Here are some pictures from Caitlin's first Easter:
Easter egg hunt; we just did one in our back yard this year, since it's Caitlin's first time and we didn't know how she would take it. Turns out, she LOVED it!
Examining her "loot;" Caitlin got stickers, animal crackers, raisins, fruit snacks and Goldfish crackers:
Going through her goodies Easter morning:
Posing in her Easter dress:
...We saw our daughter's face for the first time.
Referral picture, April 21, 2010:
April 21, 2011:
Wow. What a difference a year makes. One year ago today I was running all over town, completing paperwork and getting answers while my head was spinning. I had waited so long to finally know who Caitlin, my DAUGHTER, was, and yet now that it was actually happening, it just didn't seem real. It was like a dream- a wonderful, amazing dream! Six months ago today, our lives were forever changed and we became a family. I am amazed when I think about how far Caitlin has come since those first days. She is thriving- happy, independent, active- and smart as a whip! She keeps me busy and constantly challenged, but I cannot imagine my life without her. She is such a blessing and I am so thankful for the past 6 months... and I look forward to the lifetime we still have before us!
It has been a crazy month since our last update! We are getting settled into our new home after moving 9 hours away, and looking forward to our 2 years here. We are all in love with San Diego and our new house! We now have a big back yard for Caitlin and Libby to run and play in, and the house is bigger than our old house, meaning more room for "the girls" to play inside, too!
Caitlin will be starting "school" soon; we have found a preschool right down the road from our house that seems to offer an excellent program. Caitlin will go for a few hours a day, twice a week, as a chance to socialize with other kids her age. She goes on Thursday for a trial period to see how she likes it, and if all goes well, she will start next week!
We also met with Caitlin's new pediatrician last week, who is going to give us the referrals we need to get her started with her specialists here. Her doctors at Stanford gave us recommendations of colleagues down here, so we will be able to just pick up where we left off- a major blessing as we won't have to lose any time starting from scratch! I am eager to get her speech therapy started as soon as possible.
Here are some pictures from the past month:
Giving her "Lala" lots of hugs (her favorite pastime!):
First ice cream (frozen yogurt, actually):
First spaghetti:
First time eating with a real (full-sized) fork- and she did great... until she put about 7 carrots in her mouth in one bite!
Caitlin loves ladybugs ("bug bugs," as she calls them)! Here she is playing "dress-up" in her ladybug costume:
Posing in the cactus garden at her daddy's school:
At the beach, tyring to catch the wind with her tongue:
Heading to church in style!
Posing outside the restaurant where we went for lunch to celebrate our "Gotcha-versary":
Caitlin loved watching the koi fish:
Only 5 months? It truly seems like she's always been here with us!
Caitlin continues to grow and blossom. It's amazing to see the difference that even a week makes! When I look back at where we were 5 months ago, it seems like Caitlin is a totally different child. In fact, her plastic surgeon, who has known her since October and hasn't seen her since before Christmas, was shocked when he saw her again last month. He kept saying "Is this the same child?!" She is so happy, confident, and outgoing!
We had Caitlin's big team meeting last month, where we met with 8 doctors and specialists, from her plastic surgeon and ENT, to a hearing specialist, speech therapist, dentist, even a geneticist. The basic consensus from all of the specialists is that, although Caitlin is still slightly developmentally delayed in some areas, in others she is beyond where she should be for her age. Overall, they are not worried and see no red flags.
The biggest concern in her speech; she is just not able to make certain sounds, so although she can say many words and phrases, most are not comprehensible to anyone but us. Her receptive language is excellent; she can understand almost everything we say to her, and even carry out two-part commands (i.e.- "Go get Libby's toy and put it in the box"). She can point to all of the basic body parts and a few colors (especially pink!), and knows most of the animals and the sounds they make. She also signs quite a bit, and she can put 2 signs together, such as "one more." So overall the speech therapist we spoke to is impressed that the language is definitely there, especially considering that Caitlin never even heard a word of English until 5 months ago; Caitlin just has to learn how to properly vocalize the words.
We just had a visit from our social worker last week for our 6-month post-placement review. Even though our 6-month anniversary won't be until April 10th, we will be long gone by then (we are moving to San Diego next week), so we had to go ahead and get our report done before we left. Our social worker spent a good deal of time trying to evaluate where Caitlin is developmentally, and she said that overall Caitlin is at or above where she should be for her age.
Caitlin is definitely a "girly-girl;" she demands a necklace and bow every day. In fact, one morning the first thing she said to me when I went in her room to get her was "bow" (as she pointed to her head). She loves to get dressed up,
but she also really loves to wear overalls. 
I'm not sure what it is about overalls that tickles her so much, but I think she looks adorable in overalls so I'm all too happy to comply!
Libby and Caitlin continue to be best of friends. Although they generally ignore each other when they are together, when they are apart they both worry about each other. Caitlin will continually ask for "Lala" when we are away, and Libby will continually take me to Caitlin's door if she is sleeping. And Caitlin keeps up with feeding Libby; she will bring me Libby's food cube at night to remind me it's time to give Libby her dinner! They are so cute together!
Caitlin's new favorite pastime is going to the playground. She loves to slide
and swing.
She wouldn't have anything to do with a playground until about a month ago, but now that she's discovered how much fun they can be, she's addicted! She knows where all of the playgrounds are in our area, and will excitedly point them out to me- even before we get there! I can't walk or drive anywhere anymore without her screaming "Mamamamama!" every few minutes, as she knows a playground is coming up.
She also loves the beach, which is important because I love the beach and I was a little worried back when she wouldn't let me put her down or even touch the sand. Now she's a certified beach bum! She will walk on the beach, even barefoot, play in the sand, or just sit and watch the waves.
Here are some more of my favorite pictures since the last update:
Our trip to San Diego; looking down on the harbor from Cabrillo National Park:
Playing at Balboa Park in San Diego:
Superbowl Sunday... Go Packers!
Caitlin was fascinated with this wall of bubbles at a restaurant we ate at:
Eating her first cookie this weekend (I never allow her to have sweets or junk food so this was a real treat!)
I can't believe it, but my "baby" girl turned 2 years old today! I can't believe how far we have come in the short 4 months she's been home; it feels like she's always been here with us. It is such a joy and a blessing to have her in our lives.
Here are some pictures from her 2-day celebration:
Caitlin in her special dress on Sunday; we went to a nearby state park after church to take some pictures:
The Valentine/ladybug cookies my friend Amy and I made for everyone (although we think they looked more like turtles once we put the icing on!):
Since we don't have many friends left here (being a military family, we all move a lot and most of our friends have moved on already), we decided not to have a party. Instead we had a very nice dinner at a restaurant here in town with our "local" friend Candace, Amy, and another family here whose daughter turned 2 on Saturday. We celebrated together Sunday night since it is the day in between the girls' birthdays!
Eating her birthday cupcake:
Signing "All gone! Yummy yummy!":
Pictures from today; Caitlin in her "Birthday Girl" outfit:
We drove up to take a train ride today with some friends. Caitlin loved it!
Opening gifts tonight:
