A proud mommy

So I think its very possible that I get more joy out of teaching my two year old son something and seeing him demonstrate that he has grasped new knowledge than I do teaching a classroom full of elementary students. I mean, I love teaching in general and having that connection with kids and seeing them learn, but its really different when its my own [almost] kid. 

Within the last two weeks, Daniel learned to say most of the letters of the ABCs. But today as we were saying them, I realized that he now knows what letter comes NEXT and says that one, instead of repeating what letter I've just said. Not for all the letters, but there are about 10 that he knows are next.

With about 80% accuraccy (yep, there's the teacher-training in me), Daniel is identifying capital O, E, and A in print. Seriously, I didn't mean for him to do that yet!

Today he counted to 6, without repeating after me. Except that he hates the number 1, so I have to force him to start with it by repeating it over and over. He loves 2...its his favorite number. He can repeat count up to 10.

He can now respond properly to the questions, "What's your name?" (Dan dal) and "How old are you?"  (Twoooo). I know, he's not quite two yet, so its not entirely true, but I think we're close enough and, well, see the above paragraph about the number 1.

Well, that's the latest on my side of the ocean. Its school break for the next week, so instead of going to the beach as I have for every other break since I've lived in the Philippines, we're checking out some local stuff, like the aquarium and the zoo. Pre-birthday presents, I'll call them!

Don't Tagalog me; I'm nosebleed!!!

I know that for most of you, the title of this post makes no sense. But, if by chance you are Filipino, you are probably laughing outloud. It's a common phrase (substitute "English" for "Tagalog") around here when a Filipino has to engage in too much English conversation. It might also go something like, "Don't English me; I'm panic!"

But in real news (and the reason for the title), I attended a pre-adoption seminar on Sept 24 (or somewhere around that date), a requirement for anyone going through domestic adoption in the Philippines. The seminar was held in a tiny little room, maybe 7x12 feet, with a large table in the center, and about 25 attendees. Unfortunately for me, the majority of the seminar was conducted in Tagalog...I don't really speak or understand much, even after living here for 9 years. Fortunately, I know enough plus the bits that were in English to have come out of the seminar with a bit of understanding of what's to come.

The good news:

• One requirement in the process is a six month "pre-trial placement", when the child is placed in the prospective parent's home and monitored by supervised visits from the social worker. I found out that my foster placement with Daniel counts as that placement, knocking off 6 months of the process in the future.
• My primary social worker through this will continue to be the one I've already been working with through Gentle Hands. Hurray!
• My government-assigned social worker was one of two conducting the seminar. Fortunately, she was the nice one that smiled and me and spoke to me in English (the other lady would make a point to speak to me in Tagalog, then turn to someone else and speak in English. Grrr.)
• There were at least 3 other single women in the room, and we were assured that there was no bias against singles adopting.

The bad news:

• I still have no idea on timing of the whole process. In theory (and with LOTS of prayer), its possible it could be completed by the end of the school year or summer, which would be ideal, as I'd like to furlough. However, I'm not putting any bets on that timing.
• I was told not to even start the application process until six months of fostering is completed. It will officially be 6 months in December. Which means, of course, that nothing will happen until at least mid-January with the Christmas holidays.
• We still have not been officially matched. I supposed this isn't really bad news, but it isn't good news yet either. Daniel's paperwork was finally submitted last week, and matching should happen within the month. Actually, the fact that its been this long before his paperwork was sent in goes in my favor, as we've had longer to bond and demonstrate results of the bond and his thriving in my care.

So that's the "where we are in the process" update. Sorry its been so terribly long since the last post. I'm sure you were all on pins and needles waiting to hear what was happening. ;-)

Thanks for praying!