Joshua


April 16, 2002



Josh has been doing really well since his last update. The counselor and some other school officials decided Josh needed a little more one-on-one work with his reading and writing and that has really helped him quite a bit with school. His Math grades are outstanding! He never seemed to like math, but he's maintained a 91 average the last 12 weeks. As always, Josh's behavior at school has been excellent. He has his moments at home of course, : ) but he's very respectful and kind at school.

Josh finally has the chance to play some football. The YMCA here has a spring football league that started in March. Josh started out with the Panthers but after having so few players show up and others quit, the coach decided the team would have to fold because they didn't have enough players. Josh was a bit disappointed and we made arrangements with the Y to get him on another team. Of all the teams he could be on, he ended up on the Raiders!! He's been pretty excited to play on a team with the same name as his favorite pro team. He even picked #80 for his jersey because his favorite player is Jerry Rice. Of course, Josh doesn't even play wide receiver (he's a linebacker), but he was just dying to have the number 80. There have been bye weeks, Easter weekend and a rainout that have kept Josh from playing in a whole game. Hopefully they'll have an uneventful weekend so they can play.


October 23, 2001



Josh has been doing really well here. School has had its ups and downs but Josh seems to enjoy it nonetheless. He is doing SO GREAT in Math. Last year when I would discuss Brittany's school, we discoverd that Josh's was quite a bit behind in Math and we were worried that it would make this year a bit difficult for Josh. So far, he's doing wonderfully. Sure, he makes little mistakes like everyone else, but more importantly, he's understanding the concepts. He's still having some problems with written language but we hope with time and work, that will improve.

Josh had been planning on joining basketball but now he doesn't want to. He's mentioned baseball which will probably start soon but he's on a football kick right now. It was maybe two weeks after football started that he decided he wanted to play football...noooooo, not a week before the registration, but two weeks after they started the season. Oh well, I think it is something that has piqued his interest and I'm sure it'll be something he'll want to pursue next year, especially since many of his friends play.

Speaking of friends, Josh has been doing well making new friends. There was a school/PTA skating party last week and it was easy to see that Josh is well liked among the boys. I'm glad to see he's fitting in because I know that was something he was very nervous about prior to school starting.

We are glad Josh has been steered away more from the Army-battle type video games. His step-father had got him involved in some questionable games but since the September 11th attacks, Josh seems to have lost interest. He's asked to play a couple times and when I've said no, he didn't seem to mind much...before he would've put up more of a protest.


August 14, 2001



Yesterday was Josh's first day at his new school. This is only the 2nd school Josh has ever attended, so he was understandably nervous. He did really great though. He made a couple new friends (met another boy named Josh). He told me last night he really liked his new school. I'm so glad because I imagine it was torture for him waiting for the school year to start. His classroom is next door to Brittany's but they don't see each other much (which I personally think is a good thing because I want them both to be independent and have their own friends).

Josh has really settled in here quite well. He loves playing on the computer and we just bought a basketball net/backboard. I think Josh will really enjoy playing outside and as a bonus, it'll give him some practice before the sign-up time for basketball season. I was able to get the rest of Josh's belongings from my mom's house the end of last month and I'm sure that makes Josh feel more comfortable.

Josh really enjoys spending time with Steve. There have been many times when we've had to take both trucks to go somewhere and Josh is always wanting to go with Steve. Steve took Josh and Brittany out to the airfield to fly planes and Josh was able to do it too...I think that will give him one more interest.


July 7, 2001



Well, Josh has been living here almost a month now. He seems to be adapting well. I'm sure it's a huge adjustment (after all, it's got to be hard competing for attention with 3 other kids) but he's doing remarkably well. We have Josh's room set up according to his likes. We still need to get him a couple more pieces of furnitures, but other than that, he has all his bright colors and Pokemon stuff everywhere and I've put up a sports themed border.

We're trying to find a sport or activity for Josh. Although he enjoys computer games and vidoe games, we think it's important he's involved in some outside activities where he can meet more kids his age. We're considering Tae-Kwon-Do and maybe baseball and/or basketball when their respective seasons arrive. He does love going fishing with his Uncle Steve so we're tryint o encourage that as well.

Josh is growing rapidly. He's always been shorter than Brittany but his height has always been pretty relative to Brittany's so that just tells me how much he's grown lately. As much as he eats, I can't believe he doesn't weigh 200 pounds!!



CHECK BACK SOON FOR ANOTHER UPDATE!!