Happy Gotcha Day

Gotcha Day was a year ago today (give or take a few hours for the time difference between here and China). A year since we were handed a curious little bundle named Feng Lu Yao, soon to be Zoe Lu-Yao Sharp.

This year has been a blur, and it's a bit mind-blowing to consider how far Zoe has come. From here:

to here:

When we first brought her home, she could barely hold her head up. Now she's walking (running!), climbing stairs, and doing tumblesalts! She's learned sign language for "milk", "food", and "more". She's starting to talk, and to prove that she's every bit our kid, her first spoken word used in context (along with the sign for "more") was "cheese".

But along with all these developmental milestones, she's still the same Zoe who came home with us last February - curious about everything, willing to try anything, wanting to know how everything works. She'll examine a toy one minute, seemingly as analytical as an engineer, and then in the next minute display a prop comic's sense of humor, putting the toy on top of her head while reaching over to honk your nose. (I know behavioral psychologists will cry bullshit - claiming that babies don't develop that level of personality that early - but I know what I know.)

From the very first day, we looked at Zoe and knew she was somebody special. And while the year has had it's rough spots for all of us, that hasn't changed. We can't wait to see what this next year will bring, but we already know this: we couldn't possibly love her more.

Happy Gotcha Day, Zoe. Love, Mama and Baba.