The little things that keep me going

We were finally DTC (dossier to China) on 1/4/12.  This means that all of our hard work and precious paperwork is now in the hands of China.  We are waiting for our official LID (log in date) which most likely happened last week, but we won't know the date for a few more weeks.  We are officially on our potentially long wait for LOA (letter of acceptance) from China which is their final ok for us to adopt Elise.  The average wait for this step is 60 days, but I have seen some people get theirs in the 30's and some at nearly 150 days. 

We are so blessed that our daughter is at Bethel.  They are very open to communication and letting us know how she is doing.  Her last teacher left the school but gave me another contact name, so I emailed him last week and within hours received the following response:

Dear Margaret,

It is very nice to hear from you. In this digital and distant age an email can still make us very very happy. We are eagerly anxious and we are very grateful for the way you and your family have kept in touch.

Meng Meng is doing very fine. She has become increasingly expressive. Her vocabulary is growing by the day which allows her to express herself (and her mood) better and better. In school Meng Meng is just like any other kid, very interested for a few minutes but then distracted for the following 10. But she is very independent and rather bold. Our teachers and staff really like working with her because of her characteristic responsiveness.

She has really started to 'get to know' people. And with 'get to know' I mean her ability to recognize different people and change her behaviour  accordingly. For example, one of our managers has lots of curly blond hair. When we ask Meng Meng, "who is that?" her running joke is to shout "Ami", and runs away laughing (Ami is the name of our golden retriever).

If there is anything you'd like to know, or if there's anything we can help you with in moments that you need some peace of mind, please feel free to ask.

I've attached some additional photos of Meng Meng.

Elise sounds like she is a lot of fun.  I can't wait to meet her though it feels like I already know her so well.  It really is amazing how you can love someone so much that you have never even met before.  He did send me two pictures, which were taken in October based on her clothes and hair, but I am still so happy to have them.  She looks so happy...and beautiful.