Rachel has just blossomed. She has always been very affectionate, but now it seems to come more often from a place of love inside her instead of a place of extreme neediness. She spent the summer swimming with her brothers and friends. Caleb taught her to swim, and she’s quite good. She has enjoyed tagging along with the boys at our many sleepovers this summer, including playing sardines and playing hide-and-seek with flashlights outside at night. Rachel turned 7 June 1st, and Titus turned 7 July 2nd. We enjoyed having her cousins, Mary Carsen and Eliza spend a week with us in July.
Rachel is 7!
Titus is 7!
Rachel lost her first tooth on her 7th birthday.
I love this photo of Eliza and Rachel!
I continue to homeschool. She is in first grade this year. She is eager to learn to read. She asked, “Can we do school?” periodically throughout the summer, and she still does sometimes on weekends. But she has also learned that school is not something you are supposed to like. So whenever I say that it’s time for school, she says, “Awwwww maaaaaan,” (imagine with very dramatic voice with southern drawl).
She and Titus are two peas in a pod. For the most part, they are inseparable though they occasionally have days where they need some time apart. We call them “the twins.” This past spring when Titus and Rachel traveled with Granny to visit Aunt Christy in Nashville, they stopped at a gas station for snacks. The cashier asked Rachel and Titus if they were brother and sister. Rachel responded, “Yes, we’re twins.”
In May Rachel had a check-up with her cardiologist. She is doing great, and we do not have to return for a year. She has also caught up with Titus physically. She is about 1/2 inch shorter than he is, and they are about the same weight. I just checked our wall growth chart. She has grown 4 1/2 inches since coming home. I need to check on her weight, but she has gained at least 10 lbs in the past year and a half. She eats enough to! She still loves meat but enjoys almost anything else. She is not a huge fan of very sweet things and is not a big fan of breakfast foods; both of these qualities are very Chinese of her. She frequently eats Ramen noodles for breakfast and Asian dumplings if we have them.
Dumplings for breakfast on her birthday
She has anxiously awaited months and months for the day that she could start dance lessons. She began in the middle of August taking ballet and tap. Her brothers make fun of her in her leotard with her hair pulled back in a ballet bun. I tell her to ignore them–that is their job. She is in the 5-6-year-old class, but her teacher said that she is the best one in the class. So she may be moving up to the 7-8-year-old class in December.
My pretty ballerina
Rachel in an outfit we bought in China
We have started going to a new church. I wish I had a video of Rachel during worship. She is a very expressive worshiper–hands waving, dancing. “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Let me just say that this girl really knows how to celebrate God’s love. I love it!
Rachel today after church
Innocent Lamb 