Laney had a great day today...

we met our Early Intervention developmental specialist, Miss Beth, and she evaluated Laney in several areas: speech, cognitive, gross motor, fine motor. Overall she did really well! The tests (tests? Really more like fun play time ) revealed that Laney does need some help filling in gaps related to her fine motor skills and her speech, but I'm so thrilled to know where her "gaps" are and to get her the help she needs! The therapist assured me that these are extremely normal delays to see in children who have been in orphanages their whole lives. They just haven't been given the same opportunities for development and learning as kids in a normal home environment.

The therapist was blown away by Laney's open, sweet disposition...and how well she seems to be attaching to me. She makes excellent eye contact, smiles, kisses and hugs and really engages when you interact with her. The therapist said, "These are all things that are sooooo challenging to overcome. The stuff she is delayed in, well, that's easy to master! The really important bonding things seem to be going great and I'm so happy for you!"

So, yay Laney! We'll be working with her therapists for at least the next 9-12 months and I have every confidence this kid will be progressing faster than we can imagine. We love you Laney!

I'm including a picture from earlier this morning. She is playing with one of her *favorite* toys in our toy box...Landry's xylophone. (Deb, she loves it as much as Landry does! Thank you again!) The picture is out of focus, but I just had to post it. She's so adorable. :)