Ten Months...

Today marks 10 months since Gotcha Day, December 27, 2010. It feels like we've packed years of experiences, growth, and love into those 10 months. Although her grammar is far from perfect and she has an accent, Shaling's verbal English is abolutely incredible. Most people meeting her for the first time have no idea that she's only been in America for a short time. Her written English (& her reading) has a much longer trek ahead, but even those skills are quite impressive when you consider where she was just a year ago. She can read 1st grade level books and her printing is better than mine Preston's.

She has a long ways to go as far as learning to respect and follow the boundaries we set in our household, but she is typically eager to please, whether it comes to school work or household chores. She is currently playing on a basketball team (coached by her dad) and continually begs to play softball again (she still needs to learn about the four seasons). Her ear is healing, but she sees the E.N.T. again on November 11. Her orthodontic surgery is November 8. She'll have two permanent (& perhaps two baby) teeth removed.

She has formed a terrific circle of friends, which has led to Brock & I forming new friendships as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how she enjoys her first Halloween this Monday. She chose a Wonder Woman costume. Last night, we splurged on dinner at Red Lobster because it is currently "Shrimp Fest". She ate 82 shrimp!

We are definitely feeling like a typical family of four. We don't have "adoption issues"; we simply have ordinary parenting challenges, and of course, an abundance of parenting rewards.

Here is a current picture of her with our neighbor's Corgi, Lilo (to compare to pictures from 10 months ago, click on "Gotcha Day" up above):

(You can click the picture to make it bigger)