I look at this picture and can't believe that she was not in our family for all of those years. She was 5 when she came into our lives. It seems like she's been here from day one, but there are no photos or memories to prove it.
Anya is such a huge, important part of our lives now. The Lord has helped us in creating a beautiful bond with her that I didn't think was possible at first. I'm so thankful.
Anya been in our family for almost 4 years now...
and look at the change.
She knows how important she is.
She knows she is loved!
You can see it in that face.
Updates
School:
Anya is in the 2nd grade this year.
She attends a regular classroom all day
except 2 hours, when she is in resource or speech.
She loves school and all the kids there adore her.
Her behavior at school has improved so much this year
that her teacher doesn't have to send me
behavior reports any more.
Yay!
I would love for her to stay in the regular-ed class all day,
mainly for social skill reasons,
but the reality is that the teacher doesn't have the time
or training to make sure everything is adapted for her
and she is just hanging out when they are doing things
that are over her level of understanding.
I could fight for her to have a one-on-one aide,
but I'm not sure that's the best answer.
Luckily, she's in a small group of 3-4 kids in resource
and her teacher there is awesome and is pushing her!
She has been reading beginner books.
She is still not sounding out words phonetically,
but has dozens of them memorized.
She has an incredible visual memory!
Social:
Every other week, she goes to "Activity Day"
with other 9 year old girls from our church.
They make crafts, have lessons, cook, learn new skills, etc.
She LOVES Activity Days.
And the girls are so sweet with her.
I'm grateful for this program in our church
because she doesn't get out to play much!
Anya has a typically-developing friend in our neighborhood
who is in her class at school.
They play together once a week or so,
and guess what?
I don't have to arrange their play dates.
This sweet girl wants to play with Anya
on her own accord.
I love her!
Anya would love to play with friends every day.
Once she can speak more clearly,
other girls will want to play with her more, I think.
She's just hard to understand right now. :/
That's where little Miss Hazel comes in.
Anya loves having a friend around all the time
and especially loves having someone
to boss around.
Best Friends Forever.
Struggles:
Our #1 struggle with Anya is her insistence on
being the boss at all times.
being the boss at all times.
She likes to have everything her way,
like the color of cup she gets
or who sits next to her
or which seat she gets in the car
or how full her cup next to her bed needs to be.
or how full her cup next to her bed needs to be.
She just likes to be in control.
Like all kids...but to the max. :)
I think a lot of it has to do with her lack of
ability to express herself the way she would like.
I can't imagine how frustrating it is
to not have people understand you.
It's a good thing she's so stinkin' cute.
It makes up for all the hard times.
to not have people understand you.
It's a good thing she's so stinkin' cute.
It makes up for all the hard times.
She did so well at the dentist the other day!
She let them clean her teeth and she
cooperated happily for the x-rays.
We looooove milestones like this.
We celebrate the little things!
We love this girl so much.
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