Now and Then

They smile.
They laugh.
They giggle.
Rosy cheeked and healthy, they zoom around the pool, oblivious to the adults staring at them in wonder. Only nine months ago, their faces were frozen in fear and apprehension, seeing our faces for the first time. Confused and suspicious, they were silent and still, or cried out for the familiar that was now gone forever. They watched. They slowly came out of their shells to explore the new world they were taken to. Their personalities exploded in the loving environment they were now part of.

We saw six of the families we traveled to China with while in New York at the lovely home of Eliza, her parents and siblings. Ariana was looking quite the fashion plate in her lovely, but slightly large, bathing suit that was a present from her big sister “Kesey” as she called Kelsey. The drooping shoulder straps did give her the opportunity to flirt with Zack, the older son of our hosts.



There seemed to be some memory of the girls and it was apparently not the best one as Ariana mostly ignored them, preferring the company of the older kids and adults. And they all seemed a little shocked at being put in yet another group picture.

But they are all adorable. And happy. And thriving. And the parents - well, we are all ecstatic at having these lovely ones in our lives, despite the lack of sleep, the hissy fits, the "not" eating, the worries over speech, and everything else parents of toddlers usually obsess over.

How wonderful.