April 10th...One year in....

Wow, it's hard to believe it has been one year since we got Masha home! A lot has happened in that year and she has grown so much and learned so much. We've had our ups and downs and are still getting accustomed to having a smaller girl, she wants so much to do everything her big sisters do and more and gets easily frustrated by not being capable of keeping up with them.

We recently had her IEP meeting with her preschool teacher and were blown away at how well she is doing in class. Everyone loves her in school and the children all try to play with her. She has also made a lot of progress with her lessons and skill building, patiently following the teachers lead and trying her best to complete the tasks. She loves getting ready for the bus every morning and gets very upset on Monday's when she doesn't have school and the big girls do.

Masha has pretty much abandoned her use of Russian, but still answers "Da" when I ask her if she wants to fly! We affectionately refer to as the bomb-omb from the Mario Bros. video game, you set her down and let her go and she runs like crazy until she breaks something! She has a lot of energy and enthusiasm and can be the sweetest little girl, I love it when you sneeze or cough and she asks "OK?". I think the whole family agrees the two years it took to get her home was worth it...well most of the time anyway...Lera and Caelia are not very fond of Masha's singing...I think its adorable and she will do it on demand when prompted, she really gives it her all and has a lot of enthusiasm, judge for yourself: