Two Months (plus a little more) Home

So much in such a short time.....

Both Timothy and Annabelle are bonding and attaching to us very well. Annabelle a little better than Timothy, but that was expected because of her younger age and her previous living situation. She was obviously loved by her foster parents. If you saw her interacting with us, you'd never know she's only been with us a couple of months. Her new phrase this week is repeating "I love you" when I say it to her. Even though it's somewhat garbled, I can understand her. :) Does she know what it means???... I'm not sure, but I'd like to think she's beginning to. Timothy is a little slower to trust, but he has definitely come a long way. He loves to climb up in my lap every morning and have songs, prayers and kisses every night. Even though he repeats lots and lots of English, he hasn't repeated "I love you".... at least not yet. He smiles when I say, "Mommy loves Timothy" though. He seems to like that better than, "I love you." I think he just likes hearing his name. :) He realized this week that he has more than one name... Timothy Justice Knox, and that Annabelle does too... Annabelle Hope Knox. So, he's been saying TIMOTHY KNOX- ANN-BELLE KNOX. (He leaves out the A). He actually has learned to say many things in English and tries to explain something if he doesn't know what to say. Smart kid!

I'm just so amazed at how far they have come in 2 months. The first week home was SO HARD. Much harder than bringing our other two home from the hospital. At that time it seemed there would be no end to the constant fussing, no sleep, lack of communication, refereeing and exhaustion. Now, I've actually had a coffee date with my sweet husband (even if two are in tow). I think we may be able to let Annabelle go to her class at church soon. She and I went in and played a couple of Sundays ago. I pray she is nice to all the other kiddos and will trust that we will come back to get her. Not sure Timothy is quite ready for that yet. He still doesn't seem quite sure he gets to stay with us for keeps. But, he is progressing. He's learned so much English. It's just amazing! He and Annabelle talk in their own language and he throws in some English. Not sure what the other language is... I assume he is speaking Cantonese but our guides in China said Annabelle only baby talked... so I don't know how he understands her. :)

Here are some recent pics and videos. Hope you enjoy!