Snow = Snow

As my little Orchid looks out the window excitedly watching the very wet snow fall down to the ground she screeches with delight about all the things she will do with the snow.  I try and explain that the ground is too wet and too warm and there won't really be any snow to accumulate.  She turns to me and explains "Mom, when it's snowing it turns into SNOW!"

English Class

When we first took LanLan to her Kindergarten class she asked if her teacher was going to speak English or Chinese and when we told her that it would be in English she responded with "But I need to keep learning Chinese.".  I could hear my husband's heart breaking, it is his dream for her to speak fluent Chinese . . . and she will soon forget it all.

I'm pretty sure though, she is enjoying being in English school and surrounded all the time by English. A day or two ago LanLan pulled a comic book out of a cereal box.  So excited about it she ran up to her grandmother and said "Look, it's in English!!"

(We would get her comic books in China, in Chinese of course, but I don't think she knew they existed in English.)

Milestones in Pictures

 my Little Orchid has reached several mile stones in the past month 

 

first day of English Kindergarten

 harvest fest

 

making new friends

 

growing up to beautiful

 

losing her first tooth!!

School Days

While in China LanLan has been attending school for the past 2 years and had almost completed Kindergarten. But being that it was all in Chinese and for New York law she is too young for 1st grade, we have decided to send her to Kindergarten this year. She is doing well but I feel that it is a little easy for her and she might be a bit bored. I asked her one day: "Is Kindergarten hard or easy?"

"It's easy . . . . and hard."

"Oh really, what's hard about it?" I asked.

"Raising my hand."

Tears

Recently we have left our home of the past 4 years, the only home that my daughter has known. The move has been good but very hard. We find ourselves filled with sadness at just random times. It could be anything that sparks a memory and we are feeling sad about our far away home and friends. LanLan has done amazing through the whole transition and I am so proud of her! She is adjusting to English school and making friends quickly. Occasionally though we will find her sitting, crying. We would ask her what's wrong and she would reply that she was missing her friends in China, or her house in China or her room.

One day she was playing and came upstairs to find me. Her face was red and wet from crying and I asked her what was wrong, she said "I miss my friends!". I hugged her and said that I miss my friends as well. As I was hugging her I felt that her dress was soaking wet! I asked her: "Why is your dress so wet?"

LanLan replied: "It's from the wetness from my eyes!"