New Doo and Learning to Read

Sunder had her first hair cut this week. She was fascinated with the chunks of hair falling to the ground. Of course she wanted to play with it! She is no longer shaggy and looks so cute. She also looks more like a toddler now and less like a baby. Since the Giardia left she has gained over 2 pounds. She still has a big appetite, but not near as much as when we first got home. She is really picking up English now and she wants to at least try to mimic our words. We've been asking her to "use your words" and she will usually make an attempt instead of whining. Also this week she is starting to show an interest in books. When she first came home she didn't seem familiar with books and thought they were some sort of Frisbee and she would chuck them across the room. But this week she likes to sit in our laps and look at the pictures. Very exciting for a family full of avid book-lovers! It has been amazing to see the growth in her relationship with Corin. She adores him now. When he comes home from work she greets him with a hug and she loves to come down to his office with him and hang out while he checks email. I feel their relationship went to a deeper level this week.


Riley is doing great with kindergarten. She is really catching on with her reading now. It is so fun and amazing to witness her learning. Her writing is also improving so much. Last year at this time she could barely hold a pencil. And while her teacher and I still have some concern with her fine motor skills, she has gotten so much stronger in this area. She continues to struggle with the big change in our family. But we are getting the proper help that will enable us to help her through this transition. So I feel a lot of hope that things will get better for her soon. I will never forget when we met her in China. She was sick so we took her to a Chinese doctor. He said, "This child has a strong spirit." At the time I couldn't believe what he said as this limp unresponsive baby sat in my lap. Now I know he was right!