Two Years

Today is Lily’s second Gotcha Day.  She has officially been in our family for two years now.  Wow!  Time flies.  Lily is such a joy to have in our family.  She is smart, silly, sweet, kind, creative, cute, funny, fun-loving, and just plain loving.  God was very generous to choose us to be the parents of such a great kid, to borrow her from Him for a while.  I’m not saying that Lily doesn’t have a touch of dramatic flair when it comes to reacting to frustrations or perceived injustices.  I’m not saying she doesn’t have crazy moments (which, really, just help her fit into our family better!).  I’m just saying she is a perfect fit for our family.

So, for her Gotcha Day dinner, Lily requested dumplings and grapes.  Dumplings just seem like a very appropriate meal for the anniversary of her adoption from China.  Dumplings are a very Chinese thing to eat.  Now, grapes, well…she just likes them.  (And, of course, she just requested the dumplings because she likes them, too.  I don’t think she thought about what food would go well with her Gotcha Day from being adopted from China.  She’s a thinker, for sure, but I just don’t think she thought THAT much.)  Anyway, she enjoyed her meal.  

For dessert I made a banana raspberry smoothie.  Tonight was Mei Li’s first smoothie experience.  She’s refused all the previous smoothies that I’ve made and I think I’ve figured out why.  She absolutely will have nothing to do with drinking from a sippy cup.  In China, she screamed bloody murder when I tried to get her to drink from one.  (Hmm, talk about dramatic flair.  Lily may have a touch of it, but Mei Li has it in spades.)  Each time I’ve presented her with a smoothie at home, it’s been in a sippy cup.  (Well, they ARE much less messy to drink from when you’re two.)  She’s never even let the smoothie touch her lips.  Tonight, however, I was daring and let her drink from a cup with no lid.  She enjoyed every drop.  Go figure.  (And, yes, she did end up with a bit on her shirt.  Worth it, though.)

No big Gotcha Day outing for us.  Lily and Mei Li played at home.  In an empty diaper box.  Mei Li goes through a ton of diapers and we just had a large box delivered by the UPS guy tonight.  Fun times.

I made everyone sit for a family Gotcha Day picture to commemorate the second anniversary of the day we met our first daughter.  Of course, I forgot to do it until a good chunk of our family was in their pajamas.  And, embarrassingly (or not), I’m wearing the same hoodie I was wearing last year on Lily’s first Gotcha Day.  At least I’m not in my pajamas.  

 See, same hoodie...