The past few months have flown by and this week we are coming up on having Taite home three months. It has been an amazing three months with many ups and of course some downs because that is the way the cookie crumbles when you have six kiddos. Overall, I have to say that we have been blessed beyond belief with such an easy transition for Taite. There were so many reservations I had adopting a toddler but her transition and attachment has been ridiculously smooth. We had other fears about her language acquisition, her disability, and just the overall adjustment for everyone else in the house but all the worst case scenarios we had expected had not come to pass.
Since Taite has been home her language has increased tremendously. She now strings 2-3 word sentences together and uses them in the appropriate context; which would put her to being almost fully caught up for a 2 1/2 year old. We are working on potty training which is going fairly well. We also met with a specialist to get more insight as to how much use she will have in her right arm. As of right now it looks as if therapy is the best treatment for her and her limited use of her right arm. Our kids have bonded with Taite and treat her just like they do their other siblings. Delylah still struggles from not being the baby but she still tries to be the best big sister she can be.
We have also had some special happenings in the last few months since my last post. We hit the two year mark for Heather, Logan, and Zach joining our family. It is hard to believe that they have been with us two years and when we look back it is amazing to see how far they have come and how much they have achieved in that short time. We have to also boast about Logan. He is a kid who really did not learn easily in school and was not on grade level two years ago. When we got his state test scores back this year he passed every one. Not only that his reading level improved tremendously and he has developed a passion for reading (like me :). Heather also went to her first school dance. She looked amazing for her 8th grade formal. It was awesome to see her lit up with excitement for this milestone. Zach also reached a milestone and that is officially heading onto middle school and graduating from 5th grade. I think this may be a bit of a shock for him in the fall but we know he will roll with the punches and make the adjustment.
Lennah and Delylah also reached milestones. Delylah is done with Pre-K and Lennah finished kindergarten. Wow! where has the time gone. It is so hard to believe these little babies I held in my arms just a few short years ago are growing up so fast. They are driving me nuts with there now strong desires to express themselves in their own way. No longer can I buy clothes for these two little ones to share because they have such different tastes and wants.
We also took our first family vacation with Taite. We headed a condo on Lake Palestine in Texas. It as about an hour and a half outside of Dallas and the kids had a great time. It was a more laid back vacation where we just hung out by the pool and did some local cool stuff. We did take one day to visit a new awesome amusement park in Dallas that the kids truly enjoyed. I have to say Fair Fun Park in Dallas has to be the best value for the money when taking a family to any sort of part with rides. First off admission included visits to an aquarium, botanical gardens, and museums on top of all the rides and free bottles of water. We also visited a local zoo and tiger preserve. It was adorable to watch Taite learn about animals and get so excited. All the kids had the opportunity to feed birds at the zoo and they totally got into it.
Overall it has been a great three months. I know only a daily basis we have to break up squabbles, make lunches, fold laundry, work on learning and we don't sit back and appreciate how smoothly our kids transitioned into our family. We know we are one blessed family with a lot to be grateful for.
