On Thursday morning we went to Hannah's annual IEP meeting. Her team of therapists are exceptional and I am so thankful to have a knowledgeable preschool special needs coordinator who is knowledgeable of adoptive kiddos (she has 3 from Ukraine). Hannah has made some great strides in the last year. She is walking 25 feet un-assisted, even though the walk is totally unconventional (and sometimes we aren't sure how she keeps her balance!) Most impressively, our daughter who has been in the "Ohio State" (as she calls it) for 22 months, no longer qualifies for speech and language services! Can you believe it? When we brought her home a translator from the hospital told us Hannah jabbered, but nothing was intelligible in Russian. And now, 23 months later, her English is in the normal range of a typical 5 year old! WOW!
This weekend we are spending the weekend celebrating Hannah's 5th birthday. Hannah will turn 5 on Monday, but we are celebrating with Doug's family on Saturday, Cara's family on Sunday, and we will be home to celebrate on Monday! In a way, her birthday makes me sad. 5? Really? When we brought her home, it was easy to treat her like my baby, and in a sense, she was...needing carried and cared for like a baby. But now, she is so independent. Yes, at 22 pounds she is still easy to pick up and carry, but it is hard to me to think of her as almost in kindergarten. Do I have the option to keep her as a 4 year old? Doesn't seem fair that she is ready to be 5 when I missed the first three years of her life. Guess my days of carrying her should come to an end soon. She is my little big girl!
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