Seven Months Home

Nina has been with us for seven months and I cannot believe how fast time goes by. If you saw her now, you might think that she has been with us for longer because her speech is so...normal. Like it was the language she was born speaking. She still does not speak like a typical four year old, and some words confuse her. We know there are also some things she does not understand. But overall, our communication has little barriers. Mostly, we do not even think about the fact that she is still learning. She really is that good!

Nina has begun to refer to the orphanage as "Ira's house." Ira is the name of her favorite worker. She tells us what she did and didn't do at Ira's house. For a child that we were told was cognitively delayed, she has a brilliant mind! Today, she even told us about the day that we first met her! Really, she told us about it! She said, "Nina scared, and Nina just smile, like this." And she showed us the exact same look and smile we saw that day. Except we did not see the scared part. We were blown away by her memory, and how accurately she could describe it.

She says she cannot remember how Ira spoke, or what she ate. She says she had no toys, she only played with balls. She loves her family and her house because she has her own toys to play with, and nice sisters to play with too.

Some days I do not think about the fact that we adopted her, while some days are hard, and her behaviors remind me that we are just getting to know each other.

I am looking forward to her going to school. I am nervous of how she will do, but excited for her. I think this will be good! Just a few more weeks and she will be a preschooler!