The Beginnings of World Domination

I have mentioned D's fascination with being "Nine-ese" (Chinese) and the whole remote control thing

(if you don't know what I mean- read this first http://pullthisblogover.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-nine-nese-or-why-no-one-else-can-use.html)

but things have taken a turn for the worse. We (me, K and D) are in the car the other day and they are watching a video on the DVD player. (on an aside note before you think I am one of "those" moms, the girls are in an afternoon special needs preschool program so they don't get naps. If they fall asleep in the car on the way home- lets just say it is VERY bad, so I let them watch to try to keep them awake. I guess maybe I am one of those moms. I am okay with that.)

Anyway- they were watching Ni Hao, Kai Lan (which for those of you who aren't hip to the TV viewing habits of the under 5 set is like Dora the Explorer but using Mandarin instead of Spanish) Kai Lan often has the kids repeat Mandarin words, etc. The girls both love the show and are happily watching as we sit in traffic. They had just hit a part in the episode where they have to repeat something and I hear D repeat it, then I hear K repeat it and then I hear an outraged yell from the back seat

"No Baby, Be Quiet, You no Nine-ese, Me Nine-ese"

Apparently we are no longer allowed to speak Chinese either.

Someone (stupid) once told me that the reason that China has allowed us to adopt these children is because the Chinese government "programs" them as part of their plan to takeover the world......

Maybe this is how it starts

Postscript-

Eventually, she was willing to let K speak Chinese after I explained that you don't have to be Chinese to say words in Chinese, that anyone could do it.

We still can't use the remote though.

Chinese New Year Celebration

Our local affiliate of Families with Children from China (FCC) holds a big Chinese New Year party every year. There are crafts, tons of food, vendors selling Chinese items, and a performance that includes both adults who perform the traditional arts as well as some of the kids from the FCC Chinese Arts Program. The whole thing starts off with the Lion Dance. I didn't get any pictures of the lions because as soon as it started D jumped into my arms a little bit scared. About halfway through the dance she decided she wanted to be the lion (is this a surprise to anyone who knows her??) In fact when the preschoolers from the Chinese Arts Program danced I mentioned to her she would be in the group next year and she got indignant and said "NO Mama- I gonna be the LION!!"

Enjoying the traditional dances with front row seats

This guy was amazing with the Chinese Yo Yo. Everyone was spellbound and A couldn't wait to go get his own Chinese Yo Yo from the vendors after the show. Hopefully this guy will be back next year, and A won't break anything too valuable in the meantime.

While not necessarily a traditional Chinese art- who can resist drawing on the Great Wall??

The yearly Chinese New Year Photo- D wasn't willing to even come near the photographer until there was a promise of stickers.

(love the cut and bruise right in the middle of KW's forehead? She fell at day care-they were horrified. However, they didn't need to worry- it hasn't slowed her down one bit)

Getting the payout- One kitty sticker!!!

Not a Complete Surprise but

D needs not one but two surgeries. After arriving 30 minutes late thanks to a traffic jam on the way to drop K off at day care at 6:20 am and rush hour traffic (at 9:15 am) in the 5 miles leading up to the hospital, we waited 90 minutes to see the therapist recommended to us. We decided to skip the evaluation from the genetics doctors since we have no idea of D's genetic history and at not quite 4 it seems a little early to start discussing her genetic risks and family planning. Once we got to see the therapist, she had D repeat sentences into a computer that made some kind of graphic representation of her speech. All in all she was very cooperative...

until we got to the scope room.

The ENT placed a thin scope in her nose so they could watch the mechanics of mouth while she was talking. All quick and easy unless the patient won't actually speak. It took about 10 minutes of a tense standoff between D and the therapist, but ultimately, she did repeat the sentences and within 20 seconds she was done.

So here's where we are

We need to schedule an appointment with our local ENT to get her tonsils removed. I am not looking forward to this at all- when A had his out he was miserable for a complete 2 weeks.

Then 6 weeks (or more) after the tonsils are removed she will have a second surgery to create a flap in the back of her throat so that she can keep the air from escaping through her nose when she speaks (this should dramatically increase her articulation) She will have to work with her local speech therapist to unlearn some of the bad speech habits and how to work her new flap but they expect normal speech (eventually) We are not surprised by the recommendations but were not planning to do the p-flap at a hospital 2 hours from home. They will keep her in the hospital for 3 days (2 nights) and then we will have to go back a couple of times for follow up. However, as much as we love our ENT and don't want him to feel like we are cheating on him, this team does this surgery a lot- it's a specialty there- and it has a "higher than the doctors would like" failure rate so it is important to go with someone who really knows how to do it. Plus our local team prefers to wait until the kids are older to do it, which makes no sense to me from a learning speech correctly standpoint

Now comes the crazy part of trying to schedule everything- this is the one part of working full time that stinks- feeling like I need to be at work to impress my new boss and needing to take possibly up to a week or two off. Hopefully we can schedule the tonsils the week before my spring break so the second week I will already be off. Luckily we haven't booked anything for our trip to DC at the end of March since it may not happen now.

Just another day in our crazy life

Wish Us Luck

D has an appointment tomorrow with a specialist at a Children's Hospital about 2 hours away from us. According to both her private speech therapist and her Early Intervention speech therapist, this woman is indeed the one who "wrote the book" (literally) on VPI (Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/Incompetence). A VPI problem is likely the reason that D's speech is still so hypernasal and difficult to understand. Hopefully, they will be able to find something to help her.

So for those of you who think good thoughts- here are ours for tomorrow

1. That is stops snowing so we can actually get out of our neighborhood and make the 2 hour drive in 2 hours

2. That there is school tomorrow for the boys so we don't have to drag them with us

3. That D is even remotely cooperative so that they can actually evaluate her

4. That there is a simple fix to the problem

That's all- nothing much

Enough Already

and still it snows.  I had several appointments today that I managed to be able to reschedule into the first 3 hours of the day- which is good because by 2:30- this is what we had.  Another 12 inches before it is done....

I.  Hate.  Winter.  

Xin Nian Kuai Le and Gung Hai Fat Choi!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!

This is the Year of the Tiger.

The Tiger  (people born in 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986. 1998 and 2010)

Magnetic, passionate and grand! When the Tiger does anything, it’s noticed! Indecisiveness and stubbornness can mar the sparkle of the Tiger personality. On the one hand generous, on the other hand a little mean, it’s sometimes hard to know where one stands with the Tiger. Flexible, honest and truly entertaining, one has a friend for life with a Tiger.

Forecast for 2010

Being the Tiger’s own year, 2010 holds great promise for those born under this sign, with exciting developments happening for them both personally and professionally. Some Tigers may be feeling disappointed and disheartened after 2009 and it will be important to leave the past behind and concentrate on the future, which is looking so bright! Financially, everything improves this year for those born under this sign and money-making thoughts and ideas should be fully explored and investigated. With the fast pace of this year for all signs, the Tiger needs to take extra care in planning and thinking all projects through – no rushing headlong into schemes during 2010! Tigers looking for romance will possibly see a friendship suddenly develop into something more personal with exciting consequences. August, December and January will see a very active and entertaining social calendar, but all of 2010 will see fun activities for the Tiger. The Spring months, March to May, will bring encouraging and interesting job opportunities, but the Tiger will still have to make sure he puts himself forward and gets noticed at work

We actually will be attending our local FCC Chinese New Year's party next weekend but with started off the celebration tonight with the kids receiving Hung Bao (or lucky money).  They each received a few dollars and some chocolate gold coins.

Just One Pair of Shoes

can make a big difference in the life of a child.

One of the families in our local Ethiopian group is raising money to buy shoes for kids in Africa- if you have an extra minute and only $10 (or more) hop on over to their team site and help them meet their goal.  It is so little for most of us and would mean so much to many kids who have never had shoes or have outgrown the shoes they own.  

CommonThreadz — Team Buster’s ‘Shoes for Kids in Africa’ Team Fundraising Page

Snow-pocalypse

Well it certainly wasn't the end of the world as the news predicted and it's a waste on the weekend (no school means no snow day) but this is what we woke up to today

The kids of course couldn't wait to get outside and play in it

This is D's second outfit for the day. She is still wearing her coat from the last two years and the snowpants are a little short. One step into the big drifts and snow got into her cuffs and down into her boots. She insisted she had to change them and luckily thanks to some hand-me-downs from a friend we had another snowsuit hanging in the closet waiting till D grew into a size 5. But with the boots back on she made the too big snowsuit work and back outside we went.

K seems to have her seasons mixed up

This is the only photo of A smiling- apparently building forts and throwing snowballs is serious business

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Hit and Run Racism

Let me set up the back story- so bear with me for a moment

Last weekend I went to a scrapbooking retreat (or crop for those in the "cult") I have never been to a crop with this particular group of people, but I am good friends with some of them (and knew a few more casually) However, the majority of them were strangers. At several points in the evening, everyone does what is called a "walkabout" -each person selects their favorite page, places it on their workstation and everyone "walks about" and looks at what everyone else has done.

So here is my page (not my fanciest work- but cute pics of the kids from right after K came home)

So everyone is walking about and I am back hanging out by my book when a couple of women come by. One asks me about the kids and if they were all "mine" and I said yes and she asked where D was from (turns out she has a child from China too). The woman behind her overheard and as the first lady walked away she pointed to K and asked where she was from. I replied "Ethiopia" and she leaned in close to me (like she had some great secret to tell me) and said in a whisper

"At least she isn't dark like some of those people from over there."

Those people??? Which people would that be exactly??? and while we are at it-what exactly do you mean by "at least"?????

But before I could say a word, she walked away.

I have heard similar sentiments occasionally from others, usually as a thinly veiled observation that K doesn't "look African" (as if all Africans look the same) but this was the first person to be so "open" about it.

Now she was older (like early 70s) and I will give a "pass" for some of the politically incorrect things people say cause they are a product of a "different time" but seriously folks- step out of 1930 and join us in 2010.