This and That

We went to a harvest festival and enjoyed playing some of the old time games, watched cloggers and rode on the horse drawn wagon twice. Next year she'll have to wear less noticeable tights so they won't remember how many turns we take on the wagon ride. Yesterday we went across the street to help celebrate a neighbor's 14th birthday. Powered down the food and cake and enjoyed a nice afternoon chatting with neighbors. A number of the neighborhood kids were there, and Maryn was right in with them, even out of our sight when they were playing in the basement. She has become much more comfortable around kids, and it's great to see. On Sunday morning she was whining a little when she realized she didn't have school, but I reminded her she was going to Sunday school and that seemed to satisfy her. The children's choir sang in front of the congregation, and Maryn went right along with them. We had been practicing the hand motions and singing the song during the previous two weeks, and the hand motions really helped her learn the words. It's adorable to hear her sing, "Be bold, be strong for the Lord your God is with you." We got it on video, including the couple of swipes to the nose, and it's a great first performance for happy parents and an adoring congregation.

There are three questions people have been asking us frequently: 1. How is Maryn doing in school? 2. How is her English? 3. What is she eating? Here are the answers:

1. I mentioned that Maryn was whining about no school on Sunday. That's a good thing. We do the drop off and pickup at school, and she gets out of the car in the morning with a smile on her face and gets in the car in the afternoon with a smile on her face. We think that anything she learns in between those smiles is gravy. Many people who bring home older children keep them out of school or home school so that they can work on the bonding. The first week and a half, I was second guessing our decision to send her to school right away, but I no longer feel any hesitation about our decision. She is a happy girl, and she is learning. It's more than just English. She's learning a routine, she's learning to be with other children and adults, she's learning to play in a group, she's learning to trust that we will return for her.

2. Her English comprehension is up. We know there is English in her brain because it is just starting to leak out. The other day we were finishing up after a shower and without warning or reason she said, "No talking." It was as if she had been scanning her hard drive and suddenly landed on that. I chuckled and asked her, "Do you hear your teacher say that?" and she said, "Dui," which is "correct" in Chinese. She heard me say, "Oh, my gosh," to something stupendous, and now she says, "Oh, my guy," when something is neat or even when it's not.

3. What isn't she eating is the better question with the shorter answer. I don't think she would eat a salad right now. She's not crazy about regular yogurt, although she enjoys yogurt drinks. She doesn't like oatmeal, although she'll get it down if I feed it to her. Cantaloupe is out. Most other things she will eat gladly and robustly. If it's new, she's always willing to take a taste. If she likes it, she'll smile at me and tell me it's delicious in Chinese. That's a nice compliment and one I don't want her to lose to English.

Many Hands Make More Work

On Saturday morning Tom was cleaning the house so he enlisted Maryn's help and gave her a disposable duster. He showed her how to dust the rungs on the kitchen chairs, and, with that successfully mastered, he showed her how to dust the tops of the tables in the family room. Next she started on the furniture in our bedroom while he returned to cleaning the shower. A short time later he came into the kitchen with the wet duster that Maryn had been using on the bedroom furniture. It makes perfect sense. If a dry duster works well, imagine what a duster held under the faucet can do. Many hands make light work but not in a house with an 8 year old, novice cleaning lady. Is she enjoying that cotton candy or planning to dust with it?

Picture This

Today was picture day at school, and Maryn opted for classic fashion to capture the essence of first grade. Her cousin Jenny has handed down some adorable clothes, and we are happy to give them a second chance on a new model. Maryn may have Scotties on her sweater, but she's always got her loyal Lab, Toby, by her side, especially at mealtime now that food is dropping to the floor on a regular basis.

A T-shirt Speaks a Thousand Words

We bought this t-shirt in the summer of 2006 when Maryn was just a gleam in our eyes, and we had no idea just how long the wait would prove to be. I happened to see it in the K*Mart sale flyer in the Sunday paper, so we drove about 30 minutes to get to a K*Mart. We found it on a wayward rack of discounted shirts. It was the only one, and we bought it hoping that at some point it would fit our future daughter. It's a perfect fit, and so is she. There are no coincidences in life, not even at K*Mart.

Cousins

There's nothing like a cousin for fun, so much fun that Maryn can't stop asking when she will see Jenny again. I know how she feels because I love spending time with her, too. She is Maryn's first friend and she is a best one at that. We celebrated Grandpa's birthday yesterday with a cookout and before that was a bike ride, time at the park, and playing with Pinkie in the backyard. When it was time to go home, Jen offered up a too small pair of pajamas so Maryn could fall into bed when we got there, and she did, looking forward to the next time she could see Jenny.

One Month Anniversary

It's been one month today since our little darling walked into a room and allowed us into her life. In one respect it seems like it just happened yesterday and in another it seems like we've always been together. It's hard to believe that we waited so long, and, yet, we've not only been to China but have been home for almost three weeks. We'd love it if all the families in our travel group could go back together, this time without the anxiety and stress but with all the joy.

Today, on our one month anniversary, we are thinking of all the new families celebrating this milestone with us and wishing continued blessings to all of them.

The photo was taken by a man named Marco from Holland. He and his wife, Anna, were waiting to meet their 2 year old daughter in the same room where we met Maryn. Marco was kind enough to snap this photo and emailed it to us before we left China.

H..e..l..l..l..l..o

Tom has a way of answering the phone that is almost like no other, except it's the male version of the way his mom answers the phone. Everyone who knows him knows the way he answers the phone. Tonight we were sitting at the table finishing dinner. Maryn was sitting in my lap when out of the blue she said something in Chinese. We didn't get all of the words but we did hear "Baba (dad)...dianhua (telephone)...H..e..l..l..l..l..o." Tom hadn't even answered the phone today, and all of a sudden that's what came out of her mouth. We cracked up, of course, and she spent the next half hour repeating it because who doesn't love making someone laugh, and, at 8 years old, when you don't even speak the same language yet, it's particularly fun. We're really beginning to get one another.

The video was taken in our hotel room in Guangzhou. Two of the three hotel rooms we had in China had a wall of glass in between the shower and the room with a miniblind or shade in between. The glare is from the glass.