She...

...fills me to bursting.
This is her latest "charm tactic". She long ago learned that if we weren't paying her enough attention, she could crane her neck around so as to look us in the face, thus attracting our gazes. Recently, she's learned how to parlay that charming skill into a new game. She tilts her head all the way to the side until she has to put her arms down for support, and gazes into our eyes upside-down, eliciting (as you can imagine) many giggles and coos of joy from her family.
But, here's the clincher: since that post where she learned how to get herself out of deep, deep doo-doo with a single well-placed kiss....
she has full-on learned to kiss. She doesn't often initiate it, but if asked for a kiss, this is now the result.
Here's a close-up for full effect.
Needless to say, this leaves me weak at the knees. I am fully and completely whipped. I don't have a chance. I'm hers.

(ps - for those not acquainted with the adoption world: understand that kissing is not built-in for a child raised in an institution. Most babies have been kissed, hugged and stroked since day one. Not so for orphanage babies. Cleft babies have (by necessity) more human contact than others, since they have to be hand-fed by an orphanage employee in the early days of life in order to survive. Still, a baby raise in an institution isn't likely to have been kissed much, whether or not they've had the privilege of being held. It is our place, as adoptive parents, to teach them whatever level of intimacy we see fit. I love baby kisses (and covet those I get from my nieces and nephews) so it was important to me to teach QQ how to kiss and how to enjoy being held and petted. She's still a pretty tough cookie - and I respect that. If she falls and smacks her head on something, she does not want to be cradled or cosseted, and her cries last no longer than a few seconds. That's OK with me. I like her to be tough. I like her to know how to "shake it off".
However, I'd also like her to know what it's like to be well and fully kissed and hugged by her mother and father, and to appreciate the comforts of that privilege.)