You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet Song

I love this girl, my first daughter and self-appointed deputy-mom. Actually, I think I am often demoted to deputy-mom status and Song takes over, which would be a problem except that she does such a great job! I look forward to the day when she can flex those parenting muscles on her own children. I daresay they'll be an orderly bunch.

We are rapidly approaching Song's eighth Adoption Anniversary. This year has a new twist, because I am taking Song and her best friend/little sister Anna to Chinese Culture Camp for the first time, and it begins on her anniversary. We will be enjoying four days away from the hustle and bustle of life with seven children and really enjoying each other. Already we're dreaming of swims in the hotel pool, going to movies and out to eat and maybe even shopping!

Song is the resident naturalist of the family; she has always loved animals of any kind, with the possible exception of snakes. She truly believes she has a special rapport with our dogs and with her uncle's horses, and I'm not so sure she's wrong. She has great patience with them and tries to study them. At one point, her goal in life was to be a dolphin trainer, but I think the true goal was to get to spend time with her beloved dolphins.

Song is truly my right hand gal at home. I couldn't leave out the picture, below, of her with two of her charges, Emma and Vera. She always jokes that she "stole" Emma from me, and has worked hard to "steal" her newest little sister, Ella, from me, too. I think she has succeeded, as Ella often leaps from my arms into Song's sweet embrace.

Song's name is my favorite. I shouldn't play favorites, I know, but perhaps it is permissible with names. We had originally chosen a different name for our first daughter, but when we received Song's referral and found out that her name was Li Song Yue, I knew right away that Song should be her name, because it matched the song of joy that filled my soul when I first laid eyes on her referral picture. I love the way it has shaded the meaning of so many of the songs I hear, like the one mentioned in the title. Our sweet Song has endured many (bad) singings of "Song, song, blue" and "Sing, sing a song", for instance.

Song is a true little lady, a precious gift from God, and a beloved daughter, and one day soon, we pray, a sister in Christ.