Tuesday, November 9, 2010
WE ARE SO THANKFUL!!

I just realized that I've been giving so many details about what we have been doing everyday that I have failed to mention Annalyn's progress. So I will give you a quick update. She is such a joy! She is fast, funny, and still talking to us in Chinese with 2 English tones! LOL. Since we arrived in Guangzhou, she has been repeating us a lot more and trying to learn new English words everyday. Our guide, Helen is responsible for 13 families, so she is really busy and we try not to use her very often. I think we have called her only twice to translate for us. We are so thrilled that we started right away praying at meals and bedtime as a family. She picked it right up and now if we forget, she reminds us. She takes our hands and bows her head and closes her eyes. And at the end of the prayer she always says Amen with us. (I know, I cry just thinking about it too.) She gets a little bit hyper sometimes, but we have correlated many of these times with a soft drink. So we are really trying to get her to lay off the sugar and gradually get off the soft drinks. There are many times that she will act like a 5 year old. We are wondering if this might have something to do with the fact that she attended Kindergarten part-time. Not sure, just speculating. It seems that she has to be constantly doing something. It could just be her way of dealing with the transition or it could be the way most Chinese kids act. Who knows? I know that Gwendolyn is a rare exception, but she does not seem to be near as mature as Gwendolyn. They like the same things and they are both VERY girlie, but Gwendolyn seems much older at times.

Remember when I mentioned the eye exam a few days ago...I said that she seemed to have trouble with her left eye during the exam...well today we noticed that she watches TV with her head turned to the right and her eyes are turned all the way to the right. She also has "an eye-strain" look on her face...interesting. Also, today, Helen drilled her in math for me to see kinda where she was at. For her age, I think she is quite behind in math. Helen said that she is way ahead in her language. She is very smart so I'm sure that the Kindergarten teachers were not able to teach her on grade level in Math.

It's funny because she has not met Anthony yet, but she already has some of his habits. When we are out somewhere and she can't find me right away or wants something, she says, "Mom-ie" really loud. Anthony does the same thing, only it's "Ma-ma". The last syllable on both are in a high pitched voice. It's very funny how similar they are.

She still wants her Daddy to carry her everywhere. Poor Mike is going to need a major massage when he gets back. He is loving it and very thankful that she wants him to carry her because many of the Dads that adopted the older girls don't have that relationship right now with their girls. It is great for bonding!

We met a couple today at breakfast who also adopted an 8 year old girl and they have a bio 8 year old daughter. They are having a really hard time. We were so thankful once again. Their daughter never went to school and never brushed her teeth. So they cannot even use google translate with her because she can't read Chinese. I know for a fact that we would be having a much harder time if Annalyn could not read Chinese. As long as she knows what is going to happen next or what is expected of her, she is fine and dandy. (As most children are.) And the way that we let her know what is coming next is through google translate. Thank you Lord for Google translate!

Ok, real quick review of the day. We took our family and group pictures this morning. We did some last minute shopping. We went to the US Consulate to sign our last papers and take our oath. I really thought that I would get teary-eyed, but it's hard to get teary-eyed when all you are promising is that your paperwork is true and correct to the best of your ability. LOL. I thought it would be something like, "we promise to take excellent care of this child...etc." Nope, all they cared about was if the paperwork was true. Go figure. LOL. Whatever...she is ours and that's all that matters! I am a Mommy of 3!!! She will be a US Citizen on Thursday when we land in NJ! Woo hoo!! It's Veterans Day!! How awesome and so special!!

Also, tonight we went to the Pearl Market and Bookstore, located in the heart of the city of Guangzhou. When it got dark, the city was beautiful all lit up...and we were right in the middle of it...along with many, many other people. LOL. Annalyn took a bad fall in the local KFC. She is ok, just a sore lip from where she hit it on the chair. Bless her heart. Whenever she is hurt, she always wants her Daddy. It's so sweet.