Two Months Home

It's hard to believe that Maya has been home for almost two months. She has learned a lot of English and has done well in school last two weeks. The complaining has lessened and she is truly starting to get used to our way of life. She enjoys seeing everyone at the end of the day or on the weekend or if there is a family get together. She keeps asking if there is another party. One reason is to socialize with her suddenly big family and the other is so she can get dressed up. She would go to school dressed like a princess every day if I'd let her but I try to teach her the appropriate dress attire for different situations. It's not like she didn't have any fancy dresses in China. I can see from some pictures that she did have a couple but I think she enjoys wearing them more often. She particularly likes to pick out something for herself like shoes or clothes that are shiny and she likes her bling; bracelets and necklaces.

She has started to tell us more about her life in China. There were four kids in her foster family; an older girl, a younger girl and a boy. She called the adults grandma and grandpa. They all slept in one room and I believe these foster apartments were at the orphanage. It is set up to house the foster families right on the premises. There is also a building for senior citizens. The older girl wears hearing aids and she does not speak but was kind to her. There was quite a difference between the older and younger kids at the orphanage and the older kids often picked at the younger ones and got their pick of food first. That is not to say that some of these things don't happen here in our schools. Of course they do but hopefully her experiences in China have taught her to defend herself well.

And just to finish off this post I just want to mention that my father just turned 73 and he looks great. He has come a long way but is doing so good. So happy to have celebrated this birthday with him and mom and the rest of our wonderful family. Here is Maya with grandpa, her siblings and nephew.

From Preemie to a 3 Year Old

My grandson Brandon has grown so much. He's put on a little weight and has grown inches. He is still as full of energy as ever but he is starting to put it to good use such as going to pre school a couple of times a week and to the library, even though the best part about the library is not reading books but taking them off the shelf. At the park he tries very hard to keep up with Maya and mostly succeeds. He is starting to put words together. My favourite word of his is House, it's very exaggerated Hooouuusse and I love it and I love going back on his photos to see how much he has grown and changed from a tiny Preemie to a strong three year old boy. So proud of him and his parents Sherie and John for doing such a good job with him.

And this year he has grown even more, ready to make sure we know he's around. Of course we wouldn't have it any other way, Brandon. The following photos were taken from January to September, 2014.

Love you Brandon. You just keep on growing beautiful boy.