Christmas

Pierce definitely "got it" this year. Big Sister did her best to explain it all to Pierce and it was fun to see his excitement, though he did have one "lesson" to learn about waiting until Christmas to open his presents! Christmas Eve after church, he chimed right in with Sissy, "one, one", wanting to open a present before bed. Most importantly, though, he understands a bit more of the One whose birth we celebrate!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

One Year Together!

Prayers

Pierce started his special 3-year-old preschool class! He's there for 2 1/2 hours, 4 mornings a week, then they take him in a little bus (he's the only rider) to his babysitter's house! Now, whenever he sees a school bus, he points and says "Mine!". He loves his backpack (which had to be big enough to hold a 3-ring binder), another item that is "Mine!" Don't dare mess with his beloved backpack! It was a bit of an adjustment at first, but he seems to enjoy it now. He is in a class of only three students at the moment, so is getting all kinds of special attention, including speech. He still is not saying much more than initial sounds of words, but we're hopeful that it will all connect soon.

October 13 marked one year together--our "Gotcha" day! Wow! Our lives have certainly changed over the past year, but it sure went by fast. Pierce is a challenge and sweet blessing wrapped up in one precious package!

Summer

I have some catching up to do! Spring was a challenging time--I (strangely) came down with mono--so all "non-essential" activity got scaled back in the interest of survival. I'm afraid blogging fell into the above category. We made it through, though, and enjoyed a relaxing and fun summer. Visits with family, and a trip to Walt Disney World, Sea World, and the beach and birthday #3 for Pierce were the highlights. I really didn't know how it would be going by myself with two children (Bob couldn't come), but decided to give it a try. Pierce embraced every new experience with everything that was in him--he didn't want to miss anything!

Pierce has made good progress with his speech and is making beginning sounds to words. We had him tested and his receptive language is well above average--woo hoo! Not bad when you consider he never heard English before last October! He will start a special program at school in September and will be getting speech therapy as well as instruction in a small class every morning. He is such a smart little guy and loves exploring and figuring things out (a little scary for Mom, sometimes :) !)

We're trying to decide whether we should pursue surgery on his hand and foot in the coming year. If we're going to do it, this is the time (so says the doctor)! We're praying for wisdom in this....

Summer for us is now over--Mom goes back to school this week!

The Beach!

With Uncle Rick

Drip Sandcastle

Family Pic

With Uncle Rick and Aunt Sue

Visit from Uncle Rick and Aunt Sue and presents!

Pierce Turns Three!

Pierce had a great early intervention teacher and speech therapist (just can't find her pic at the moment). He'll be going to a morning three year old class in school starting September.

Watching the July 4th fireworks!

Vacation Bible School

Walt Disney World--at Epcot!

This one was taken at Sea World.

The kids really enjoyed the pool at the resort where we stayed! Pierce was a bit cautious after a couple nosefuls :)

Pierce was sooo determined not to miss anything, but he did succomb to sleep eventually.

Magic Kingdom Fireworks

Race Car Driver!

Just couldn't fight it any longer!

The Alice in Wonderland Tea Cup Ride

Carousel Rides

Epcot

Easter

We had a wonderful celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, but Pierce was all about those candy-filled eggs (he'll get it eventually :)!

I Got Glasses!

And I even keep them on!

Blessed

Pierce just amazes me every day. He is learning so fast and is making more sounds. We've made kind of a game of this. If you were a fly on the wall in our house, you might think we were quite ready for the nuthouse! I'd be pretty embarrassed if anybody ever caught me on videotape! He is so proud of himself when he makes a new sound and gives himself a big round of applause! He recently got a puzzle with a variety of geometric shapes, including pentagon and octogon. He has almost mastered it in about a week. I was thrilled way back when his older sister knew the difference between a square and a rectangle at this age--he's got pentagon and octogon down! Almost everything is him responding to what he hears, though (receptive language good).

We took him to the pediatric ophthamologist last week. Next post you will be seeing Pierce in glasses. I thought I was young getting glasses in the third grade. Oh, my! They really are cute, though. If we can just keep them on him.

This morning we went out to breakfast to celebrate his big sister's "Gotcha Day"! Can't believe its been five years since our sweet girl was first placed in our arms. We are blessed indeed!

Chinese New Year, Update, etc.

at FCC Chinese New Year Party

Joint Presentation on CNY to Kindergarten Class

at Amusement Park

Lots has happened in the last month or so. I've gone back to work full-time and now Pierce goes to stay with a friend who home schools her two children. What a blessing they are! He got his cast off, we celebrated Chinese New Year, and he is learning sooo fast! We are blessed to have an early intervention teacher and a speech pathologist working with him. He understands so much, but still doesn't make many sounds. He knows all his body parts, some animals and colors, and has a growing vocabulary (receptive). When we sit down to eat, he's the first to fold his hands and bow his head to pray! He is quite a little monkey and is into everything! It's rather difficult to keep things in their place with him around. He's been to lots of doctor's appointments, and has had one successful surgery and has his second surgery tomorrow, February 10. Keeping him quiet after the surgery will be a challenge.

Happy New Year!

Broken Toe

I can't believe it's 2009! We have ended 2008 with quite a bang and are eager to see all that God has for us in the coming year!

Gong Gong seems to have recovered well from his surgery right after Christmas, though it was hard to keep him still and we simply hope and pray that he has healed up on the inside as he should have. He had a fall last night, though, and, of all things, broke his syndactylic (is this a word?) toe. It could have simply been one of many falls, but this time he was quite distressed and swelled up pretty bad, so we knew he needed to see a doctor. The little guy was hurting. If it isn't one thing.... I don't really think this is going to slow him down much, though, and he is already hobbling around as if he just has a clunky boot on his foot!

Aunt Amy and Cousin Catherine got down for a quick visit to meet Pierce while on a trip to check out colleges for Catherine. We're hopeful we'll soon have a cousin close by!