LOOK AT OUR EMPRESS NOW!

She came to us at the age of 15 months ... a China Princess from the Jiangxi Province in eastern China. Almost immediately upon her arrival, with her limited Chinese vocabulary, she established herself as the ruler of the family, bossing brothers, parents and grandparents alike with impunity! She is a woman who knows her own mind! Her oldest brother, Hoppy Toad, began early on to call her "Empress." This quickly got shortened to "M-Pris" or just "Pris." More importantly, she quickly became the apple of everyone's eye!

Today, some 16 months later ... she maintains her commanding (literally) presence ... frequently telling everyone how to do everything. And with her 2-1/2 year old's mastery of English, her directives are usually quite clear to their recipients! She expects nothing less than perfection of us, her loving and loyal servants! And each of us KNOWS that perfection MUST BE FORTHCOMING in all instances! She remains our well-loved M-Pris!

Very early on she developed an affinity for the cartoon "Spongebob Square Pants." And in fact, her first English words were from the opening theme song of the program ... she would run through the house singing it at the top of her lungs, with the tv. These days she has added to her repertoire. Her favorites now include Spongebob, Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, and The Wiggles. We watch all of these programs nearly every day.

She still loves to sing. She sings along with several of the Weird Al Yankovich songs her brother Hoppy Toad listens to and plays over and over again for anyone willing to listen. She also likes to sing the ABC song, and "The Big Bad Wolf" song from "The Three Little Pigs" story.

She is extremely bright ... frightenly so ... just as her brothers are. She "picks up" new information quite readily ... and often of her own accord. And she frequently displays a level of understanding of things that is more often appropriate to 5 and 6 year olds. And she is very perceptive ... for instance, all child safety products I bought were quickly figured out! Keeping her safe from her own inquisitiveness is a daunting task as a result!

She is funny ... quite the comedienne ... a trait shared with her brother Turtle. She likes to both give and receive practical jokes ... generally laughing hilariously even when the joke is on her! She has a great sense of humor!

And she has changed quite a bit in appearance. She came to us looking very much like the baby she was ... an average 15 month old. She had only a little hair, and while not fat, definitely had that well filled out baby shape. Now she has grown about 4-5 inches in height and about 4-5 pounds in weight. Her weight is now more proportionate to her height and she looks like a little girl (no longer a baby!). And her hair has grown in prodigiously ... shoulder length black, gorgeous hair cut straight and including bangs. She hardly looks like the same child! We look forward with great anticipation, to seeing her become a woman ... most probably a great beauty (judging from her pretty looks now).