Will (Nathaniel): 5th Birthday

Dear Amanda and everyone at Star Fish ~

It’s hard to believe that Will has just turned five and will be starting Kindergarten this year!  He is very excited.  I think he’ll do very well.  He is always so curious about everything and always asking a million questions. 

Will has been busy this summer riding his bike, dirt bike, swimming and having play dates with his friends from school.  We took a family trip to Florida, which was a lot of fun.  Will got to race go-karts and go deep sea fishing.  We all had a great time.

Will has made such great progress in his speech.  He will continue to see the Speech Pathologist this year at school.  He will see his Cranial Facial team again this October.  The next steps will be for the dentist to prepare his mouth for the hard palate surgery and plastic surgery on his nose and lip, but that is still a few year away. 

We love hearing about all the great things happening at Star Fish, and hope to some day bring Will back for a visit.

Love,

The McMahans

Will (Nathaniel): Adoption 13

Dear Amanda and Everyone at Starfish~

I can’t believe Will has been home for almost three years!  If he gets his way, we’ll be back soon to adopt again.  He is constantly asking if “he” can adopt a baby.  Will has caught up and surpassed everything that is expected of a child his age.  His speech therapy is going great!  He’s playing on a soccer team and riding his bike without training wheels.  He’s also riding a dirt bike, which scares me to death, but Will just loves it!  He went from being scared of his own shadow to being this fearless leader…it’s just amazing!  We had planned to send him to a third year of preschool this fall, but have enrolled him in kindergarten instead.  Although he won’t be five until August, his teachers strongly recommend that he move on to kindergarten.  As Will gets older, he is understanding more and more of his adoption story and his time at Starfish.  He asks many questions and we answer then with all the stories and pictures you have given us.  I’m realizing just how very important having all those photos and stories of his time at Starfish really are!  I can’t imagine not being able to share his story about his life those first two years.  Thank you again for giving Will such a wonderful start.  He really is an amazing child with a huge heart!

The new house looks great!  I shared the story with Will about the newest baby being left at the house.  Of course he responded with, “Can we go get him?  That’s the one I want to adopt.”

Love,

Kyle, Mary Carol, Karli, Griffin and Will