Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year!!!  We celebrated tonight by ordering Chinese food from our favorite local Chinese restaurant and decorating the house with lanterns.  We also used our special china that we lugged home all the way from Jiangxi and also chopsticks for fun.  Although Mary Claire and Mei struggle using them, the rest of us aren't half bad and it's fun for a change.  Being in China for a couple of  weeks will help your skills immensely. Mei used to be great with them but it didn't take her long to prefer a fork or spoon.  It was so fun to watch Annie eat rice with them--either she used them some before or she's a quick learner.  And, just the fact that she took a couple of bites of rice was a huge step. She has just started eating somewhat normally the last few days. Up until now, she has been on Pediasure mixed with milk and a little carrot juice, yogurt, an occasional banana or apple, and cereal.  Wooooh-getting her to eat has been the hardest and most worrisome part of our daily routine.  One food that is still her very favorite is French fries-it's a special treat for her and her Baba.

Annie is doing so well.  We are all so in love with her!  She is such a sweet, fun, and amazing little girl. She is talking so much and her English is unbelievable. She has better manners than many in our house and always says "thank you" which sounds more like "Q Q" and "pweez".  She and Mei are having so much fun playing together and are getting along really well for the most part.   We laugh at how opposite these 2 are. Annie is so fragile and cautious and Mei is tough and fearless.  I had my first person ask if the little girls were sisters and it caught me off guard. I knew what they were asking--if they were biological sisters since they are both Chinese.  But every time someone asks I don't want to explain,  so my response will just be "of course", because they are now.......

Press on!

Deb