Natalie

Every day I think I should write an update and share how things are going, but then I get home and it seems like there are so many other things to take care of. I have had some issues going on in my own personal life (which I may share at a later date) and work has just been so busy.

But I titled this post Natalie so I want to bring you up to date on how she is doing. Since I last updated, she has started a new school along with a new program called More at Four. The purpose is to help children who are behind at the age of 4 to be ready to enter kindergarten by next year. Needless to say, when she was tested she scored low. A lot of that has to do with the fact that she is still learning English. I don't believe I have ever used the word knuckle with her, so I am not surprised that she did not point to her knuckle when asked. She has learned a lot of body parts in English but she still has so many more to learn. Have your ever sat down and thought of all the different body parts there are? For instance, just covering the head we have: face, head, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, lips, chin, ears, hair, eye brows, eye lashes, cheeks, forehead, bangs, brain, skull, jaw, sinuses, the various parts of the eye, etc. You get my point. I don't think she knew her colors at the baby home, so having to learn new names and the concept is a double wamy for her. She knows the names, but can't quite match the color to an object of that specific color. But she is learning so much.

At times I feel frustrated because I am not the person teaching her so many things or being there when she experiences new food items (had tacos at school long before we had them at home.) The other day she was talking about coffee. I don't drink coffee, so I knew she had learned this at school. I do like living in the South, but at times find the syntax and use of certain words or should I say the incorrect use of words is a bit challenging for me. This week Natalie has been using the expression "get gone" which I hear all the time here. So I find it a challenge to help her to learn things the correct way or the way I feel she should be brought up. I feel like she is growing up right before my eyes and I am missing out on so much, because I have to work. On one hand I would love to cut my hours down to six a day which would allow me to be full time, but on the other hand, the adoption was not cheap and I feel the need to work a full 40 hours to pay back the loan. So it is a fine balance between spending time with her and moving towards being debt free. I have also had to work a lot of weekends due to taking time off for my mom and her appointments. With so many things going on with the economy, I am truly grateful for my job and the opportunities that are there.

Natalie has also had the opportunity to spend several days with my sister, BIL and my niece. The day care was closed and she stayed with them since my mom was not up to taking care of her at the time. She had a blast and did not want to come home. She has also spent the night at a friend's home and also did great there. Those days have given me some time to get little projects done around here.

One day we took the train to Raleigh and went to the Natural Science museum. We met up with a friend who lived in the area and ran into a family that I have know for years when I lived in Fayetteville. It was a delightful surprise. Natalie had looked forward all week to riding on the choo choo.

Her vocabulary has grown tremendously and she is maturing so fast. She loves that she is a "big girl" and wants to do so many things by herself or to help me.

Tomorrow we will go to a local festival and I am looking forward to attending this and seeing her reaction to so many things. I will post some pictures from our trip to the museum.