Why, mommy?

This morning was the first day of the kids Christmas break. Amazingly, the kids were sleeping in. Of course, I woke up early. Instead of grumbling about not being able to sleep in, I decided to take advantage of the time. I got up, turned the coffee on and went to the living room to have my quiet time. After my first cup of coffee and a sweet time with the Lord, I heard the pitter patter of footsteps in the hallway. A few minutes later a pajama clad boy was creeping around the corner. I invited him to join me on the couch under the blanket.

My computer was on the coffee table in front of us, and Daniel asked to look at the pictures. This is a favorite pastime of ours. We flip through the photos and talk about the people, places or things in them. While we were in China we found this was a great way to introduce Daniel to his new world in America. Today I chose the pictures of our trip to China to adopt Daniel. I’m not sure what compelled me to choose those. He was excited at first as we looked at sightseeing pictures, then pictures of us playing in our hotel. He asked some questions concerning where we were “tung guo” (China) or “mei guo” (America).

Soon, we came to the photos of our trip to Daniel’s orphanage. The first pictures were of the baby rooms. Daniel told me about the babies, that they slept in the cribs and that he slept there when he was a baby. He pointed out the kitchen where the nannies made the milk bottles for the babies. He pointed out which bed he slept in. When we saw the pictures of the play rooms I asked him “did you play there”. He said “no, door locked”. When we saw the picture of the school room I asked him about it. He said “me, no school”. We spent about a half an hour talking all about his life in the orphanage.

Daniel's final question broke my heart. He said “mommy, why Cosette home baby, no me. Me home big boy.” He was asking why we adopted Cosette when she was a baby, but adopted him when he was a big boy. I answered with the same reply I gave him the other 10 or so times we’ve had this conversation. “Baby, I’m so sorry. That makes me feel sad too. We came and got you as soon as we knew about you. I’m so sorry baby; I wish you could have come home sooner.” Then we hugged and cried together.

He has profound sadness deep in his little heart. After a few minutes I prayed for him, that God would heal “the owies in his heart”. Then I kissed him and said “wo ai ni” (I love you). He snuggled next to me for another 10-15 minutes. It was a sad but profoundly important moment for us.

What's in a word?

Today at lunch John and I decided to make a list of all the words Daniel knows. These are not the words he understands, there are far more of those. These are words he uses personally and correctly in context. I’ll write them in phrases, so you know the types of things he is communicating:

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• Little bit (usually referring to how many vegetables he would like on his plate)
• See you tomorrow (to his teacher at the end of the day)
• More please (usually referring to the main entrée or meat dish)
• Please stop (to his sister)
• Go faster (about moms driving)
• Airplane (we live within 10 minutes of DFW airport so this is a VERY commonly used word for Daniel)
• Church
• School
• Computer (but it sounds more like ‘cuuuuuum puter’, very cute)
• Broken (referring to the ‘cuuuuum puter’ that dad is building from spare parts for the kids)
• Mommy
• Daddy
• Cosette
• Onyx (baby cat)
• Molly (2 yr old cat)
• Grandma
• Opa
• Isabelle (Sounds like ‘it’s a ball’ our 7 year old neighbor)
• Please TV (usually with a begging whinny tone)
• Teacher
• Mrs. Carroll (his teacher’s name)
• Good job (he is quick to affirm, love this about him)
• Outside (he always wants to be outside, except when Cosette is inside)
• Inside
• Cat
• All done? (Usually asking if Cosette is finished with her home work yet)
• No thank you
• Excuse me
• Toilet
• Bathroom
• Why?
• Hungry
• Eat
• Look
• I don’t know (anytime he doesn’t understand. Sounds more like “I du no”
• Play (usually asking Cosette to do so)
• Bingo
• Wash hands (after toilet)
• Brush teeth
• Shoe
• Socks
• My (me, mine, etc. with usage similar to a 2 year old)
• My turn
• Fork
• Numbers 1-20 (higher sometimes, but not consistently, for some reason he skips the 6 in each set over 20. For example he says 23, 24, 25, 27, 28…)
• Car
• Truck
• Daniel (He often speaks in third person, but it’s cute)
• Pick up (his room)
• Room
• Help
• Go? (Usually about getting to go in the truck with Dad somewhere)
• House
• Careful
• Gentle

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones we witnessed today between lunch and bed time. During dinner Daniel was trying to tell us something. He said it several times, with increasing frustration. Finally Cosette figured it out. He was saying "Me speak English". Yes dear, you are an amazing child and you are speaking English.

Christmas Blessings,

Tonya

Three months...

On Monday, Dec. 1 we celebrated three months with Daniel! The time has been more difficult and more fun than I ever imagined. Just for fun, here are a few things I’ve learned in the past three months:

1. You do not need a common language in order to communicate.
2. Three weeks is too long to live out of hotels in a foreign country if you have two young children.
3. You don’t have to have to be blood related in order to fight with your sibling.
4. For emersion to be successful it requires actual participation in the classroom.
5. Blogs are fun to write!
6. Silly is silly in any language.
7. My boy requires a lot more energy than my girl ever did.
8. Kittens are cute, but they grow into cats very quickly.
9. Sharing is hard at any age.
10. Mommy not working is good for everyone in the family, except Mr. Budget.
11. Snuggling is fun in any language.
12. Both of the boys in our family wish momma would drive faster.
13. Chocolate is a necessary stress reliever.
14. Love is communicated through actions not words.
    

There are a million other things, but that’s enough for today.

This morning I woke up, walked into the living room and found Cosette and Daniel sitting on the couch under a blanket together. Cosette had a pile of books by her side and was reading to her brother (picture above). It made my heart happy.

Merry Christmas friends,

Tonya (for J, C & D)