Sunday, January 30, 2011
No More Training Wheels!!!
Guess who finally decided it was time to ditch the training wheels!!?? That would be Mia!! She COULD have done it a year or two ago, but she was honestly just scared to. Charles has tried to get her to practice for a long time, and she occasionally would make it several feet and just jump off.
Today, after Charles got home from out of town...and after being on house arrest with all the sickness in this family...she was FULL of energy and REALLY ready to try. I was cleaning...imagine that...when I passed by the window, wondering why Charles was RUNNING down the sidewalk. Then I realized that Mia was blazing by without training wheels! He always makes her try on the sidewalk, and I think that was part of the problem. She had to focus so much on staying in a narrow path, then she would hit the grass a little and PANIC!
So, I told him to take her out in the street. I explained to her it was ONLY ok if an adult was with her and checked for cars first. With the great wide open in front of her, she made it farther than EVER!!
At one point, I was trying to take a picture, and she came straight at me and a parked car, a bit too fast for her daddy to keep up. I caught her just in time, or it would have been a disaster. That's when I realized she was actually NOT wearing her helmet, so we fixed that right then and there!
Stay tuned for a few pics later. No time now, gotta go watch! Keep in mind, I snapped the pics BEFORE she got her helmet on. Don't send nasty comments about it...we DID make her put it on right after the last shot was taken!! ;) Safety first!! Or at least, safety as soon as mommy realized daddy forgot...
Today, after Charles got home from out of town...and after being on house arrest with all the sickness in this family...she was FULL of energy and REALLY ready to try. I was cleaning...imagine that...when I passed by the window, wondering why Charles was RUNNING down the sidewalk. Then I realized that Mia was blazing by without training wheels! He always makes her try on the sidewalk, and I think that was part of the problem. She had to focus so much on staying in a narrow path, then she would hit the grass a little and PANIC!
So, I told him to take her out in the street. I explained to her it was ONLY ok if an adult was with her and checked for cars first. With the great wide open in front of her, she made it farther than EVER!!
At one point, I was trying to take a picture, and she came straight at me and a parked car, a bit too fast for her daddy to keep up. I caught her just in time, or it would have been a disaster. That's when I realized she was actually NOT wearing her helmet, so we fixed that right then and there!
Stay tuned for a few pics later. No time now, gotta go watch! Keep in mind, I snapped the pics BEFORE she got her helmet on. Don't send nasty comments about it...we DID make her put it on right after the last shot was taken!! ;) Safety first!! Or at least, safety as soon as mommy realized daddy forgot...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Storm brewing?
...Let's hope NOT! While I was posting about Kennedy getting the flu today, I noticed it was REALLY quiet in Mia's room. I went to check on her, and she was asleep...at 2:30 in the afternoon! Any of you who know Mia know THAT is NOT normal. She is STILL sleeping. Not that I am complaining about a house filled with literally no sounds, but I hope this does not mean SHE is getting sick too. I am going to check on her again now to see if she feels warm. Wish me luck...
Can't catch a break!
These are some of the pictures from Mia's gymnastics show a few weeks ago that I didn't post. They are not related to this post, but I know that pictures are why you are checking!!
So, I have been sick for about 2 weeks now. It got so bad Tuesday night that I had to stay home Wednesday and go to the doc. Even though I got the flu shot, I had the flu. I waited too long to get Tamiflu, which shortens the length of the flu symptoms. BUT, you have to catch it in the first 48 hours. I did not. I ended up with a painful shot of antibiotic in my backside, along with an oral antibiotic, a steroid inhaler, double the dose of Mucinex and the list goes on. I had to miss work Wednesday and Thursday, which I can not afford to do with our recent adoption trip. I returned Friday, and felt like a zombie. I am still not 100% today, and lucky me, Charles is out of town for work...AGAIN.
This morning, I opened Kennedy's door to start her waking up process. Several minutes later, she had not come out. I went in and told her that her noodles were ready. She nodded, and went back to sleep. I figured it was Saturday, so I let her sleep nearly another hour. At almost 10:00, I sent Mia in to tell her it was now time to get up and eat. Mia came running out to report that Kennedy said she was sick. (By pointing to her head and making a terrible face.)
I went in to see what was up, and before I could even touch her, I could feel the extreme heat pouring out of her body. She also had a raging headache, so I grabbed the thermometer. 102 temp. Great. I immediately tossed her some clothes, loaded the girls in the van, and headed to a walk in clinic. By some miracle of God, there was nobody ahead of us. Her temp was up to 103. She was given liquid ibuprophen on the spot to start working on the fever. She has the flu. (Yes, she got the nasal flumist. Guess hers worked as well as my shot...) We caught it in the first 12 hours, so she got a prescription for Tamiflu. (Even WITH insurance, that cost $75!!!) The RN said she should get well fairly quickly since we came in immediately. She said she may be OK for school on Monday, but we will have to see how it goes.
I got her home and made her eat a little bit and take her Tamiflu. She went right back to bed to sleep. I just woke her up to check her temp. It was still 100, but not awful. I gave her a little more ibuprophen, more for the aches than the fever, and she is asleep again. I imagine she will be in bed the whole weekend. That means we are all housebound until Charles gets back. Fun times. Mia is used to running around all weekeknd long. She is bouncing off the walls, and since I am not well yet...it is extra joyful. ;)
It feels like we just can't catch a break. PLEASE pray that Mia and Charles stay healthy!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Just plain CUTE!
Here are our two adorable girls getting ready for hat day at school today! I am at home sick for the SECOND annoying day in a row, even after the very LARGE shot I received in my backside yesterday to jumpstart my recovery...
Needless to say, I did not need any of my hats for school myself today, so Mia and Kennedy raided my small collection for themselves. They chose well...cuz just look how C-U-T-E they are! Jus sayin'.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
I know..I know!!!
...It has been too long since the last post! I am telling you, I am pretty sure there are no longer 24 hours in a day, because I run out of time constantly!
I have been sick for several days. I actually had to stay home on Friday. Mia was excited...it meant she would be a "car-rider" at school and get picked up out front instead of leaving with her mom, the teacher, out the back door. Kennedy seemed a bit confused and nervous when I dropped them off and did not go in as usual. She survived, though. It is probably a good thing that she saw that I left, and came back, if ya know what I'm sayin'. It's all a process.
Sick and all, I loaded up on antibiotics and cold meds to head to China Town in Houston yesterday for a Families with Children from China lunch. I thought Kennedy's first trip there would be very exciting for her and that she would light up seeing all the signs in Chinese, eating familiar foods, hearing her native language...WRONG. She seemed to get in a strange, quiet mood immediately upon arrival. She looked down right uncomfortable at some points during lunch. We were supposed to join our group to shop for Chinese New Year decorations and Chinese dresses for the girls to wear when Chinese New Year actually arrives. We ditched that plan, spent a few minutes in a Chinese book store (with no luck) and ran into the Chinese grocery store for some Chinese snacks. We headed back to our neck of the woods a couple hours before originally planned.
It was strange...the closer we got to home, the happier Kennedy appeared. I don't know if she is just trying really hard to learn English and American culture that the trip to China Town threw her off her game or what. Very interesting, though.
We stopped at Petco to help our pet rescue friend, Beth, at the weekend adoption sight. Kennedy was in Heaven! She now LOVES dogs! This has been our second trip to help Beth since we brought Kennedy home. We stayed for more than 2 hours at least. I actually found families for 2 dogs myself, and a total of 6 dogs got adopted yesterday!! That is REALLY good! Kennedy found a special friend, Oscar, who slept in her lap for 45 minutes straight. I think she expected to bring him home. I found a home for him. Close one! ;)
Here are the few pictures Charles got on his phone of the girls hangin' with the dogs yesterday. They are not the best quality, but everyone reminds me regularly they want to see pictures!!! ;)
I have been sick for several days. I actually had to stay home on Friday. Mia was excited...it meant she would be a "car-rider" at school and get picked up out front instead of leaving with her mom, the teacher, out the back door. Kennedy seemed a bit confused and nervous when I dropped them off and did not go in as usual. She survived, though. It is probably a good thing that she saw that I left, and came back, if ya know what I'm sayin'. It's all a process.
Sick and all, I loaded up on antibiotics and cold meds to head to China Town in Houston yesterday for a Families with Children from China lunch. I thought Kennedy's first trip there would be very exciting for her and that she would light up seeing all the signs in Chinese, eating familiar foods, hearing her native language...WRONG. She seemed to get in a strange, quiet mood immediately upon arrival. She looked down right uncomfortable at some points during lunch. We were supposed to join our group to shop for Chinese New Year decorations and Chinese dresses for the girls to wear when Chinese New Year actually arrives. We ditched that plan, spent a few minutes in a Chinese book store (with no luck) and ran into the Chinese grocery store for some Chinese snacks. We headed back to our neck of the woods a couple hours before originally planned.
It was strange...the closer we got to home, the happier Kennedy appeared. I don't know if she is just trying really hard to learn English and American culture that the trip to China Town threw her off her game or what. Very interesting, though.
We stopped at Petco to help our pet rescue friend, Beth, at the weekend adoption sight. Kennedy was in Heaven! She now LOVES dogs! This has been our second trip to help Beth since we brought Kennedy home. We stayed for more than 2 hours at least. I actually found families for 2 dogs myself, and a total of 6 dogs got adopted yesterday!! That is REALLY good! Kennedy found a special friend, Oscar, who slept in her lap for 45 minutes straight. I think she expected to bring him home. I found a home for him. Close one! ;)
Here are the few pictures Charles got on his phone of the girls hangin' with the dogs yesterday. They are not the best quality, but everyone reminds me regularly they want to see pictures!!! ;)
Anyway...later today, we will have our first post-adoption visit from our social worker. I believe this time, 3 are required. We have to provide pictures and monthly updates to her when she comes, along with info from any doctor appointments we may have had. Over the first year, China wants 3 reports, including the pictures, to be sure we are taking good care of Kennedy and that she is thriving in America. She truly is, so no worries!!
I just finished painting Kennedy's toes red for her for the occasion. She LOVES having her toes painted. While I was painting, she pointed to her toes and said, "Pretty! In China...no." She was indicating that she could not paint her toes in China. She also pointed to her pierced ears, done the week we arrived home, and said those were not allowed either. She seems to truly enjoy the little things like earrings, painted toes, different clothes to wear each day, cute and cozy jammies, long, hot showers every day... When I see things through HER eyes, I realize how fortunate all of us are here in America, and just how VERY MUCH we take for granted!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sisters, for sure!
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| Is this what they will look like as little-old-ladies together some day?? |
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| Even when they occasionally get on eachother's nerves, they are always found hand-in-hand soon after! |
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| Just because!!! This was Mia...well...BEING MIA, through the glass before her gymnastics show began! She is our family comedian for sure! She ALWAYS makes me laugh! Well, it is Monday, and we are NOT at school!! YIPPEE!!! While I am doing laundry...AGAIN, and cleaning a little, no major over-haul needed today! Mostly, we will hang at the house on this dreary day. It has rained for a few days now, and it seems to have have stopped. However, it's just plain U-G-L-Y out. Over the weekend, probably due in part to the yucky weather, the girls were a bit more irritable with eachother. Frankly, it is normal, but still ANNOYING! This morning, it became clear why some of the moodiness took place. (Do the math, she's 13 and once a month, her hormones kick in...) Anyway, Mia and Kennedy have settled in to life as sisters with the ups and downs that come with the territory! In the end, they get along GREAT the majority of the time. For that, we are thankful! Kennedy seems well adjusted to life here in a family...in America...with all of the major changes that brought for her. At this point, it seems like she has always been here. Those of you who have adopted (especially older children) can relate to the fact that sometimes, your own child seems like a complete stranger to you. That is fading now and we are all tiptoeing around eachother less and just going about life as normal. In fact, we use the translator less and less each day. We just know eachother better, and we can get through the day fairly easily now. Well, just wanted to post a brief update about our adjustment on the home front while I actually had a spare moment! |
Friday, January 14, 2011
3 Day Weekend!!!!
Posting on my lunch break again, so no pictures. Sorry!
It is FINALLY Friday...AND we have a 3 day weekend! School is closed on Monday in honor of MLK. I can not explain how badly I need the extra day off!!! Charles mentioned possibly taking the girls to see Tangled...better late than never...on Sunday. Sounds great to me. Sitting down! I am in!! I am hoping to miraculously get my cleaning and laundry done earlier on Saturday, which means as soon as I get home from school today, I will have to get started. UGGH! But, I never rest or have any fun on the weekend, and that is LONG over due! What I really want to do is take a NAP this weekend! Doesn't that sound amazing??!!!!
When mom's work full time, I think there should be a law that provides free maid service once a week. Don't you agree??!!
We took the girls to skate night last night for our school. They had a good time and spent most of the night skating together, holding hands. Both of them had one bad fall, but to our knowledge, nobody broke any bones or anything! There was a lot of laughing going on, that's for sure!!
Random fact: Kennedy has discovered this week that she likes PB&J sandwiches!! WOO HOO!!! That makes school lunches MUCH easier to handle! She had eaten deli sliced chicken sandwiches for 2 weeks, but I got the impression she only tolerated them. I gave her PBJ on Thurday. After skate night, I brought her the jars to ask if she liked it. She said GOOD, quite loudly, and gave a big thumbs up and a smile. Relief! Food is slowly becoming less of an "issue". She seems to like Italian food the best. That girl can put away some serious meatballs! Jus' sayin'!
Have I already mentioned that Kennedy now has access to Rosetta Stone in her classroom for learning English??? We are SUPER excited about that! I think she was tested by the ESL teacher yesterday, and I am heading over to her in a minute to check on those results. All I can say is that I asked her a question about school yesterday and she actually understood me and answered me in English. VERY cool. Mia chimed in and said, "See, mommy. I am teaching her to talk Weally good!" Why...yes, Mia! Yes, you are! ;)
It is FINALLY Friday...AND we have a 3 day weekend! School is closed on Monday in honor of MLK. I can not explain how badly I need the extra day off!!! Charles mentioned possibly taking the girls to see Tangled...better late than never...on Sunday. Sounds great to me. Sitting down! I am in!! I am hoping to miraculously get my cleaning and laundry done earlier on Saturday, which means as soon as I get home from school today, I will have to get started. UGGH! But, I never rest or have any fun on the weekend, and that is LONG over due! What I really want to do is take a NAP this weekend! Doesn't that sound amazing??!!!!
When mom's work full time, I think there should be a law that provides free maid service once a week. Don't you agree??!!
We took the girls to skate night last night for our school. They had a good time and spent most of the night skating together, holding hands. Both of them had one bad fall, but to our knowledge, nobody broke any bones or anything! There was a lot of laughing going on, that's for sure!!
Random fact: Kennedy has discovered this week that she likes PB&J sandwiches!! WOO HOO!!! That makes school lunches MUCH easier to handle! She had eaten deli sliced chicken sandwiches for 2 weeks, but I got the impression she only tolerated them. I gave her PBJ on Thurday. After skate night, I brought her the jars to ask if she liked it. She said GOOD, quite loudly, and gave a big thumbs up and a smile. Relief! Food is slowly becoming less of an "issue". She seems to like Italian food the best. That girl can put away some serious meatballs! Jus' sayin'!
Have I already mentioned that Kennedy now has access to Rosetta Stone in her classroom for learning English??? We are SUPER excited about that! I think she was tested by the ESL teacher yesterday, and I am heading over to her in a minute to check on those results. All I can say is that I asked her a question about school yesterday and she actually understood me and answered me in English. VERY cool. Mia chimed in and said, "See, mommy. I am teaching her to talk Weally good!" Why...yes, Mia! Yes, you are! ;)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Giddy!
First of all...I just said I was not going to post very often, and now I have posted 3 times since then. Go figure!!! Cynthia made me feel guilty... Just kidding! I can only make myself feel that way I guess! ;)
Random picture...I could not find Mia or Kennedy one day and the quiet scared me. I figured they must be up to some sisterly scheme...
NOPE! They were trying to nap on Kennedy's bed! Right before I snapped this picture, they had their arms criss-crossed, patting eachother on the back simultaneously! HOW ADORABLE!!! They heard me turn the camera on and stopped JUST as I pushed the shutter. DARN! Didn't want to get caught being so sweet, I guess!!
So, they sat up and said, "Take a picture of our ballerina bears!" (Mia named hers Elizabeth, that's my middle name. Kennedy named hers Michelle, her friend Kau'i's middle name!) See below:
Kennedy's has the pink bow...Mia's has purple. Earlier, they had come out and "Shushed me" for making too much noise with the vacuum. They said they were putting their bears down for a nap. PARDON ME!!!!
Anyway...why am I giddy??? Well, TWICE today when I told Kennedy I loved her, she said, "I love you too." Not a big deal to most people, but in our situation...a HUGE deal!! I told her I loved her at school and told her to have a great day. She turned, smiled, and said it back!! IN PUBLIC! At home, she was working on designing a shirt for school when I said it again. She said it back.
Giddy. I tell ya! Plain giddy!
Quick one...
Here is a picture of Mia saying, "Ta-da!" after receiving her medal at her end of semester gymnastics show last night! Mommy. Daddy, Big Sis Kennedy, Nana, Papa and Aunt Sarah were all there to watch! She quickly pointed out to me that she had the MOST family members in attendance! Of course!!!
After her show, we went to eat at a local hamburger place. (Kennedy now eats hamburgers, as long as they only have onions, mayo and ketchup...) Kennedy asked me where the bathroom was, so I pointed her in the right direction. A few minutes later, she came to the table and motioned that something in there scared her. I was concerned that some weirdo came in the bathroom or something. I had her show me. She took me in to the stall, pointed to the toilet and acted out that as she was going to the bathroom, the toilet flushed by itself! She showed me that she washed her hands super fast, skipped the drying and RAN out of there! I cracked up as I explained that it was an automatic flushing toilet!! I guess that must have been scary and strange since she had never experienced that!!! She laughed too. The girl has a sense of humor! Good thing! You NEED that in OUR family!!
After that, she showed off her goofy-side to my parents by turning her eyelids inside-out for them! It looks SO creepy, but funny! She put on a good show. We had a nice, family evening! She seems to like the fact that we see my family often. I think she just really enjoys having a FAMILY...PERIOD! She seems really happy here. That makes us smile every day!
What's wrong with this picture?
Either way, I thought it was a cool cup. ; )
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
No time these days...
Well, it's Annie, so there are no pictures again! I can not access them from work. I am going to try and post quickly before my lunch break is over. I have heard from several friends that I have not posted in a week, so here goes!
The days are very busy with working full time, coming home to do homework with Mia and work on English with Kennedy, squeeze in gymnastics, cook and serve dinner, get everyone showered and to bed early so they can be up early enough to be at school with a mommy who is also a teacher...you get the picture! Factor in cleaning, laundry, work for school to be done at home...and blogging is no longer a priority. As much as I enjoy it, something has to give. That's what I picked.
The main update happened on Friday night. Kennedy brought me the transator and it said, "I want to tell you." I thought she left a word off or maybe did not know the word she needed to complete the thought. No. She meant she wanted to tell me her story. The story of her life in China.
Charles and Mia were in the her room playing a game. I kept yelling, "Keep playing!!" Because... Kennedy spent the next hour confiding in me all that she could express about her life before the orphanage...life until the age of 7. She told me many details about her "grandfather and grandmother"...which is what she called the people who found her at birth and raised her until the grandmother died when Kennedy was 7 and the grandfather could not care for her on his own. She told me a good deal of it in English and acted out many parts. We only used the translator a few times. I will not share details here, but I was amazed at her strength and her desire to "tell me". One thing she mentioned was that her birth mother and father "did not want her" but the "grandfather and grandmother" (not bio) did want her and loved her very much. To that, I was sure to use the translator to tell her that we want her, we will never send her away and we love her very much. She said, "Thank you very much." She looked like she might cry. NOT typical for her.
Anyway, an hour later, we hugged and I told her thank you for telling me. I told her I loved her, like I always tell her. That time, she hugged me tighter and said, "I love you too." I cried. She has written it, indicated it and told others, but it was the first time she said it to me. I melted.
On that awesome note, I must go. Lunch is over. Work to do. Sorry for the lack of posts. Just know that Kennedy's transition and adjustment have been going better that I could have ever imagined! God is awesome! Our family is complete!
The days are very busy with working full time, coming home to do homework with Mia and work on English with Kennedy, squeeze in gymnastics, cook and serve dinner, get everyone showered and to bed early so they can be up early enough to be at school with a mommy who is also a teacher...you get the picture! Factor in cleaning, laundry, work for school to be done at home...and blogging is no longer a priority. As much as I enjoy it, something has to give. That's what I picked.
The main update happened on Friday night. Kennedy brought me the transator and it said, "I want to tell you." I thought she left a word off or maybe did not know the word she needed to complete the thought. No. She meant she wanted to tell me her story. The story of her life in China.
Charles and Mia were in the her room playing a game. I kept yelling, "Keep playing!!" Because... Kennedy spent the next hour confiding in me all that she could express about her life before the orphanage...life until the age of 7. She told me many details about her "grandfather and grandmother"...which is what she called the people who found her at birth and raised her until the grandmother died when Kennedy was 7 and the grandfather could not care for her on his own. She told me a good deal of it in English and acted out many parts. We only used the translator a few times. I will not share details here, but I was amazed at her strength and her desire to "tell me". One thing she mentioned was that her birth mother and father "did not want her" but the "grandfather and grandmother" (not bio) did want her and loved her very much. To that, I was sure to use the translator to tell her that we want her, we will never send her away and we love her very much. She said, "Thank you very much." She looked like she might cry. NOT typical for her.
Anyway, an hour later, we hugged and I told her thank you for telling me. I told her I loved her, like I always tell her. That time, she hugged me tighter and said, "I love you too." I cried. She has written it, indicated it and told others, but it was the first time she said it to me. I melted.
On that awesome note, I must go. Lunch is over. Work to do. Sorry for the lack of posts. Just know that Kennedy's transition and adjustment have been going better that I could have ever imagined! God is awesome! Our family is complete!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
First Day of School in America!
NOPE!! No stinkin' pictures! Never crossed my mind!!! Charles is out of town on this important and busy week. That leaves me holding the bag for every possible thing. Between returning to work this week myself full time, getting Mia ready to return to school and Kennedy ready to begin...figuring out things Kennedy might actually eat so I could pack her lunch, juggling gymnastics and doctor appointments and 2 spoiled-rotten dogs...I dropped the ball! Charles is well known to be the family historian. He is great at it. Me...not so much! So...I apologize for the lack of pics in this post. I failed.
However, she had a really good first day! I will paste an email I received from her awesome teacher half way through the day:
"You have one smart daughter on your hands! She is whizzing through complicated addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems with ease! And the strange part is that she solves the problems without showing any work (like carrying the 1, etc.). I don't know how she does that because I can't, but I'm not going to mess with her system because it seems to work. ****** has been in here for math, which has been a great help. She worked with Kennedy using her math folder for about 30 minutes. As soon as Kennedy finished a page, ****** would check it and put a sticker on top if all the problems were right. Kennedy seemed to really like that. (We even got some smiles!) She also went through an entire deck of 3rd grade fraction flash cards perfectly, so we moved on to 4th grade fraction cards (mixed and improper) and she seems to be getting those too. It will be fun to see how far we can take her in math! I may need to practice to keep up with her skill level. :)"
As you can see, it went really well. She is a fluent reader and writer in Chinese, but obviously she will struggle with those for a while in English. Her teacher is allowing her to journal in Chinese. She will have her summarize her entries in a few English sentences and build from there. That is great, because she feels successful writing in her native language. This will allow her to transfer that skill slowly to English.
I mentioned when we decided to put her at my school for one semester that our wonderful PTO president agreed to volunteer to tutor Kennedy. She speaks fluent Mandarin. She will come twice a week, but told me this week she will come every day since it is Kennedy's first week. HOW AWESOME! What a blessing!
I even had her speak to Kennedy about something non-school related today for me. China has something called QQ, which is similar to our Facebook. Kennedy was on it, unsupervised, quite regularly in China. She got to do it a few times with us in the hotel in China too. She told us she wanted to use "QQ" regularly to communicate with her friends once she got to America. Uhhh...well...no.
I had her to explain to Kennedy today that it is our job as her parents to monitor her computer usage for appropriate content. We love her, and it is our responsibility to protect her and keep her safe. On any social networking site, there can be predators. Also, inappropriate advertisements occasionally pop up, etc. Since it is all in Chinese, we can not be sure about appropriate content and conversations. Therefore, it will not be allowed. Period. She explained that we are not trying to block her from contacting her friends, and that she can safely email them anytime. I had her eplain that we knew she had stored many personal photos from her past on her QQ account, so we will download all of them to our computer so she will always have access to them. She seemed relieved about that, and seemed to understand why QQ is out and email is in. Not saying she jumped for joy...but she agreed and understood.
Quite honestly, I have also done some research and received some advice from a few other families that have adopted teens. Something that "stuck with me" was not to let your teen call or contact the orphanage too much because they can get caught up in what is going on "back there", rather than keeping their focus on adjusting to life here. That made LOTS of sense to me. Kennedy has had plenty of contact with her best friend from China who was adopted over a year ago by the Kennedy family. She is happy and well adjusted. She loves her family and America. I feel she is a very good influence on Kennedy and her positive adjustment so far. I also think her ability to talk on the phone regularly to that friend has curbed her need to worry too much about contacting friends still in China. I am sure there will be some people who disagree with this, but we are doing what we think is best for Kennedy.
After school, Kennedy used the translator to say, "My teacher says I had a great day, especially in mathematics." "My classmates help me very much." Let's hope this trend continues! She was in a very happy mood this evening. She did a little "homework", took a shower and was in bed by 7:45! I am sure she is wiped out!!
Well, signing off for now. I am sure there are typos, but I have laundry to finish, a dishwasher to unload, lunches to pack, dogs to take out, breakfast prep to make things faster in the morning, my own shower to take...and the list goes on!
Thanks for your continued support and prayers for Kennedy's fast, smooth transition and adjustment. She is doing quite well so far, and prayer is the reason!
However, she had a really good first day! I will paste an email I received from her awesome teacher half way through the day:
"You have one smart daughter on your hands! She is whizzing through complicated addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems with ease! And the strange part is that she solves the problems without showing any work (like carrying the 1, etc.). I don't know how she does that because I can't, but I'm not going to mess with her system because it seems to work. ****** has been in here for math, which has been a great help. She worked with Kennedy using her math folder for about 30 minutes. As soon as Kennedy finished a page, ****** would check it and put a sticker on top if all the problems were right. Kennedy seemed to really like that. (We even got some smiles!) She also went through an entire deck of 3rd grade fraction flash cards perfectly, so we moved on to 4th grade fraction cards (mixed and improper) and she seems to be getting those too. It will be fun to see how far we can take her in math! I may need to practice to keep up with her skill level. :)"
As you can see, it went really well. She is a fluent reader and writer in Chinese, but obviously she will struggle with those for a while in English. Her teacher is allowing her to journal in Chinese. She will have her summarize her entries in a few English sentences and build from there. That is great, because she feels successful writing in her native language. This will allow her to transfer that skill slowly to English.
I mentioned when we decided to put her at my school for one semester that our wonderful PTO president agreed to volunteer to tutor Kennedy. She speaks fluent Mandarin. She will come twice a week, but told me this week she will come every day since it is Kennedy's first week. HOW AWESOME! What a blessing!
I even had her speak to Kennedy about something non-school related today for me. China has something called QQ, which is similar to our Facebook. Kennedy was on it, unsupervised, quite regularly in China. She got to do it a few times with us in the hotel in China too. She told us she wanted to use "QQ" regularly to communicate with her friends once she got to America. Uhhh...well...no.
I had her to explain to Kennedy today that it is our job as her parents to monitor her computer usage for appropriate content. We love her, and it is our responsibility to protect her and keep her safe. On any social networking site, there can be predators. Also, inappropriate advertisements occasionally pop up, etc. Since it is all in Chinese, we can not be sure about appropriate content and conversations. Therefore, it will not be allowed. Period. She explained that we are not trying to block her from contacting her friends, and that she can safely email them anytime. I had her eplain that we knew she had stored many personal photos from her past on her QQ account, so we will download all of them to our computer so she will always have access to them. She seemed relieved about that, and seemed to understand why QQ is out and email is in. Not saying she jumped for joy...but she agreed and understood.
Quite honestly, I have also done some research and received some advice from a few other families that have adopted teens. Something that "stuck with me" was not to let your teen call or contact the orphanage too much because they can get caught up in what is going on "back there", rather than keeping their focus on adjusting to life here. That made LOTS of sense to me. Kennedy has had plenty of contact with her best friend from China who was adopted over a year ago by the Kennedy family. She is happy and well adjusted. She loves her family and America. I feel she is a very good influence on Kennedy and her positive adjustment so far. I also think her ability to talk on the phone regularly to that friend has curbed her need to worry too much about contacting friends still in China. I am sure there will be some people who disagree with this, but we are doing what we think is best for Kennedy.
After school, Kennedy used the translator to say, "My teacher says I had a great day, especially in mathematics." "My classmates help me very much." Let's hope this trend continues! She was in a very happy mood this evening. She did a little "homework", took a shower and was in bed by 7:45! I am sure she is wiped out!!
Well, signing off for now. I am sure there are typos, but I have laundry to finish, a dishwasher to unload, lunches to pack, dogs to take out, breakfast prep to make things faster in the morning, my own shower to take...and the list goes on!
Thanks for your continued support and prayers for Kennedy's fast, smooth transition and adjustment. She is doing quite well so far, and prayer is the reason!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
It keeps getting better!
...not that it has ever been bad, actually! I just mean that with every day that passes, Kennedy becomes more comfortable! She has come more "out of her shell" with each day. She is talking more and trying more English! She seems excited and ready to start school next week on Tuesday. We have a GREAT support team assembled for her, so I feel confident that it will be a positive experience for her!
Kennedy keeps making signs for her door and 2D art for her mom and dad, etc. that says "I Love My Home!" Then, she draws herself, Mia, me and Charles all holding hands. She labels all of us with our names. It just makes me smile every time! The other day, I was writing sentences on the dry erase board with Mia. I wrote, "I love Mia." and "I love Kennedy." Kennedy read them out loud, took the marker from me and wrote, "I love Mom and Dad and Mia." Then, she handed me the marker and smiled! She does not verbalize that often, but she is writing it and indicating it more and more! We know as her English improves and her level of comfort with sharing emotions gets better, (That is NOT common in China!) she will say things out loud more! She SHOWS us every day, and that is good enough for us at this early point! ;)
A few days ago, over hot chocolate, she opened up in a BIG way about life in China. She shared stories about how rough the teachers and kids were there. Hitting was a daily norm. Even our good-girl had occasional hits to her hands with a stick when her work was not complete or not correct. She has some scars on her knuckles. I have not asked yet, but I pray they are not from being hit like that. She is VERY happy to know that teachers DO NOT HIT here in America! She described some pretty rough incidents she witnessed between other students. It made me so sad, and scared for the children left behind. I am so relieved that Kennedy's favorite friend who is still at the orphanage will be adopted in the next few months by the amazing Kennedy family who led us to our daughter a year ago!
Kennedy spent some time "talking" (through the translator and acting things out) about a friend of hers that is having struggles adjusting to her adoption. It seems to worry Kennedy. One of her main concerns was knowing if that made her friend's Mommy cry and feel sad. I told her yes, but she continues to love her daughter. She says that this friend wants to return to the orphanage, and Kennedy is VERY upset about that. She says, "NO go back China! Not good! Stay family!" I explained to her that adoption is forever and her friend will not "go back". She seemed somewhat relieved to hear that, but can not understand her friend's anger and unhappiness. I assured her that everyone handles change differently. I told her we would pray for her friend to feel happy with her family. She agreed.
That brings me to this awesome info...Kennedy informed us that she was baptized at a Christian summer camp this last July! That just amazes us!!!!
One last random "story". Kennedy got a gift card to Bath and Body. She seemed very confused about what to do with it, so we did the only proper thing...we went to the mall!!! Once she got the hang of shopping for things to make you smell amazing, she really got into it! She was even dancing around in the store to the music! She would bring me things like shower gel and lotion that she had never used to ask what they were for. I would act it out for her and she would say, "Oh! GOOD!" That night, and every night since then, she chooses her shower gel, lotion and body spray of the day to use during and after her shower. Can I say how FUN it was to explain how to use all that girly stuff!!??!! She TOTALLY gets into it!
Oh, there is another brief comment. Kennedy LOVES Barbies! I had given her 2 of my favotite collector ones, and Santa brought her one. My sweet Mia decided the other night that since she had about 20 Barbies, she would give several to Kennedy so it would be "fair"! HOW DARN CUTE!! Kennedy plays with them an hour or two each day at this point. It is also another fun thing our daughters do together. She displays them on one of her shelves in different ways each day. Mia has the guy from the movie: Tangled. He was the only boy-Barbie in the house and he has been a BIG deal. I just got back from getting a "Ken" for Kennedy so Mia can have her "Tangled" dude back. I sense some future boy-craziness...and I do NOT like that... Stop laughing, MOM!
Geez! There IS another note....they finally went on the trampoline yesterday! They had a BLAST and it was HYSTERICAL to see! They are currently out ice skating with Daddy! They are so close and have a ton of fun together. Mia keeps thanking us for a big sister...
I better stop before I remember MORE fun tidbits to share!!
Happy New Year!!!!
Kennedy keeps making signs for her door and 2D art for her mom and dad, etc. that says "I Love My Home!" Then, she draws herself, Mia, me and Charles all holding hands. She labels all of us with our names. It just makes me smile every time! The other day, I was writing sentences on the dry erase board with Mia. I wrote, "I love Mia." and "I love Kennedy." Kennedy read them out loud, took the marker from me and wrote, "I love Mom and Dad and Mia." Then, she handed me the marker and smiled! She does not verbalize that often, but she is writing it and indicating it more and more! We know as her English improves and her level of comfort with sharing emotions gets better, (That is NOT common in China!) she will say things out loud more! She SHOWS us every day, and that is good enough for us at this early point! ;)
A few days ago, over hot chocolate, she opened up in a BIG way about life in China. She shared stories about how rough the teachers and kids were there. Hitting was a daily norm. Even our good-girl had occasional hits to her hands with a stick when her work was not complete or not correct. She has some scars on her knuckles. I have not asked yet, but I pray they are not from being hit like that. She is VERY happy to know that teachers DO NOT HIT here in America! She described some pretty rough incidents she witnessed between other students. It made me so sad, and scared for the children left behind. I am so relieved that Kennedy's favorite friend who is still at the orphanage will be adopted in the next few months by the amazing Kennedy family who led us to our daughter a year ago!
Kennedy spent some time "talking" (through the translator and acting things out) about a friend of hers that is having struggles adjusting to her adoption. It seems to worry Kennedy. One of her main concerns was knowing if that made her friend's Mommy cry and feel sad. I told her yes, but she continues to love her daughter. She says that this friend wants to return to the orphanage, and Kennedy is VERY upset about that. She says, "NO go back China! Not good! Stay family!" I explained to her that adoption is forever and her friend will not "go back". She seemed somewhat relieved to hear that, but can not understand her friend's anger and unhappiness. I assured her that everyone handles change differently. I told her we would pray for her friend to feel happy with her family. She agreed.
That brings me to this awesome info...Kennedy informed us that she was baptized at a Christian summer camp this last July! That just amazes us!!!!
One last random "story". Kennedy got a gift card to Bath and Body. She seemed very confused about what to do with it, so we did the only proper thing...we went to the mall!!! Once she got the hang of shopping for things to make you smell amazing, she really got into it! She was even dancing around in the store to the music! She would bring me things like shower gel and lotion that she had never used to ask what they were for. I would act it out for her and she would say, "Oh! GOOD!" That night, and every night since then, she chooses her shower gel, lotion and body spray of the day to use during and after her shower. Can I say how FUN it was to explain how to use all that girly stuff!!??!! She TOTALLY gets into it!
Oh, there is another brief comment. Kennedy LOVES Barbies! I had given her 2 of my favotite collector ones, and Santa brought her one. My sweet Mia decided the other night that since she had about 20 Barbies, she would give several to Kennedy so it would be "fair"! HOW DARN CUTE!! Kennedy plays with them an hour or two each day at this point. It is also another fun thing our daughters do together. She displays them on one of her shelves in different ways each day. Mia has the guy from the movie: Tangled. He was the only boy-Barbie in the house and he has been a BIG deal. I just got back from getting a "Ken" for Kennedy so Mia can have her "Tangled" dude back. I sense some future boy-craziness...and I do NOT like that... Stop laughing, MOM!
Geez! There IS another note....they finally went on the trampoline yesterday! They had a BLAST and it was HYSTERICAL to see! They are currently out ice skating with Daddy! They are so close and have a ton of fun together. Mia keeps thanking us for a big sister...
I better stop before I remember MORE fun tidbits to share!!
Happy New Year!!!!
 |
| Mia, thinking..."YES!!! A gift card! I get to pick out my own stuff!!!" |
 |
| Kennedy, thinking..."What the heck am I supposed to do with this little plastic card thingie??" Little did she know what FUN it was about to provide for her!!! ;) |
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