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.