"es-Spiderman"

This is his first fish caught ever! See the pride in that smile?

Alright, maybe that's in bad taste but we love our new guy's accent and that is how he says Spiderman. Since the second day home when he found the Spiderman costume in the closet, he has loved to wear it. In fact, much like Boo, he wears it often enough to reduce my laundry load. If we have to go out and I ask him to change, he wears his clothes OVER the Spiderman costume (apparently he doesn't know that is a Superman thing to do!) We have been in awe of this little guy since we met him in person on August 11th in Ethiopia. I guess since many of you don't know him well yet, it's OK for me to devote a little more attention to him than the others right now.

I'm amazed to think that last year on this date, he was not even a thought in my mind. We truly thought our family was complete. Right before Thanksgiving God told us that wasn't the case and the journey to figure out God's plan for our family started up again. Also one year ago, Spiderman had been sitting in a government orphanage for almost 2 months. That's a praise on many levels. When God called us to adopt an older child, we worried about the adjustment of a child who had never known a family's love. Not only did he spend the first 6 years of his life in his original family, but he spent less than a year total in an orphanage between that family and his forever family. During that time, God pulled off an incredibly fast adoption for us (at only 5 months) and that is amazing!! He even provided almost all of the funds within 30 days! We have been so blessed to watch him grow these few short months. More on that.

Spiderman has opened our eyes to the wonder of our world. From learning to use a drinking fountain, swimming in a pool, discovering ice cream (his passion) and even learning what it means to "wish" - everything is a new discovery. As I watch him revel in taking a BATH, I am reminded how much we take for granted here in America. I am also astounded to see what an amazing grasp of English he has in such a short time! No doubt the constant questions of "what is this?" in those early days helped expand his vocabulary (that and competing with those 3 loud siblings to "be heard"). We have plugged him into 1st grade with Goose and he does pretty well at that level. I'm finding gaps but also covering a lot of basics to try and fill them. He can even "read" already at a Kindergarten level, which amazes me. He absolutely loves to draw and color and is really quite an artist!

One thing about Spiderman is that he is affectionate. He loves to give hugs and kisses or to be tickled. We used to call him Mr. Giggles but Spiderman is a much cooler name if you ask him. He is shy around outsiders or new people but if he knows you are a family member, you will get squeezed. You can sense he loves to be part of a family and upon meeting grandparents, siblings, aunts & uncles he has no reservations on hugs and kisses. (In fact, he kisses you so hard that you can feel his teeth on your cheek) He truly is a gift to us all.