Soft People, Hot Dogs, and a Calculator

We've been home a few weeks now and Libby's adjustment has been amazing! We have had no food issues, no sleep issues, no meltdowns. Yes, there have been a couple of instances of grieving which is to be expected of course. But this child is so adaptable and fun. We've been to church and to the mall and the aquarium and an Imax movie and she acts as though she's been doing these things all her life.

As I've mentioned, her English skills are great but there are times when finding the right word is difficult. She and Sam were eating pizza in the living room the other day and she called out, "Mom, soft people!" And guess what, I knew exactly what she needed. She wanted a napkin. We were in the grocery store the day before and she was reading "Angel Soft" on the toilet paper and paper towel aisle. There's a girls picture on the Angel Soft package so...Soft People. I knew she didn't need toilet paper so she must want a paper towel since she's eating messy pizza. Makes sense to me. : )

I love taking her grocery shopping so she can show me what she likes or would like to try. I would have NEVER purchased beets if she wouldn't have pointed them out and said how much she liked them. Which she does by the way! We came to the lunchmeat section and I asked her if she had ever had hot dogs. Oh, I wish I would've had a camera to capture the look on her face. It was this terrified look of shock and she just shook her head and said, "No Mom, not eat dog in Ethiopia." Oh, it took me a while to explain that one.

Libby is so studious. We homeschool but I wasn't going to think about "school" for a while. You know just concentrate on culture and English and so forth. But this child has begged to do work. She loves reading, writing, and math. Her math skills are wonderful. She adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides. I carry a calculator in my purse and she sees me with mine often - doing the checkbook. She has asked for one so I picked her up a $1 shiny calculator from Dollar General Store. She was SO excited. This child jumped up and down and danced around saying "Calculator, calculator, calculator." I've got to video her saying this. It sounds like she has an Australian accent when she says calculator. So funny!