Mei Mei Has a Jie Jie

Maryn is getting another older sister, or jie jie as it is respectfully said in Mandarin, and this sister is likely to call her younger sister mei mei or she might even call Maryn the nickname everyone called her when she lived in Ch*na.  You see, the coolest thing ever is that Maryn and her new sister already know each other.  They used to live together.  Imagine that.  There are more than a billion people in Ch*na yet Maryn and her new sister already know each other.  Oh, how Tom and I wish we could be flies on the wall when our new daughter has our family photo album in her hands, and she realizes that she and her new sister are already sisters. 

It's Here!

Wednesday at 12:50 p.m. I was talking with my sister, Ame, on my cell phone when the house phone rang.  I told her to hang on because maybe it was The Call.  When I saw the number on the phone, I said, "It's The Call, I gotta go."  I answered the phone and heard Denise say, "It's here!"  I'm sure I was smiling when I picked up the phone, but I felt my smile grow even bigger when I heard her say that.  Denise gave me the details about what we'd find in the package when it arrived at our house on Thursday, and the one thing I remember her saying is that she'd have a detailed list of instructions inside the package to be overnighted to us.  I knew then that I didn't have to retain any of what she was saying to me and I could just soak up the joy.  I told her it was a good thing I was alone, and she got me on the phone because Tom, the mushball, had forgotten to tell her that if she got him first and he went silent on the phone it wasn't because he'd died.  Being home alone also gave me the chance to surprise him with the news.  For quite a long time everyday after school Maryn would ask us, "Did we get the second yes?" and we'd have to say no, not today.  Once we knew the second yes was coming in a few days, we told Maryn we would tie balloons outside just like we did when we received the Seeking Confirmation Letter for her, and she would know that we got our second yes.  We had saved her balloons, so I dug them out and put them on the floor so Tom would see them when he walked in.  The picture shows him a millisecond before he before he went silent.  We had a nice, long hug just past the last "It's a Girl" balloon, and after we wiped our eyes we called Robyn and Allyson, the big sisters, and told them the good news.  After that fun phone call, we got in the car and headed to the balloon store where we picked up another set of the same balloons and tied them outside for Maryn.

Blow Wind, Blow

Something big from far away
is coming any day, so they say.
Blow wind, blow.

They Grow Up So Fast

Off to Class

Cramming for finals??

I seem to be telling Maryn frequently that she looks so grown up, and I think she has reached the point where she's starting to like that. It wasn't too long ago that she was bummed to hear comments about how tall she was getting or that she was looking so grown up, still craving the chance to be our baby. Now, she gets a sly little grin when I playfully lament that she looks like she's going to college.  Then I squeeze her in a firm hug and let her know I'm not ready for that yet. The outfit she's wearing was a hand-me-down from Jen that I pulled out of the closet a few weeks back. She tried it on, and even though it was a smidge too big, she was all over it. I offered to give her college girl hair to go with it, and she eagerly accepted, so I topped off her ponytail with a headband for just the right rolled out of bed and off to class look. She was delighted to pair the clothing with her very own three ring binder retrieved from the office clean up we did recently. Gotta love a girl who can find just the right balance in her life - looking like a college girl who carries a binder with a her own third grade artwork on the cover.

On a Roll = Honor Roll

You may not be able to read it, but that paper she's holding has a big A+ on it. 25/25. That was Maryn's first spelling test in third grade a few months back. Things are beginning to click this year, and it's wonderful to see when they do. More recently her first report card came home with all A's on it, and there was an honor roll ribbon in the envelope, too. That was an exciting day, at least for her parents. She hasn't really connected the whole hard work equals good grades thing yet, but I'm sure I didn't either. I breathe a sigh of relief every few weeks when a paper comes home with the first letter in the word Friday on it. I just want to make sure we all know that, while she's certainly making great strides this year, she doesn't have it all figured out yet. When I see too many A's, I begin to wonder if the person who's helping her learn the English language at school is the one who's getting an A in third grade, and I'm pretty sure that person completed third grade quite a few years ago. So Maryn may have identified both Canada and Mexico as bordering our state, but she remembered learning the names of those places and spelled them correctly, and that's worth something. We've got time to work on map skills, and we're certain to keep practicing those spelling words knowing that someday, when she's all grown up, she'll write the word "quadrilateral" in a sentence and spell it correctly.

Happy Meowloween!

I love a costume that comes from the closet with the bare minimum of investment.  When it comes together as cute as this year's, it's a real score.  Mama cat and her kitten were really happy about the way it turned out.
Two weeks before the holiday, Maryn had a call from her best friend asking her if she could trick or treat at her house.  Wham!  I was caught off guard with that one, and the question hit me like a punch in the stomach.  I knew it would happen someday, but this was only her third Halloween after all.  How could our little girl be ready to go trick or treating with someone else?  I thought about all the neighbors who welcomed her home along with us, knowing they'd want to see her, too.  I told her she could go, but when she hung up the phone I gave her a sad mom, frowny face and asked "How come you're growing up so fast?"  I love it when she looks at me and says, "Mom, I'm ten now."  Then with all her worldliness and maturity she says, "It's okay, mom, I won't go.  I'll stay here with you."  So I acquiesce, swallow my disappointment, lose the frown and tell her I want her to go, but only because that's what I should do.  Giving roots AND wings, right?  In the end a little compromise was the best option - one hour of trick or treating at her friend's house and one hour in our neighborhood.  She was happy, her friend was happy, we were happy, and I know the neighbors were happy because I heard them say it.  After her friend went home, Maryn and I went out together hitting the last few houses we could squeeze in before the night officially ended.  My growing up fast girl and I walked hand in hand carrying a bulging bag of candy.  Our best Meowloween ever.

Summer Wrap Up

Our summer drew to a close on a high note with a reunion of kids from the same city in China and their families. So many beautiful kids in the same place and smiling parents watching them having the time of their lives.  It was particularly incredible to see the kids who are old enough to remember each other talking, laughing, playing and just being together again on the other side of the world. 

A morning of pouring rain gave way to overcast skies by pool time, and it was pure sunshine as we closed out the afternoon at the beach.  It was perfect and looking at the pictures we took on that memorable day will get me through a long winter as I look forward to the next time we can all be together.