Here are some pictures of Joy and her new scooter and bike! Thanks to some wonderful friends who had outgrown their bike, Joy has a new way to burn off some energy! Now, if we could only get her to ride it for 12 hours a day! lol
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Lots of Energy!
Here are some pictures of Joy and her new scooter and bike! Thanks to some wonderful friends who had outgrown their bike, Joy has a new way to burn off some energy! Now, if we could only get her to ride it for 12 hours a day! lol
Thursday, April 8, 2010
You've Got To Be Kidding Me!
"Perfectly Normal?!"
Tim texts me back, and I can hear the laughter in his voice, "You should be thankful that she's a perfectly normal 5 year old!"
That's perfectly normal!??
I'm standing in Super Target, trying to maintain my composure. Joy has just announced, very loudly, to the 5th mother in a row, "I want THAT mama! Not YOU!" This mother looks bemused. She has 3 little ones in tow. The last few mothers looked a little horrified though.
I really was trying to laugh and tell Joy I would be very very sorry to see her go. I tried to point out that those mothers all had children already, but she didn't fall for that one. I decided to get really distracted by looking at all the eggs in the egg case. I made her help me test them to see if they were "okay" for a while.
I then decided on a dozen eggs and put them in the cart. I leaned over her (she's in the cart as well) to kiss her. She says very loudly in her best Don't Do That Voice, "Don't touch me right now! We don't do that!" This is a combination of things I've said to her when she tries to touch me in places she shouldn't in public. I don't think I could hide my reaction to that one, so I'm sure I'll hear that again at some inopportune moment!
Learning the Routines
For my friends who have known me a long time, please keep your laughter to a minimum at this next statement - getting up in the morning has never been a strong point of mine. In fact, keeping the same schedule for more than a few days has usually been a challenge for me. I can keep a teaching schedule, but that's usually been the most my psyche can handle.
So it will come as no surprise that my new little girl needs a more rigorous SCHEDULE! I don't mean the easy things like read a book or two before bed. Or first you brush your teeth, then wash your face, then put on cream, then put on your pajamas. I mean getting up at the same time every morning & going to bed at the same time every night. I know it isn't rocket science, but it sure is hard!
The reason I think she needs more routine than we've had is that we're having little temper tantrums getting up and going to bed. It would be funny....but it isn't when we're running late or when we're all tired.
So, the Marine and the Opera Singer are trying to get up at the same time every morning and go to bed every night. Wish us luck!
Our Third Day of Routine
Well, the first two days were good! But Thursday night, we stayed up too late watching "Enchanted". Joy was loving sitting in her Daddy's lap eating popcorn and even though she and I have seen it a dozen times, Tim hadn't. It is a cute movie, if you haven't seen it. So, you can imagine what Friday morning was like!
I let her sleep an extra 20 minutes or so, since we didn't have school that morning. We worked in the garden in the morning, which means she drew on the sidewalk with her new chalk and ran around while I worked. The dogs were tied to the tree so they were mostly happy to be out and with us.
After we came inside, she plopped down on the couch while I got lunch ready. Before I could even get a simple lunch together, she was asleep. I woke her up, but really probably shouldn't have. I can't believe I used SpongeBob Square Pants as a bribe to get her to eat something! She ate a little bit, played with the dogs outside in the backyard, and then promptly crashed. I checked her and she had a little fever, so I let her sleep. I guess that's one way to get a nap! She's fine now, I think.
So, while trying to establish routines, I'm trying to be flexible! However, I don't need to watch much more SpongeBob....
Speaking Our Own Language
Several people have asked how Joy's language skills are coming. We are just astounded by it, is my answer! We were making a list last month of all the words she knows and stopped at over 250. Now, these are words that she knows what they mean. She can't always find them in her head to say when she needs them, but she's getting better with that. She is learning a few words in past and present tense, although the understanding of yesterday and tomorrow is a little fuzzy.
It's fascinating how she'll work on a word. Once she's got the meaning, she'll go sit next to Scarpia and repeat it a thousand times. Sometimes the way she's using it makes sense, and sometimes not. But we hear the word all day long!
Joy seems to have lost almost all of her Mandarin. But she doesn't know it. She is now telling me what everything in the house is called in Chinese. It's really funny! "Dji-jah" means stool, she'll tell me. Then I'll say it and I'm doing something wrong, and it makes her laugh and laugh! The next day, the word for stool is something different. It's hard to keep up!
I asked her the other day if she was dreaming in English and she said yes. Maybe that's why she's sleeping better these days?
Potty Words are Funny in Every Language
Did you know that "pee-pee" is a funny word? Or "bum-bum"? Or "boo-boo"?
Or any variety of made-up words that might be left-over Chinese or some variation of English words, but if they mean something vaguely naughty, they are funny!
I'm sure that Joy got to laugh at bathroom words when she was 3. And now, happy girl, she gets to laugh about them all over again, this time in English.
Oh, it makes going to public bathrooms so much fun! Since she's tall for her age, she almost looks like she's 6 years old. No one has asked me in public about it, yet, but if we don't get over laughing and saying as loudly as she thinks she can get away with any word that she knows she shouldn't say, I bet someone will!
Toes
I know kids can be cruel, but toes? Honestly!
I have had a hard time getting Joy to take her socks off at the Little Gym. All the other children go barefoot, but not Joy. At first, she would literally scream if I even suggested she take them off. (She's better now - she'll just say, very loudly, no thank you.)
So, I have been a little anxious about summertime and sandals. She had seen the fingernail polish in my makeup drawer and she's been enamored of any woman with painted nails. I thought - aha! Here's a bribe I can use! I've been telling her that when it's summertime and we wear sandals, we can paint her toenails. A smile a mile wide was my reward.
But those cute sandals in the closet didn't even get tried on without socks. So, I was worried about the first day of Sandal-wearing.
As we're putting them on in her room, talking about how hot it was going to be that day and how much fun it would be to wear sandals (and I promise to wear sandals too), I finally hear why she doesn't want to go without socks.
Some kid told her that her toes are too long!
Really!?
She has long toes, like her long fingers. Her second toe is longer than her big toe, and that clearly was what bothered her.
So I got to stifle a few laughs, then tell her about my childhood.
You see, I'm scarred because my mother, who has long toes, used to use them to pinch me! Really! (Where is social services when you need them?) ha!
I'm sure you've never noticed, but my toes are NOT long. In fact, you might say they were "short" and rather "stubby". But they work, so I don't complain!
I showed Joy my little toes and she just giggled and giggled (and giggled and giggled....)! And now, she'll walk up to me if I'm barefoot in the house, hand me my slippers and point to my toes and say, "Your toes are too small!"
Then she'll point to her own toes and exclaim, "My toes are pretty!"
Mission accomplished!
Here are some recent pictures.
Tim texts me back, and I can hear the laughter in his voice, "You should be thankful that she's a perfectly normal 5 year old!"
That's perfectly normal!??
I'm standing in Super Target, trying to maintain my composure. Joy has just announced, very loudly, to the 5th mother in a row, "I want THAT mama! Not YOU!" This mother looks bemused. She has 3 little ones in tow. The last few mothers looked a little horrified though.
I really was trying to laugh and tell Joy I would be very very sorry to see her go. I tried to point out that those mothers all had children already, but she didn't fall for that one. I decided to get really distracted by looking at all the eggs in the egg case. I made her help me test them to see if they were "okay" for a while.
I then decided on a dozen eggs and put them in the cart. I leaned over her (she's in the cart as well) to kiss her. She says very loudly in her best Don't Do That Voice, "Don't touch me right now! We don't do that!" This is a combination of things I've said to her when she tries to touch me in places she shouldn't in public. I don't think I could hide my reaction to that one, so I'm sure I'll hear that again at some inopportune moment!
Learning the Routines
For my friends who have known me a long time, please keep your laughter to a minimum at this next statement - getting up in the morning has never been a strong point of mine. In fact, keeping the same schedule for more than a few days has usually been a challenge for me. I can keep a teaching schedule, but that's usually been the most my psyche can handle.
So it will come as no surprise that my new little girl needs a more rigorous SCHEDULE! I don't mean the easy things like read a book or two before bed. Or first you brush your teeth, then wash your face, then put on cream, then put on your pajamas. I mean getting up at the same time every morning & going to bed at the same time every night. I know it isn't rocket science, but it sure is hard!
The reason I think she needs more routine than we've had is that we're having little temper tantrums getting up and going to bed. It would be funny....but it isn't when we're running late or when we're all tired.
So, the Marine and the Opera Singer are trying to get up at the same time every morning and go to bed every night. Wish us luck!
Our Third Day of Routine
Well, the first two days were good! But Thursday night, we stayed up too late watching "Enchanted". Joy was loving sitting in her Daddy's lap eating popcorn and even though she and I have seen it a dozen times, Tim hadn't. It is a cute movie, if you haven't seen it. So, you can imagine what Friday morning was like!
I let her sleep an extra 20 minutes or so, since we didn't have school that morning. We worked in the garden in the morning, which means she drew on the sidewalk with her new chalk and ran around while I worked. The dogs were tied to the tree so they were mostly happy to be out and with us.
After we came inside, she plopped down on the couch while I got lunch ready. Before I could even get a simple lunch together, she was asleep. I woke her up, but really probably shouldn't have. I can't believe I used SpongeBob Square Pants as a bribe to get her to eat something! She ate a little bit, played with the dogs outside in the backyard, and then promptly crashed. I checked her and she had a little fever, so I let her sleep. I guess that's one way to get a nap! She's fine now, I think.
So, while trying to establish routines, I'm trying to be flexible! However, I don't need to watch much more SpongeBob....
Speaking Our Own Language
Several people have asked how Joy's language skills are coming. We are just astounded by it, is my answer! We were making a list last month of all the words she knows and stopped at over 250. Now, these are words that she knows what they mean. She can't always find them in her head to say when she needs them, but she's getting better with that. She is learning a few words in past and present tense, although the understanding of yesterday and tomorrow is a little fuzzy.
It's fascinating how she'll work on a word. Once she's got the meaning, she'll go sit next to Scarpia and repeat it a thousand times. Sometimes the way she's using it makes sense, and sometimes not. But we hear the word all day long!
Joy seems to have lost almost all of her Mandarin. But she doesn't know it. She is now telling me what everything in the house is called in Chinese. It's really funny! "Dji-jah" means stool, she'll tell me. Then I'll say it and I'm doing something wrong, and it makes her laugh and laugh! The next day, the word for stool is something different. It's hard to keep up!
I asked her the other day if she was dreaming in English and she said yes. Maybe that's why she's sleeping better these days?
Potty Words are Funny in Every Language
Did you know that "pee-pee" is a funny word? Or "bum-bum"? Or "boo-boo"?
Or any variety of made-up words that might be left-over Chinese or some variation of English words, but if they mean something vaguely naughty, they are funny!
I'm sure that Joy got to laugh at bathroom words when she was 3. And now, happy girl, she gets to laugh about them all over again, this time in English.
Oh, it makes going to public bathrooms so much fun! Since she's tall for her age, she almost looks like she's 6 years old. No one has asked me in public about it, yet, but if we don't get over laughing and saying as loudly as she thinks she can get away with any word that she knows she shouldn't say, I bet someone will!
Toes
I know kids can be cruel, but toes? Honestly!
I have had a hard time getting Joy to take her socks off at the Little Gym. All the other children go barefoot, but not Joy. At first, she would literally scream if I even suggested she take them off. (She's better now - she'll just say, very loudly, no thank you.)
So, I have been a little anxious about summertime and sandals. She had seen the fingernail polish in my makeup drawer and she's been enamored of any woman with painted nails. I thought - aha! Here's a bribe I can use! I've been telling her that when it's summertime and we wear sandals, we can paint her toenails. A smile a mile wide was my reward.
But those cute sandals in the closet didn't even get tried on without socks. So, I was worried about the first day of Sandal-wearing.
As we're putting them on in her room, talking about how hot it was going to be that day and how much fun it would be to wear sandals (and I promise to wear sandals too), I finally hear why she doesn't want to go without socks.
Some kid told her that her toes are too long!
Really!?
She has long toes, like her long fingers. Her second toe is longer than her big toe, and that clearly was what bothered her.
So I got to stifle a few laughs, then tell her about my childhood.
You see, I'm scarred because my mother, who has long toes, used to use them to pinch me! Really! (Where is social services when you need them?) ha!
I'm sure you've never noticed, but my toes are NOT long. In fact, you might say they were "short" and rather "stubby". But they work, so I don't complain!
I showed Joy my little toes and she just giggled and giggled (and giggled and giggled....)! And now, she'll walk up to me if I'm barefoot in the house, hand me my slippers and point to my toes and say, "Your toes are too small!"
Then she'll point to her own toes and exclaim, "My toes are pretty!"
Mission accomplished!
Here are some recent pictures.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Our First Easter
Easter Eggs. Bunny Rabbits. Candy. Dressy Dresses. Church Services.
A busy day indeed!
here are some pictures.
Painting Easter eggs last night. Look at the concentration on the faces of these artistes!
And then the family photos after church!
This one with Zach took 6 pictures before she would smile. Joy has developed a habit of looking vacantly at the camera when you want her to smile. She will also do that when you're trying to communicate something important to her. I love this picture - just wish it hadn't taken a battle!
The Easter Egg Hunt!
I'm not sure how much of this Joy really understood (I'll write about the Good Friday service later), but after being a pill most of the morning (without the benefit of sugar even!), she was perfectly happy to be the center of attention hunting eggs and toys in the front yard. (Yes, we had to put the dogs on leashes and take them outside too - she didn't want them to stay inside.) The Hello Kitty eggs were a hit, but the socks inside were only marginably successful. It was interesting that she was more interested in finding the eggs than in seeing what was inside. When we were through, she immediately wanted us to hide them again and start over with the hunting part. She was also content to eat only one piece of candy when we got inside. A small chocolate lamb was all she wanted. The bigger kids didn't do so well with the "one piece" rule! Oh well, there's always next year, ha!
A busy day indeed!
here are some pictures.
Painting Easter eggs last night. Look at the concentration on the faces of these artistes!
And then the family photos after church!
This one with Zach took 6 pictures before she would smile. Joy has developed a habit of looking vacantly at the camera when you want her to smile. She will also do that when you're trying to communicate something important to her. I love this picture - just wish it hadn't taken a battle!
The Easter Egg Hunt!
I'm not sure how much of this Joy really understood (I'll write about the Good Friday service later), but after being a pill most of the morning (without the benefit of sugar even!), she was perfectly happy to be the center of attention hunting eggs and toys in the front yard. (Yes, we had to put the dogs on leashes and take them outside too - she didn't want them to stay inside.) The Hello Kitty eggs were a hit, but the socks inside were only marginably successful. It was interesting that she was more interested in finding the eggs than in seeing what was inside. When we were through, she immediately wanted us to hide them again and start over with the hunting part. She was also content to eat only one piece of candy when we got inside. A small chocolate lamb was all she wanted. The bigger kids didn't do so well with the "one piece" rule! Oh well, there's always next year, ha!
Friday, March 26, 2010
A Busy Week of Playing
We finally got a haircut! I deliberately waited until it was really in her eyes and bothering her. She had told us in the second Skype visit we had that she wanted long hair and didn't want it cut. I'm sure, looking at pictures, that Chung Yi let her grow her hair as long as they could handle it, knowing she was coming with us the end of December. But in the earlier pictures from when she first went there, it was SO short! Basically a boy cut, so she's been very attached to her longer hair.
From the look on her face in the chair, you'd think she was not having a good time, but she was! Anne was wonderful with her and she really did have fun. Not a tear in sight!
Here she is in her car seat, smiling, right afterwards. I had the window down a bit and the wind was blowing in her face, which she loves. She was a happy girl!
This is her proud smile after making her bed by herself (well, with a little help). We're working on the chores chart and getting Awesome stickers. One of those is making the bed. She still isn't sure about the bed. I know she slept on the floor on a mat with a comforter. She still wants to sleep on the floor in her room and has made a pallet with an extra comforter. She tells me her new bed makes her back hurt. Hmmmm....hard to tell if she's heard someone say that or what? I'm still working on sleeping in the bed though, between the sheets (which is only partially successful). We'll see...
Speaking of sleeping - last night was just one of those nights, I suppose. I guess we were too late to bed to begin with, but she was in our room at 2am. I got her back to sleep about 2:50, went back downstairs, but she was screaming by 3:30. This went on all night. I tried everything I could think of, at that time of night. I stayed in her room, with my hand on her back till she went to sleep, then went to the playroom bed (which is on the same floor). That didn't work. I tried sitting in her chair. That didn't work. When she came to the playroom bed for the 3rd time, I just let her sleep there with me.
Which meant that I didn't sleep! She wiggles. She kicks. She squirms. All in her sleep! And she has a way of finding the center of the bed, no matter what size bed it is! So, after an hour of that, I picked her up and put back in her bed. I think she was just so tired, she stayed there. But it was also about 5am by that point.
This morning I let her sleep till 8:00, not necessarily because I wanted to, but because I couldn't get up any earlier!
I think that's what is so wearing - it's not the getting up in the middle of the night to get her back to bed. It's the staying awake for 30-50 minutes in the middle of the night while she goes back to sleep that does it to me! I'm hoping it gets better soon.
I heard this hysterical laughter coming from across the room. When I got up to look, this is what I found. Joy was in Katrina's crate, with her bowl which had cake in it. She had somehow managed to get Katrina to come in with her. I'm sure the cake played a part in that. Don't you think?
These are photos from yesterday after the snow storm. Joy and Tim made a Snow Woman. It's hard to see the detail in the photo, but she's really quite wonderful. It's a Chinese woman, with hair buns on the sides of her head, sitting on her legs. They had a great time!
From the look on her face in the chair, you'd think she was not having a good time, but she was! Anne was wonderful with her and she really did have fun. Not a tear in sight!
Here she is in her car seat, smiling, right afterwards. I had the window down a bit and the wind was blowing in her face, which she loves. She was a happy girl!
This is her proud smile after making her bed by herself (well, with a little help). We're working on the chores chart and getting Awesome stickers. One of those is making the bed. She still isn't sure about the bed. I know she slept on the floor on a mat with a comforter. She still wants to sleep on the floor in her room and has made a pallet with an extra comforter. She tells me her new bed makes her back hurt. Hmmmm....hard to tell if she's heard someone say that or what? I'm still working on sleeping in the bed though, between the sheets (which is only partially successful). We'll see...
Speaking of sleeping - last night was just one of those nights, I suppose. I guess we were too late to bed to begin with, but she was in our room at 2am. I got her back to sleep about 2:50, went back downstairs, but she was screaming by 3:30. This went on all night. I tried everything I could think of, at that time of night. I stayed in her room, with my hand on her back till she went to sleep, then went to the playroom bed (which is on the same floor). That didn't work. I tried sitting in her chair. That didn't work. When she came to the playroom bed for the 3rd time, I just let her sleep there with me.
Which meant that I didn't sleep! She wiggles. She kicks. She squirms. All in her sleep! And she has a way of finding the center of the bed, no matter what size bed it is! So, after an hour of that, I picked her up and put back in her bed. I think she was just so tired, she stayed there. But it was also about 5am by that point.
This morning I let her sleep till 8:00, not necessarily because I wanted to, but because I couldn't get up any earlier!
I think that's what is so wearing - it's not the getting up in the middle of the night to get her back to bed. It's the staying awake for 30-50 minutes in the middle of the night while she goes back to sleep that does it to me! I'm hoping it gets better soon.
I heard this hysterical laughter coming from across the room. When I got up to look, this is what I found. Joy was in Katrina's crate, with her bowl which had cake in it. She had somehow managed to get Katrina to come in with her. I'm sure the cake played a part in that. Don't you think?
These are photos from yesterday after the snow storm. Joy and Tim made a Snow Woman. It's hard to see the detail in the photo, but she's really quite wonderful. It's a Chinese woman, with hair buns on the sides of her head, sitting on her legs. They had a great time!
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