3 months today...time flys!

Andrew like his Dodad(a.k.a. Dewey) and Aunt Susie loves
bubbles. Wow! that is a really big one Andrew, good job!

I can hardly believe it has been 3 months since Andrew and Kathlena were officially ours. It seems so long ago yet such a short time...3 months. We are growing together as a family each day and getting to know each other deeper with every new adventure together. It is sweet time at 3 months as they are becoming so much more settled and more of their little personalities are emerging.

Andrew is now speaking many English phrases in context and beginning to speak where others-not just his family-can understand and converse with him. He still speaks some Russian sometimes; it's harder to tell if it is Russian or heavily accented English word he is trying to say. Often if he is in a hurry we will hear certain words in Russian first as it is still what comes to mind quickest.

Andrew loves trains, especially Thomas, although Diesel is his favorite. He loves to put the brio train track together with his big brother. It is great for both of them as they grow their relationship together. Andrew also loves music and is very fond of Hank the Cowdog songs...go figure when it is J.Michael"s and Emily's favorites too! He and big brother are becoming good friends. It has been an adjustment for both as J.Michael has given up a lot of his time and space for his little brother and it has been a sacrifice on his part...a good one though. J.Michael is becoming quite the good "coach" helping his brother grow and be part of the family. Andrew too is helping J.Michael to be patient and become a good teacher. How thankful I am that they have each other.

Andrew also has his Mom's and big sisters (well, all of us Shiflet's and Davis's really) love for animals...while he was terrified at first he is now a regular bug and reptile collector and mammal holder like the rest of us. (See photos below of tadpole catching in the backyard...he was so excited to see a "baby" frog). While at Nana's he caught a big toad in his bug collector (with mom's help...he says "no touchy Andrew" but liked watching him in the cage)

Andrew with a newborn kitten at Uncle
Todd's.

Introducing "Senor Whiskers" the newest addition to the barn cat clan of the Davis ranch.
Emily also loves to work with Andrew teaching him to sing hymns. I am amazed by Andrew's great interest in books. He likes to "read" the pictures and tell you the story and has begun to recognize English letters and their sounds. I think once we get his vision stable he will be reading in no time. He is so smart and has already overcome so much...he is definitely a survivor. We know that along with the survivor skill comes some hardness but he seems not to bear this mark with his sweet nature. Only time will tell how deep those marks are and we trust in our heavenly Father to heal them and give us the wisdom to help Andrew as he matures.

Andrew catching tiny "pinhead" sized tadpoles...what a great
exercise for his eye with his patch! He loves frogs too!

Everyone (well almost, Kathlena was napping) trying to catch all they
can and put in the bucket as we need the "poo wah", pool for swimsuit
as Andrew calls it.

Emily thanks for the macro tadpole pic...great job!

Andrew's catch and release toad.

Kathlena has become this ball of energy that you are just drawn into that makes you laugh and smile. Her cuteness could melt the hardest of hearts. She is truly a happy child...so different than when we first met her almost 7 months ago. Her middle name Hope embodies the Spirit of adoption. All the worries and concerns we initially had about her have now passed and all we see is this beautiful, happy, precious little gift from the Lord. She is growing and developing so quickly. She parrots everything we say...especially big brother Andrew. We continue to see much progress with her by using opposites to help her develop ( ex. Kathlena-small, Daddy-big) and it seems she is now where Andrew was verbally (English) around week 2-3. So, she is catching up quickly. She is almost potty trained again too! Although we have had some ups and downs with sleeping through the night this past month, this too seems to be going back to normal. She has only been mildly sick once so we feel she is very healthy and building up her immunity. Even after being at the State Home School Conference...no one got sick...Wow! This was a good test and we passed with flying colors.
Kathlena is Mommy's shadow and loves to do whatever I am doing. She also spends time following big sister Mimi around too. She loves to be our "helpoor" as she says. She is another home maker in training. Here is a recent pic of her and Emily working together to mop the kitchen.

Great job girls! It looks fantastic. Thank you for
how you joyfully serve your family.

Andrew and Kathlena with the baby goat,
Happy. They loved feeding him, but Kathlena
kept a healthy distance the rest of the time.

"Yeena" holding her kitty at Nana's. Mom said, "Nice

try...Emily tried the same thing but kitty's stay at

Nana's no matter who claims them!"

Kathlena with Uncle Todd...she wasn't too sure about holding the

kittens at first. She loves her Uncle Todd so if kitty's are okay with

him they were okay with her.

Here's a video of A and K feeding the goat with
their Babushka-Nana. Thanks Nana for keeping

Happy til they could come see you...I know you

are ready for him to go back to the herd.


In another 3 months I can't even imagine how they will have changed. At six months we have a post-placement report, the first of 4 over the next 3 yrs. I think we will have plenty of pictures to choose from to send to Russia!