Baby's room

Here we are in Elena's room (pink, of course). We are all wearing the t-shirts bearing the logo of the CCAI travel group that we were a part of. The scroll hanging on her wall was painted by a local artist in Nanchang, the provincial capital of her home province. The three block letters down the center are the characters of her Chinese name. The column on the right details her birthdate, and the column on the left gives information on the place and artist. Laura's mom made the beautiful quilt hanging on her crib.

Kids' portrait

In early October, we finally got around to getting some formal portraits taken of the kids, and of the whole family. I still am awestruck by how quickly the kids have accepted one another. They truly are siblings and love each other wholy.

Elena's first word was "Aalllaaa" (Alex). She says that every morning in a gleeful fashion when she first lays eyes on him. She is very happy to see Nathan too, but Nathan is harder to say. Her second word was "caaa" (cat). She also knows "Ma", and is occasionally saying "Da". Today she used the sign language word for "eat" to ask for her afternoon snack! 

Queen of the mountain

Elena likes active play. She laughs when I pick her up and toss her in the air. She very much enjoys taking somersaults and landing on her feet. But most of all, she enjoys climbing on her brothers, even as they climb on their dad. 

This is my favorite picture of Elena because it really captures much of her personality. She is someone who is anxious to take on the world. She is such a happy, active, and enthusiastic girl. We are so lucky to have her in our family! 

Mommy and baby dressing up in their outfits from China. 

Elena made her first visit to Curtis Orchard with the boys back in August. She had a lot of fun petting the animals and watching the boys jump around in the straw. She also had her very first apple donut, and wanted more.