hopes and dreams. And my, how she's changed! She's added ten pounds and 17 inches. She went from sitting to crawling to cruising to walking to running and now climbing and balancing and dancing and singing. Her language has developed very quickly and at 20 months, Jemma has over a hundred words, uses 2 and 3-word sentences and puts together complex concepts like relating objects to thoughts and language. She's funny and understands timing - the key to comedy! She's loving and affectionate and warm and compassionate (she's been very understanding of mommy's recent bunion surgery - even saying "foot hurt" and elevating her leg along side mom's.) Her socialization with adults is easy and relaxed and her interaction with the other children in her daycare and RIE class is healthy - meaning she takes everything away from the other kids and holds tightly on to her objects while other kids steal them from her (all the while saying, "Mine!") The best part about Jemma is that she's so much fun to spend time with and she fills us with this enormous sensation of joy in our hearts - we are so lucky. What a bug!

1 comment:

Shelley said...

Aaaawwww! She IS a bug. What a wonderful little girl. You can tell she is well-loved and florishing.