You Dropped it Where and Then You What?

Here is a story of what happens when you have limited language skills with your daughters. One morning I noticed that the toilet roll was almost gone and I usually change it so the girls don't have to worry about it. Well I thought it had enough for the day and left for work. When I came home and went into the bathroom I noticed that one of the girls did change the roll after all, but upon closer scrutiny I noticed that one end of the dispenser was missing and only the spring was there. So I look around the floor and in the little trash can. No silver end in sight. I also noticed that the trash had been emptied and asked Phil if the trash was taken out to the garage. He said it was in the garage. I went out and searched through the garbage looking for the end of the dispenser with no luck. So I decided to ask the girls who had changed the roll of toilet paper today and their response went like this, "Anna, no". "Mia, no". I asked them to come into the bathroom so I could show them. I held the roll with the dispenser inside and the good end showing. The spring was facing down in the palm of my hand. I started to explain how to change the roll when Anna said that she didn't know what happened to it. Hum, she knew about the missing piece without me showing it to her. Okay, good, now I know who changed the roll, I just need to know where it is. I asked them both who change the roll and Anna puts her hand under her chin with one finger tapping her cheek and looking up at the ceiling says, "Let me tink a minu", and then I turned the roll over exposing the missing piece and asked if she knew where it was and she pointed straight down in the toilet bowl. It must have dropped in the toilet and she flushed it. So far no problems with the plumbing, but I did explain what goes in the toilet and what does not. Me bad for not doing this one sooner! We did have a good laugh and a picture embedded in my mind with Anna saying, "Let me think a minute."

Singing Their Chinese Song!

Anna and Mia singing a Chinese song of their choice. Look out American Idol (or at least duck). They sing with a happy heart and fond memories of China. They do some kind of an intro to this song that makes me smile!!

Swimming and Basketball! Doesn't Get Any Better!

The girls look forward to swimming and playing basketball at the gym. We try and go a couple of times a week. Can't wait for summer. The girls can play outback on the slab of concrete. Living out in the country does have its advantages. The girls were afraid of the water when we first started to go but now they can go underwater and retrieve a toy. They can even swim a couple of strokes. They look so funny playing basketball. Anna will kick back one leg and Mia usually sends the ball straight up and she has even hit herself in the head a few times. We did try showing them how but they quickly go back to how they were originally doing it so we just let them go. They have fun and exert energy. Enough said.

MIA and ANNA

Tell Us Some Funny Stories!!

I am asked often to tell stories about the girls. I am going to admit here that some of the stories told are not so funny to me now (but will be years from now). Some of the more memorable stories have to do with lack of knowledge in the English language. So here are a few stories that I can share here with you.

I call this one - "English"; We had a visit from our foster care rep, Joyce, and we explained to her that the girls have a problem with appropriate hugging (they attach easily to strangers) so we asked that she not have direct contact with the girls. We had the girls sit in the living room and we met in the dining room. We had also spent the week reminding the girls to use their English words instead of Chinese for the words they knew. Joyce told us that she had spent several summers in China and thought she would try it out on the girls upon leaving. She said, Zi Jian (good bye). Anna told her "Wo bu dong", which means I don't understand. And then she said, "English". Maybe we over did it a tad! We then had to explain to Joyce that her Chinese was very good and the girls are suppose to say English words for the ones they know.

I call this one - "Break Time"; Anna is often frustrated and gets upset easily when doing homework, so we thought we would add a few "breaks" to help her regroup. The first time I told Anna that it was time for a break, she jumps up from her chair and yells, "Anna no break! Anna no break". I explained to her that no she didn't break anything that I just wanted her to relax.Sometimes break is a good thing.

The girls often laugh at certain expressions and will repeat them over and over again and laugh. Some of these phrases are; What did I say? Be quiet! Remember?
You can clearly see a pattern here. We give them an instruction and they still think it is funny. Not so funny to a parent. While we were in China, the girls thought the word NO was hilarious. They must have thought that no meant do what you want to.

When we go to church the girls have to have their own book to follow along. The Catholic Mass can be confusing for an English speaking person and difficult to follow the flow of the Mass in the book, but they insist on being on the same page as we are on. They can't even read, why do they need a book? Before Mass starts, the Rosary is said and the girls will say out loud what they think we are saying. They aren't trying to be funny but serious here. They are very reverent at church.

Another thing the girls will do when telling us the letter for the alphabet is to say the word that starts with that letter. For example; A will be alligator and Z will be Zebra. They will still do this on occasion. Funny? They think so.

While shopping at a grocery store the girls will pick up things that they think they will like, such as gravy packets or flour. Then get upset when we tell them no. Really?

Do the Hoky Poky - When singing along with this song it comes out - put you left foot een put you out,  put you left foot een and theen shake it shake it, do da huggy poddy an ya tun yousef awound, dat what it all abut. Love it, love it, love it!

We did take the girls to Monkey Joe's for the exercise and experience. They loved the slides once they came down. It took Mia a few minutes after Anna did to come down the slide. After they did it once they went over and over again. It is like watching a small toddler for the first time. We have a lot of "firsts" with the girls, even though they are 9 and 11.

Loving The SNOW!!!!!

Anna and Mia have been out in the snow several times now for hours at a time. They love the snow; building snowmen, forts, throwing snowballs, making snow angels, drawing in the snow, and best of all "shoveling snow". That's right! They can shovel snow to their little hearts content! Baba was out plowing out our driveway and the girls were clearing the sidewalks. When I returned home from work Phil said that they also built another snowman. Where? Oh, they each tore down their first one and built a new one in its place. They also experience their first fort. Anna said it was a kitty house, meow, meow. (No, we don't have any cats.) I love it when they are tired and ready for bed at bedtime!

The girls will experience their first "school picture" day. We were trying to explain how it works but only managed to confuse them even more. I told them that they would get their pictures taken at school. Mia asks, "On the bus?" No, at school. Later your teacher will give you your pictures. You will get to bring them home and then you can take them to school and give them to your friends. Mia, "Mia pictures in bookbag, take to school for friends, Sophie, Aye. Mia was asking if she was going to get to take her pictures (from China) to school and then went on to list the people in her pictures, Sophie, Aye, etc. No, you don't get to take those pictures to school. One more lesson for me in what not to say.

Here is a sample of just how opposite the girls are from each other. Mia is neat and writes so very carefully. Anna is messy and hurries and just wants to get done. Here is a picture of their handwriting. Can you tell which ones are Mia's and which ones are Anna's? It is just hilarious at how opposite they really are.  We know why God placed these two girls together. Anna can help Mia speed up and Mia can help Anna slow down. Anna can help Mia with English and Mia can help Anna say the English word correctly. I could go on and on but I will stop here.

The Girls Love to Sing!

We encourage the girls to sing English songs. This is such a fun way for them to learn. They don't like TV so that doesn't help them learn their English like most children do. I have been recording some of their songs and our favorite one is "Five Little Monkeys". I may not ever get tired of hearing it the way they sing it! I am trying to record all of their Chinese songs, but they know so many of them. This should be fun for them when they are older.

Fun in the snow! Anna's first snow.

Adjustment Period!!

We have been home now for 10 weeks and I can honestly say that things are going great for all of us. The girls are doing so much. They pick up more English every day. They started school full time which helps with their English. They go to the gym to swim and play basketball two times a week. They are active at home with singing and dancing. Anna cracks me up with her singing "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". They really have fun and we enjoy the entertainment. Anna has been exposed to a lot more than Mia has been while growing up in China. Anna can sing, dance, do dance routines, and play many games. However, her school work and studying is not so good. She really struggles with authority and having to do certain things during a normal day. She is very frustrated and can get mad easily. Her tantrums have decreased considerably and aren't as intense but she is still struggling. We are doing our best to keep a schedule so she will know what to expect. She is having a hard time in school. She will refuse to do her work. Everything she does she seems to rush through and is very messy. She eats messy, spills her drink, writes messy, her drawers and toys are messy. I often wonder what her mind must be like. It must jump from one thing to another without having time to sort anything out. We may have to call in the experts.
Mia is just the opposite of Anna in many ways. She is very neat, but slow when doing homework. She is cooperative 98% of the time. She is quiet and soft spoken (unlike Anna). She can sing many Chinese songs very well. She seems to know a lot of them. She doesn't seem to have been exposed to sports but she is enjoying swimming and basketball.  They were both very afraid of the water when we started going but now they can go underwater. Anna is doing somersaults under the water and swimming down to the bottom. Mia can swim underwater for a little way. They have only been going for a few weeks and their progress does amaze us. Mia is adjusting very well in school. She really seems to enjoy her time there. The only big issue we have with Mia is bonding to us and not to other people. She will go up to strangers and grab for their hands. This can be very hard to explain to them but she is getting better. We know that this will take time. We have told the teachers at school that she is not allowed to hug, kiss, or hold their hand. We have asked that they discourage this behavior until she learns what is appropriate.
They are settling in very well (and so are we). It has been an adjustment for all of us. We get a lot more smiles now and have some really fun times. We are very blessed to have them in our family!