Hi Amanda and Everyone at Starfish~
Wow…you all have been very busy with all the new babies, surgeries, and adoptions. You amaze me with everything you have accomplished!!!!
Will is doing excellent! His first year of preschool, which ended in June, has helped him so much. His teachers said they couldn’t believe the changes in him from the beginning of the school year to the end. The first week of school was extremely hard. He would cry everyday, but a little less as the week went on. It got easier, as he realized I was coming back each day. By the end of the year, he was sad school was over. He made some really good friends and learned so much!!!!
For now, Will’s surgeries are over. He will be meeting soon with his ENT and Speech Pathologist to test for a small hole in his palate. His speech is a little nasally, usually resulting from the hole. That would be his next surgery, along with some minor cosmetic surgery to straighten his nose and take a little fullness out of his top lip. After that, the dentist will put an expander in his mouth around the age of 7 to prepare him for his bone graph, to make the hard palate.
This summer we went to Panama City Florida. Will loves the water so much! We had lots of fun playing in the sand and in the ocean.
On July 5th, I took Will and Griffin to the SPCA (dog pound) to adopt a dog. They chose a German Shepherd/Beagle mix. She was 7 months old when we got her. Her name was Star. I asked the boys if they wanted to change her name and they said “no”. It wasn’t until the way home that the connection occurred to me….Will lived at Starfish, and then adopted a dog named Star. We all thought that was very cool! Will has been having fun taking care of her. It’s very cute to see the way he “mother’s” her. It’s crazy when I think how completely terrified he was of dogs just two years earlier.
I haven’t had a chance to upload any photos of Will’s birthday party, but he had a great time playing with all his cousins. The entire extended family came over and we had a “Chinese buffet”, cake and ice cream.
Recently Will has started telling his “adoption story” to family members. He says “I was born in China and the girl couldn’t keep me so Manda and Hong Li took care of me until my mom and dad came to pick me up.”…..Sounds so simple coming from a child.
Will starts school again in a few weeks. He’s been keeping in touch with a few friends from his class throughout the summer. I’m hoping this will help ease him into the school year.
Good luck with all the surgeries and babies in China. You are always in our thoughts and prayers!
Love,
The McMahan’s
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 112 children to date, arranged more than 100 surgeries and had 36 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and in China. Our latest took place recently and we now have another baby in Virginia. We have also added another baby to our count in Holland. We currently have 47 babies under the age of 3 and three foster homes. We have fifteen babies matched and we are waiting for their families to come and get them.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
Email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
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