Sometimes it is hard to believe that Katie has only been with us for 10 weeks.  For that matter, it was just driven home to me how short of a time Jaden has been here also.  I was reviewing Jaden's end of year notebook from Pre-K and it helped me remember that when he started school less than a year ago, he still didn't speak much English.  That is just really incredible and hard to believe.  I have been so blessed to be a part of this crazy adoption journey, I occasionally forget how difficult it must have been/must be for the kiddos. 

When Katie wakes up she does this thing that I just love.  She always looks around as if she is trying to figure out where she is exactly.  You can see it in her face and her eyes the moment it hits her that she is home.  She gets a huge smile on her face and whichever of us is closer is gifted with a giant hug.  It occurred to me at naptime today that she must still wonder if she is going to wake up one day and be back where she started.  That would be such a tragedy.  This beautiful, happy little girl would go back to that beautiful, sad little one that we used to see in the pre-adoption pictures.  

Before

After.  :)

She really is adjusting well and is enjoying having summer fun. 

 

She enjoys the zoo and the pool and had fun at Six Flags/Hurricane Harbor but what she still enjoys more than anything else is to just be home with the family. 

The other day she decided that since she is getting help with her meals all of the time, maybe she should help Jaden eat.

Yesterday was the 4th and she was exhausted from the zoo but when we got home, Laura was unexpectedly home from her Peds rotation (Her "Let it Go" Salmonella song was such a hit, she was excused early (: .  Katie was so excited, she was just giddy.  She never did get that nap (although Laura did ...  :-)

She does normally like to nap, though.  When it is naptime she is more than ready and signs "nap" and once we get to the bed she crawls on over to her pillow and flops onto her back, ready to go to sleep (most of the time) :-)

When someone is missing, she spends a fair amount of the day doing roll call ("Mama, Dada, Gege, Laura, Jaden" ... over and over).  I keep wanting to video it but when she sees the iPad, she gets distracted.  I'll catch it one day. 

People often ask us how she is doing, and really the best way to say it is just to say that she knows that she is home!  She loves being home and loves being with her family.  She has really enjoyed going to the office with us, too, and has a lot of fun with the staff at the office.

One of the things that she really enjoys is looking at pictures and naming the members of her family.  One of her favorites is the picture of her and Jaden on our bed where Jaden is showing his muscles ... when she sees it she immediately tries to imitate her brother by striking the classic muscle pose ... well, maybe it's not quite the "classic" pose but it is too adorable nonetheless!

Jaden has continued to grow ... and grow ... and grow!

These are the PJ's he wore when we first brought him home!

Next week is China Camp in Tulsa for Jaden.  Last year, he would have spent the whole time in the nursery and we didn't see the benefit in it.  This year, we have missed so much time in the office that we have decided not to go for ourselves, but Mitch is going to take Jay up.  Hopefully, he will have a great time.  I would have been nervous about it since he hated China language school so much, but he has gotten so comfortable around other Asian people now that I think he will do great.  He enjoys other kids so much that I think he'll do fine. 

Speaking of other Asian kids :), we found out that one of his orphanage "brothers" was adopted last week!  It was not Jin, the little boy that was his best friend, but it was a little guy that hung out with him quite a bit.  He is about 4, I think, and has down's syndrome.  His mom posted some pics of the orphanage on fb and sent me a message.  The orphanage has undergone some major changes in attitude, it sounds like.  She says that now they have toys for the kids and the directors allowed her to bring additional toys in for the littles!  And Jay's best buddy Jin is now listed for adoption and they are sending me a video to try to advocate for him.  They are really hoping that he can be adopted by someone near either us or by the other little guy that just got adopted. 

Jaden and Jin 2012, before Jaden was adopted

Jaden give Jin gift (when we went back to his orphanage after Jaden's adoption). It continues to haunt us, knowing that Jaden's best friend is still in the orphanage.

It would be incredible if anyone saw him as their son and brought him home.  He seems like such a happy guy now.  I know it has to be hard on him now in the orphanage, watching another of his friends leave permanently.  He had hydrocephaly in the past but from what I can gather, it is resolved.  They say he is perfectly normal 5 year old.

Jin in 2014, still waiting for a Mama and a Daddy.

It is so much fun having Jaden and Katie home ... but it hurts when we stop to think of so many children who need a family to call their own, a family to make them happy and to love them.