Moving on Over.....

Sofia has been home over 4 months now and I feel it's time to wrap this blog up and blog solely on our family blog!  So here's one last update on our Curly Girlie! Sofia has made a lot of progress in the short time she's been home and we're so thankful we have the pleasure of being her parents. We're learning how to parent a whole new type of child. Sofia has a wild spirit that cannot and should not be tamed :) She is no mystery, we almost always know exactly how she's feeling, as she shows her emotions no matter what they may be. She is very observant of everything happening around her, loves to explore her surroundings, and learns very quickly! 

 Just recently we've noticed that she is finally starting to feel more comfortable here. She has been giving more snuggles, and seeking out comfort from us, which is huge. For the first few months she seemed to not understand that she needed comfort and love from us. For her first 15 months of life she learned to survive without those things and was "tough enough" that it took her some time to realize there was a better way. Sometimes we still have to remind her that she is just as deserving of our love as our other girls. I know she's only 19 months old, but I always felt as if she'd look at us with this "I don't deserve this" look and it still haunts me to this day, because I think she really believed that and learned that in her young life. Sometimes when I look into her eyes it's as if a much older soul is inside of her. Most days people who meet Sofia would have NO IDEA she ever spent any time in an orphanage. She is well adjusted, so resilient, and very happy. I will always remember that look in her eyes and wonder how many more months or years it would have taken for her to lose her fighting spirit. Thankfully we don't ever have to find out because she is right where God meant for her to be! 

She is close to walking and will take 2-3 steps from the couch to the ottoman. She loves the jeep walker and will walk all over with it. She says mama, dada, and hi. She signs more, eat, please, me, among others :) She feeds herself pieces of food and is working on using her spoon and fork. She loves putting things in and taking things our of containers (reminds me of zoya), playing spoons on metal bowls, and also destroying the play room :) She REALLY loves baths and walks. Baths give her lots of good sensory input-sometimes too much-and she's usually pretty wild in the bathtub. Sofia is most calm when taking walks. She loves the breeze and constant motion when on a walk. She loves climbing on things and exploring the house. Sofia can navigate from room to room and even go upstairs on her own when the gate is open. She hasn't shown much interest in watching shows such as signing time or Mickey Mouse, yet. She will sit for several minutes when Elmo is on though. She reminds me a little of Zoya in this way!

Sofia was not initially in our plans, but we already can't imagine life without her and we thank God for orchestrating this story. She brings a daily reminder that JOY can be found in every day...usually multiple times a day....one laugh from her and we can't help but laugh right along, no matter how bad of a day we're having!

Thanks for being part of our journey! Please follow us on our family blog! 

And a treat to show you the JOY I'm talking about :)