Ferrone-Smith Family: Little Catherine

"I am named Catherine after my mom. I like my name. I am 5! I like to draw rainbows. I like to eat pancakes and lettuce and play with Francesca on the swing set."

Meet little Catherine. She is named after her mom, her Grandma and her great-Grandma. We adopted Catherine from the Republic of Georgia when she was 11 months old. Catherine had a long list of diagnosis from her country, some of which we didn't even understand. We knew we were meant to be her parents. We didn't care what challenges she might have or what the future might hold, she was our daughter!

Once Catherine was home in the United States, she had lots of testing done and went to see lots of doctors. They discovered that she had something called craniosynostosis, which means that she was born with one of the sutures in her skull closed. Most babies have their sutures open, so their brain can grow. Catherine had an operation on her skull when she was about 18 months old to give her brain room to grow. All the other testing found her to be very healthy! She will not need any more surgeries.

Catherine likes to tell everyone that she is a genius and she probably is!

Catherine walked a later than usual, but she certainly made up for it with her spirit! She is very tiny for her age, but she is healthy.

Our strong-willed, sweet girl!

You will never see Catherine without her red, sparkly shoes!

Here is Catherine with the traditional birthday waffle and birthday candle.

For some reason, she really, really wanted to have a cabbage to eat for her birthday, so we figured, why not?! She didn't really like it that much, but it was an interesting centerpiece for the table.

We have no idea where she gets these poses!

Catherine wanted a castle cake for her birthday, complete with a jello moat.

Someone forgot to tell Catherine that you are supposed to play next to the rice table, not in it! Silly girl!

Jumping in the foam pit at gymnastics.

Catherine definitely has her own sense of fashion.

Catherine has recently decided to grow her bangs out.

Catherine loves our little pup! They often nap together.

The Three Musketeers. I think Catherine is showing them a squirrel.

Always time for a cuddle with Dad.

Catherine started homeschool kindergarten this year. She is starting to read and loves to write her letters and numbers.

Catherine and our old dog, Isaac.

Catherine is extremely focused when she wants to do something. She cut out all these letters and glued them on herself.

Catherine likes to assist with cooking. She is great at cracking eggs.

This is Catherine wearing one of her big sister's old overalls. Such a cutie!

Catherine is very fond of dressing up and changing her clothes, many times a day. She wanted to paint this rock.

Catherine likes to teach Francesca things and she is Francesca's biggest cheerleader. We worried at first how Catherine would like having two little sisters, since she had been the baby for a while, but she has really loved her big sister role.