180+ words ... and 100 days as a US citizen

We are often asked how Jaden's English is coming along, and we had been guessing about how many words he could say in English.  Our guesses had gotten up to about 80 words or so.  Well, the other day we started a list, and we are at 180 words that he knows well and speaks clearly on his own. 

Plus, he understands many many many more words than those we put on the list.  Sometimes it is surprising what he understands. 

There are times that we will say something to him not really expecting him to know what we are saying, and he will pause and process and then respond in a way that makes it clear that he understands what we meant.

He has really enjoyed having his Jiejie and his Gege home from school.  It had been a source of confusion to him that they would come and go for several days at a time during their school days, but he really has been happy to have them home on a more regular basis now!



He had has fun going with Gege to Gege's room and finding Lego toys that Mitch had put together years ago ... Jaden has a tendency to de-construct them, though, and he will spend hours working on rearranging them into new (and sequentially smaller) creations.

 Church has continued to be a bit of a challenge, but he is doing as well as any three year old who is asked to sit through a church service can do.  It is a bit more of a challenge for him, though, due not just to the language issue but also due to the fact the he wants to be up on the platform with Baba and Gege as they play in the praise band.  (When Mitch was out of town the Sunday before finals week Jaden went up before the service and played drums, and it was obvious that he has been watching his Gege :-)).

Our church has lots of stuffed animals spread out on the seats for kids to play with.  One Sunday when the praise team starting singing, Jaden decided the wanted a sheep and a kangaroo to play with, so he started asking for them ... and before long those animals started making their way up row by row as people passed them forward for him.  Quite cute.



As a final note, yesterday marked Jaden's 100th day as a U.S. citizen.  It is said that adoptees become U.S. citizens when they touch American soil, so when we landed in Chicago in February we carried him off of the plane so we would be able to get the moment in a picture.  Well, he didn't want to be put down, so as he laughed we ended up tilting him over backwards so that his head touched the ground, and that was when he became a U.S. citizen.  Unorthodox, perhaps, but cute nonetheless.  :-)