4 years old!

How can it be?

It still seems like just yesterday we had gotten the referral for a cute 14 month old. And it still seems like just yesterday that we brought that same beautiful 19 month old home to her forever family. So, how can it be possible that she's 4 today?!

We celebrated her birthday on Saturday, and will blog more about that later this week.

For now, I want to give you just a sneak peek of her birthday photos and update everyone on how she's doing.

• My girl has developmental delays - I would guess in the mild to moderate category. To the best of my knowledge (since we've had no formal evaluations done since last September), I would say she's at about the following levels (based on developmental checklists):

Social - approx. 36 months

Cognitive - approx. 36 months

Physical (gross) - approx. 24-30 months

Fine Motor - approx. 24 months

Speech - approx. 18 months

(It's hard to narrow her down, because she's really all over the place in each category. For example, she can do things in the fine motor skills that are right at 3.9 - 4 years old, but then can't do some things that are for 2 year olds. Same with all other categories (except speech, where she is consistently low). So the above are just estimates)

• She weighs approx. 33 lbs. and is approx. 40" tall. (90th percentile for weight & 50th for height)
  
• She absolutely LOVES her books, and it's hard to get her to do or play with anything else. She did get some Lego Blocks for her birthday that she's enjoyed the past couple days, and is just beginning to think coloring with markers/colors/chalk is kind of fun!
  
• She still wants absolutely NOTHING to do with a doll or stuffed animal. Those just get chucked across the floor :)
  
• She LOVES bubble baths and requests them often. Plain baths are just no fun anymore!
  
• She still struggles with transitioning from one activity to another. And she is still pretty hesitant to try new things or new places. She definitely thrives on routine & structure.
  
• There are still many temper tantrums, though they are getting less & less frequent and last for shorter periods of time. It has to be extremely frustrating to not be able to communicate your wants & needs effectively.
  
• Potty training is coming along nicely. She makes it through most days with no accidents, but most of the time it's because we're watching her & making her go at certain times. She still struggles with communicating (noticing???) her need to go.

She is such a sweet little girl, and we love her so much! I won't say it's always easy, but I'd never want to be without her. She's progressing nicely and that's the most important thing (when progress stops is when we have a problem!)

Happy Birthday, Hui Hui (my little sunshine).
Your family loves you to the moon & back!