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Monday, November 26, 2007

We're Back!

We arrived home at about 4 a.m. this morning. We had such a great trip. I think it was much easier leaving this time knowing we would be back so quickly. The added bonus was that when Gabi's foster mother arrived to pick her up, she smiled at her, but did not make a mad scramble for her like she did last time. When I finally handed her off, Gabi turned around and reached for me. It melted my heart! She wasn't reaching for anyone at the beginning of the week-- it just wasn't emerging yet. She's such a happy baby and we had a wonderful last day with her.

Here are a few of the things that emerged while we were in GC this week:

  • Gabi started pointing with one finger
  • She began reaching for us to be picked up
  • She improved her spoon feeding skills
  • She answered to the name "Gabi"
  • She began crawling forward occasionally, instead of just backwards
  • She can now stand for indefinite periods of time rather than a maximum of 2-3 seconds
What an amazing little girl to come so far in just a week. We are CRAZY about her. How fortunate to have been able to spend her first Thanksgiving with her. And snuggle her until she was just about raw from all the attention. We are more in love than we ever could have imagined.

We also have a tentative plan for our Christmas trip to be our pickup trip. If we do in fact get out of PGN this week, we should be able to bring our daughter home the first week of January. We cannot wait. When we arrive on the 27th, it will be Gabriella's 9-month birthday and we have dreams of this being the day that we never have to give her back.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for letting us know that you're back. I've been checking every few minutes. She is so delicious, and all the landmarks are precious. She evidently knows who you are, which means she knows who she is.
We only have one more hurdle....can't wait.
Love you all too much,
Mom

Katie said...

Love all the videos of Gabi -- so cute

Anonymous said...

Glad you made it home safely. Gabi is a beautiful little girl and very fortunate to have you both as parents. We enjoyed meeting you all and will pray for your file to move quickly.

Mike & Robin

Stephanie Richter said...

It was so nice to meet you guys at the Marriott the other day. I will be waiting anxiously for your OUT post!! Fingers Crossed!!
Stephanie, Dave, Maria and Flora