Just passed 9 months

Nine months ago last Monday (Nov 1st) was Judah's "Gotcha" day. We met him for the first time face to face. . .what a day that was. A lot has changed in 9 months. He changes a lot from one month to the next. One of the most common first questions from new people that we meet is, "Did he know English when you got him?" When we tell them he knew ZERO English they are shocked. He knows it so well that he communicates better then his over 2 1/2 year old brother who was born and raised in it. His hair is super long now since we haven't cut it once yet. He looks bigger and older with more hair, in my opinion. It's been tough to take care of at this length and it's not fun to "pick" out in the morning. So, I'm thinking we need to trim it but I'm nervous to try it myself. This is a picture of him from today. He was in the bath tub and after conditioning it's easy to pick out and is the biggest the fro gets.

He can write his name now which makes me proud. He's learning letters and numbers. He's doing well in school and I think he'll be ready for 1st grade next year. He's made a few friends: Ambro, Brooklyn, Giovanni. He really seems to respect his teacher and she loves him. She's great! Communicating with her is wonderful and she really listens and respects us.


This is Judah with Mrs. Payton during his first Parent/Teacher meeting.

Kindergarten

Judah finished his first week of school. It's still so crazy to me that I have a kindergartner! He did great, loved his teacher and she adores him. They did test on Friday to see where Judah is and then they can see his progress when they do the test again at the end of the year. He didn't do well but Mrs. Payton said that there are a larger percentage of kids who score the same as Judah and they've been in America since birth. She is in awe at his language skills after only 6 months with us.
The biggest adjustment for both Judah and myself is that starting tomorrow he goes full days M/T/TH/F. Not every child goes full days but Judah was one whom they thought needed it. I hope he does ok cause 8:50 to 3:50 is a long day. I just can't wait to see how he learns and grows!

Kindergarten

Last week we went to "Kindergarten-Round-Up" with Judah. All the little kiddos went off with the different teachers to have a snack and draw a picture while we stayed and filled out paperwork. We had to talk to the nurse about Judah's immunization records and get a waver. We talked to the about Judah's English and found out they have ELL (English Language Learning) which he's get 45 minutes a day 4 days a week. They start all the kids at half days for the first week and them certain kids move onto to full days 4 days a week. I was impressed by what I saw and heard and think it'l be a gret little place for Judah. I teared up a couple times thinking about sending him off to school. I can't believe I will have a kindergartener!! Anyway, when we went to pick him up the teacher in that room loved him and said she hopes he ends up in her room. :-)

It's a process

We put Liam and Judah into gymnastics which started last night. Judah is quite the gymnast if he puts his mind to it but he kept getting distracted by other things in the large room. I had to be near him for part of it to keep him focussed but over all I think both boy really enjoyed the class. The thing about this is that Judah may not really end up learning much in the way of gynmastics but I think it's good for him to learn how to listen and obey other people. He's gone to Sunday school the past two weeks as well and done great without Dave or me there. We are planning on putting him into kindergarten this fall and I want to have peace that he won't run off (he likes to just leave the group and do his own thing, often trying to leave the room/building) and that he will somewhat obey his teacher. So, this is a process we know might take some time. This class as well as Sunday school will be a good start and we hope that he's ready for school this fall.