Fifteen Months Home

Fifteen months home. Seems like they've been here forever, and it seems like they just stepped off the plane. It's kind of a weird feeling.

Everyone is doing really well! Aleksa has overcome all her fears of going upside-down, (which, if you've never seen the terror on her face and coming out of her lungs, you don't quite get why this is awesome news). She even ASKS to be flipped upsidedown now! Never thought I'd see the day.

She's also really developed good patience for the more difficult books we've been reading with the other two for their school. She sits in to hear the read-alouds, history and science, and throws in comments here and there, so I know she's getting quite a bit of what's going on. She's also writing her name on her own, though half the time her s's are backwards. I think it's adorable, but we're still working on getting that fixed.

The other day, Aleksa said, "Mama, can you do me a favorite?" (How could I say no!?) She's the little machine for "cute comments" lately. The other two just don't come up with them like she does.

Liana is still doing well with school. She's reading almost better than Adam is. (I think we've hit a plateau with him for a while.) Neither of them are convinced that they can just pick up a book and read it, but they actually can. For some reason they think if it isn't in their reader for school, they don't know how to read it, so they don't bother trying. We're working on that!

Adam has been doing really well too. Math is coming slowly, but it is coming steadily, and we haven't had to park at any point for a while now. He gets his page a day (or whatever) done without any frustration lately. Big relief for me, as this was the Most Dreaded subject for me for a long time. He's reading is ok. His comprehension is wonderful, but he is slowwwwwwww. His workbook level is about 3rd grade, but his oral reading is nowhere near that. He can decode long words, but it takes him a while. I'm busting him back to some much easier readers so he gains some confidence and fluency.

Speaking of fluency, he's been doing really well. Still doesn't consistantly put is/does in sentences, but whenever we say, "Can you say that better?" he always fixes it perfectly. If he is excited, among friends or acquaintances where there is even the slightest "stress," he'll resort back to incomplete sentences filled in with sound-effects. I'm so glad we've got him at home for school so we don't let him get away with that all day long.

The kids have been talking more and more of Ukraine, their birth families, etc. John and I have been discussing doing a birth family search, but we need to work out the timing a little better, and talk out what we'll share with the kids, how much, when, etc. It would be really good for us as their parents to know the "full" story too.