Are We There Yet?

Molly's First Gotcha Day Anniversary!

I still can't believe it has been a whole year. Twelve months ago today a sassy, crazy-smart, strong-willed, determined, adorable girlie-girl stormed into our family. And "stormed" is putting it lightly.

If you're new to this blog, let me just show you what a difference a year makes.

Molly's Gotcha Day was more "abduction" than "adoption"...
...and we feared we were in for a struggle when we saw how she eyed us suspiciously from the moment we walked into that government office in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. Our attempts to win her over with toys and candy...
...were clearly not successful. She took the toys and candy, all right...and then refused to come near us or look in our general direction. It was right about at this point, when her nannies left the building...
...that we got a true picture of her determined spirit and the amount of fight in this spunky little firecracker. She stripped off her dress defiantly, obviously hoping we wouldn't take her if she wasn't properly clothed.

That is also right about the point that my heart broke completely for my baby girl.

After someone got her dressed (wasn't me...I had crumbled to the floor and was sobbing as hard as she was)...
...she packed up the toys we gave her into the large yellow bag that held her only possessions (some markers and three boxes of cookies) and stared furiously at the very door where her nannies had exited.

Less than an hour later, we saw a few cautious smiles...
...and, while we didn't know it at the time, we were over the worst of it. This strong-willed little firecracker was going to quickly adjust to life with her Forever Family.

Fast forward to today. No more "short-cut, boy hair" for this princess...
...it's all "piddy tails" and big bows these days. Lately, she prefers to wear her hair down with just one big bow. She often pulls the sides of her hair toward her face, so she can "see my Chinese hair" and "remember who I am." (Her words.)

While she arrived in our family wearing a dress three sizes too big and a pair of boys' sandals...
...she currently has a wardrobe full of appropriately-sized clothes in pinks, purples, and frills. And her shoes are decidedly NOT the kind a boy would wear. Her newest favs are adorable sandals adorned with colorful butterflies.

Her determination has served her well this past year. She was almost fluent in English after about four weeks with our family...
...and adapted amazing well into her preschool class. She not only survived a year of preschool, she is nearly a celebrity at her school. When Molly enters the building, everybody knows it. She is more than ready to start Kindergarten in three weeks.

The spicy little girl who obviously blamed her Mommy for the trauma of Gotcha Day -- evidenced by her refusal to bond with me for the first six months...
...now loves her Mommy fiercely and apologizes almost daily for making me cry in China. (Oh, sweetie!) She remembers many details of her life before joining our family and has an amazing appreciation for even the smallest things in life. She is crazy about her big sister and her brother...and insists she will be a big sister herself some day. (We'll have to see about that one...)

Molly is a true medical miracle. Born with a lumbar meningocele and a diagnosis of spina bifida...
...we later found out that she has a rare spinal disorder called diastematomyelia. Based on her radiologic findings on MRI and the way her spinal nerves are split along with her lumbar spine, she should be paralyzed below the waist and incontinent of bowel and bladder. She is none of the above. Her doctors are amazed.

While this past year has been challenging in terms of adjustment, we wouldn't change anything about it even if we could. This pint-sized cutie pie with the annoyingly loud, high-pitched voice and the best deep, throaty laugh you will ever hear...
...is the perfect addition to our family. And I, for one, am so thankful every day that God -- in His infinite wisdom -- brought Molly Jayne YuHan into her Forever Family on August 3rd, 2009.

Happy Gotcha Anniversary, baby girl!!