Thing 1

Newly home, Thing 1 had adapted to her new life amazingly well. She's very laid back, happy and scrupulous! But also, very much a tatle-tale! (Everything is Emma's fault.. usually it is.) If there is a perfect child in our family, it is Tian. She's extremely smart and very obediant. Much different from her "twin" Emma, who's complete opposite.
This is Esther Joy Xiao Tian, or Tian as we call her. She's also referred to as "The Meatball" and "I, I" which is Emma's nickname for her. Tian has been part of our family for about six weeks now. I had the privelage of travelling with my dad to China in March to bring her home. After living in our family for the past few weeks, she's learning that it's okay to get dirty, and okay to spill things on yourself. Oh, and that there will always be food, so you don't have to eat like there won't be any tomorrow! She's learning as she adapts to her new life.
Tian was born on January 6, 2003 in a city in Southern China called, Shenzhen. (It is right on the border of Hong Kong) Tian was found outside of a village on the side of a road five days after her birth. We know that Tian was abandoned because she had been born with a cleft lip and palate. Cleft lip is a split extending from the lip up to the nose, and the severity of it depends. Tian had a pretty severe lip and a large hole in her palate. Both were fixed in China, before we got her. Her transformation looks amazing.. you really wouldn't notice she was born like that. Tian spent her first three years of life in the Shenzhen Children's Welfare Institute. The aunties gave her the name Shen, Xiao Tian, which means "morning sky."
We found her picture on the waiting child list of Lifeline Children's Services in February 2005. We were thinking about adopting again, and knew we wanted a child around Emma's age, with a mild special need. Tian's file had two weeks left before it would be sent back to China and her chances of adoption would be slim to none. She was definitely meant for our family.
She was listed as having special needs, but she really has no special needs at all. Her lip will require some more cosmetic surgery in the future, and some orthodontics, but other than that she is a normal, happy and healthy three year old. Her adjustment has gone smoother than any of us expected. If we could, we'd go back and get five more like Tian! She really is a joy to our family.