So much to catch you up on...

On a lighter note, Noah loved family Christmas celebrations. It was really nice timing for him. He had been home long enough and adjusted well enough that he was able to thoroughly enjoy it. He is a big fan of grandparents, cousins and of course, presents!

When Noah first came home, the only children he noticed or remembered other than his siblings, were babies and toddlers. We knew he was very social and a bit of a leader in his school and orphanage in Delhi so it was interesting to watch how a huge change in his life affected him socially. We were quite confident that this was temporary and sure enough, he now enjoys playing with cousins and friends closer to his own age. It was a delight to see him form a friendship over ping pong with his cousin Josh. (Lots of serves, not many returns.) And Noah still loves the babies! He really enjoyed the babies at his orphanage as well.

Noah loves the snow. When we were short on it, he and his siblings had some fun with fake snow (shaving cream and baking soda).

One bit of stale news is from all the way back on June 27, 2014, the day we picked Noah up from his orphanage. In international adoption, you never know everything and sometimes what you think you know, you don't. We thought we knew that Noah's feet had been amputated in India and that he was wearing prosthetic legs. On June 27th we learned that he had braces, not prostheses. Minor translation error. We immediately hoped that he could keep his feet. He can walk, run, climb and jump with his braces, but unfortunately, he doesn't have much endurance and he does have a lot of pain when he tries to live the active life of a busy boy.

So for the heavier news...

Noah will be having his feet amputated on February 18th. Your prayers are appreciated! We are confident that this is the best option for him, but that doesn't make it easy. He will probably have a couple months recovery before he gets his prosthetic legs. He is very resilient, but the pain, trauma and length of recovery before he can begin to be up and about again looks pretty big.

Noah has been asking for new feet ever since he came home. He would prefer that they would look like yours and mine, but he understands and accepts that they won't. He is currently trying to decide between Cars and Micky Mouse legs since that is what he saw Wyatt had.

A little request...

Noah is pretty sure people will send him cards when he has surgery. Would you make a note on your calendar to stick a card in the mail to Noah sometime in the couple months after Feb 18th? I know he would be delighted!