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|  March 21, 2007  |  May 8, 2007  |  May 8, 2008

Thursday, May 8, 2008 Sophie Lulu is 4 now! On January 20, we celebrated her 4th birthday with dinner at McDonald’s (her choice!), Dora the Explorer cake, surrounded by her siblings. She had looked forward to the day for so long and thankfully, when the day finally came, it did not disappoint. Her big gift was a Schwinn Sting Ray bicycle… purple and pink with training wheels. She was able to get on and ride it right away, wearing a circular path around the inside of the house. She loved it and we all loved watching her go. Sophie has enjoyed spending this school year at home with Jude and me, but she’s ready to go to school in the fall. She’ll be going into Pre-K (which positively blows my mind!) and I think she’s going to love it. She often remarks on Isabelle’s handiwork that comes home from school and even though we often go to Isabelle’s class to participate in parties and events, I know she would love to do these things on a daily basis. She continues to amaze us with her ability to talk to anyone and everyone about anything and everything. She is curious and loquacious and between the two, she rarely has a quiet moment. She loves books and will sit happily being read to for hours. Well, she’ll sit, but she’s still busy even when she’s sitting. She loves to get into mama’s stuff and often has to sit in a time out for getting into something she knows is off limits. We have found her in the medicine cabinet (she was able to get the child lock off), TUMS in hand, offering some to her little brother! We are reminded of her Half the Sky reports describing her as a bit of a scamp, as she was always able to ‘climb to the highest spot for cookies and candies’! We can confirm that she hasn’t changed! Sophie and Isabelle continue to be the best of friends. They are the perfect pair, obviously matched by the Master Himself. Sophie is so good for Isabelle, encouraging her to participate in age appropriate play, and talking to her non stop! And Isabelle is wonderful for Sophie, a constant and tireless companion, who seemingly never tires of her non-stop commentary. Sometimes Isabelle does tune Sophie out, which sends Sophie running to me yelling, "Mama! Isabelle's being a 'tato!" The two of them love to play outside together and recently little brother Jude has joined the growing gang. The only time we have to separate them is at night as Isabelle was waking up 8 ‐ 10 times a night and crying. After months of having to endure this, we decided to move Sophie out, determined to let Isabelle learn to comfort herself at night after the first few wake ups. Interestingly enough, Isabelle has yet to cry since Sophie is no longer sleeping with her, and Sophie is thrilled to be sleeping with the ‘big boys’. In fact, she has surprised us a few times by actually asking to go to bed, she is so crazy about her little trundle bed. Sophie is growing and becoming more of a little girl and less of a toddler every day. She is every bit a girly girl, no rough-housing for her, thank you. Her brothers can make her laugh like no one else, but that's the end of her wanting to do 'boy stuff'. She loves to play dress up and never misses an opportunity to have her nails painted or watch a princess movie. She is wearing a 4 and 5T now and needs every bit of the length. She still has a toddler belly and is proud to show it off to everyone after a big dinner. She’s without question the most adventurous eater in the house and there isn’t too much we have found that she won’t at least try. She consistently wants whatever anyone else has, no matter if she just ate or not. Wanting ‘some’ might just mean one bite, but a bite nonetheless. She will tell us, "Mei Mei likes ice cream. I like meat!" Indeed. She continues to astound us with her healthy constitution, she has only been to the doctor one time for being sick in the last year. Even when everyone else is coughing, feverish and/or vomiting, Sophie is happily playing, unaware of the germs that loom all around her. Today marks two years since I met Sophie Lu in Nanning, China. She has changed in so many ways since those first weeks we spent together, yet so much the same. She has an understated elegance and quiet beauty about her. She has a joy for living, doing, going. She is loving and generous and can capture your heart with those precious dimples when she smiles. And she has blessed our family from the moment I first held her in my arms.

Having fun at the Fall Festival Celebrating Halloween with her cousin, Dane Beautiful Sophie Lulu at Christmas Sophie riding her birthday bike!

Dragon dancing for Chinese New Year

Our precious girl ~ home for 2 years!

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