First days

This is Ginny.

In the last 3 days Mia has gone to her first day of Sunday School at church and her first two days of Kindergarten.  Amazing!!!

Before getting Mia I had no idea how we would transition her to school.  Should we start her right away (this was what the school wanted), at least wait until the new year (this was my thought), or wait for the new school year so she would at least know some English.  Our social worker suggested we might even need to wait a year or two.  Come to find out there is really no right answer to this...everybody does it differently. 

Last week Ryan and Ashlyn had school on Monday and Tuesday.  On Monday as they were getting ready for school I noticed Mia was getting ready too.... uh oh.  How do I explain this to her???  We had tried using Google translator during our time in China and she paid no attention to it so I had no way to tell her what was happening.  She even put her shoes on and found her backpack.  She smiled big and thought she was going too.  She even tried to stuff Ryan's lunch into her backpack.  I had no idea what to do or how to explain to her what was going on.

As they ran out the door for the bus, Mia stood looking out the window with the saddest face.  After a few moments I remembered her love for baths and announced bath time for her and Austin.  Of course, I had to show her for her to understand but that definitely did the trick and her frown turned into a smile.  Later she got to go shopping with Nana to get new sneakers and new boots (we held off from buying new shoes in China) and so the day turned into a stellar one for Mia.  She loved shopping!  She loved getting new shoes!  And she loved getting new boots!   

Based on her reaction on Monday, I decided to let her "visit" her school on Tuesday.  Adam and I both brought her in and she met many adults.  It was a bit overwhelming for her (and for me) but also very sweet and touching that so many of the adults in the building were excited to meet her.  It was decided that she should start school on the following Monday (after the Thanksgiving holiday).  Mia seemed confused as to why she couldn't stay longer that day. 

I was glad when Wednesday came and everyone would be home.  Adam's parents have been with Ryan and Austin since before we left for China and continued to stay with us to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Danielle (Adam's youngest sister came) as well as my sister Leandra.  It was a full house and Mia loved it.  Basically, she went from family member to family member begging for whatever electronic they would let her use.  Laptop computer, ipad, iphone, DSI, Leappad...yep, just one to another.  Can you think of a better way to bond?

At one point Leandra started using the google translater with Mia.  I tried to let Leandra know it wouldn't work and not to waste her time but before I had a chance she was already using it and Mia was responding to it.  Maybe it is working now because it is the only Chinese she is hearing so her ears are more attuned to it?  But whatever the reason it has made things so much easier.

We are communicating with her in a couple of ways.  She has already learned lots of English words (she knew no English when we got her).  She understands- eat, all done, bye bye, hello, brush teeth, time for bed, potty, just a minute, go get a hairbrush (lots of simple things).  And words that she says a lot in Chinese that we have learned- all done, mine!, pee pee, look at me!  We usually have hand signals that we use too....running our finger back and forth along our teeth to demonstrate brush teeth, rubbing our belly to demonstrate being full, etc..  She has learned to do this as well to help us understand her. 

For the most part I think we are understanding her basic needs (hungry, tired, thirsty, bathroom, want to watch Ni Hao Kai Lan (you know the important stuff) but there is still so much she says that we don't know and all we can do is nod and tell her yeah.  That works some times and other times she just keeps repeating the same thing over and over with obvious frustration.  Fortunately, those moments are fairly few and far between but whenever they occur I wonder how much longer till she learns English and then I start thinking about that and trying to tune out the fact that I can't answer her correctly.  And to be perfectly honest, those moments have been by far the hardest part for me and I am sure for Mia too. 

But ahhh, the google translator has become our life saver!!!!  It has saved us from several melt downs I am sure!  Being able to speak into it and tell her what is going on or telling her that yes, she can do X but first we need to do Y has been invaluable.  We have tried to also have her speak into it but maybe because she speaks Mandarin with a Guizhou accent or because she isn't speaking slowly or clearly enough that just isn't working. 

We decided to go to church yesterday.  I had no idea what to do with her.  Would she go to a class or sit with us in the big service.  Should I stay with her in her class or have Ashlyn go with her or have her go to Ashlyn's class or maybe have Ryan go with her.... so many possibilities and again I didn't know the right answer.  So before we left I got out the google translator.  I first told her, "we are going to church today."  Then, "Ryan will go to his class," "Ashlyn will go to her class," Austin will go to his class."  Before I could go any further, Mia said, "Jin Guo Guo wada ........." and I recognized her name and the word "mine" and knew she was asking what about her and her class.  So, I then told her, "Mia will go to her class" and she got the biggest grin on her face. 

We got to church and dropped Austin off first.  As we were rounding the hallway for Mia's classroom we saw all these cute faces peering out of the door of her classroom just waiting for her.  I wish I had a camera ready because it was the cutest thing.  Mia was basically beside herself to go and waved and smiled at us when we said goodbye.  When we came to pick her up the teacher had a big smile and said she did great!  We honestly had no idea how she would do and were so relieved and also felt better about sending her to school the next day.

We got in the car and then out of nowhere (well I am sure somewhere but we couldn't understand) she completely melted down.  I have no idea why but she cried (similar to how she cried that one day in China) and then after a few minutes settled down and was absolutely fine again.

On Monday she was so excited to go to school.  She got herself dressed and ready in no time.  Ryan and Ashlyn left first on the bus and then Adam and I drove her to school.  We walked her to her classroom.  Her teacher showed her where her backpack and coat go and where her seat was.  Mia was ready and we said goodbye.  When I picked her up her teacher told me she did great and will adjust very well!  yeah!!! 

We got in the car and she was definitely trying to tell me something and I definitely did not understand.  We got home and she melted down (again not sure why??).  Fortunately, after a few minutes she composed herself and was fine. 

We had a great afternoon while Austin napped.  We watched the Letter Factory video while eating Ramen Noodles, colored, did a puzzle, played starfall on the computer, read a couple of books and just hung out together.  After spending close to 2 hours with her and Austin was still sleeping I thought I would slip away to clean bathrooms.  Mia followed me to the bathroom and insisted on helping...ummmm really I thought, she will be bored after the first bathroom (there are 3 to clean).  Nope, she got more into it with each one and seemed to enjoy herself more cleaning toilets than during any of the other activities we did earlier.  I am still not sure what to make of that.   

And today she went to her second day of kindergarten.  I was a little bit nervous that the meltdown the day before might hinder her wanting to go today and wondered if she would still be as excited on the second day.  I shouldn't have worried because she dropped off great again.  When I picked her up the teacher again said she did great, did everything she was suppose to, and will adjust really well. 

And the best part was there was no meltdown afterwards!  I know things are overwhelming and I can't wrap my mind around it but she is determined to move forward and to enjoy herself despite all the obstacles trying to hold her back.  Can I just say she amazes me!

Tonight she watched the tail end of Ryan and Ashlyn's Tae Kwon Do class.  She LOVED it and was trying to mimic the kids in the class.  I have a feeling she will be asking to start that soon too.

Some have asked how she is making out with one hand.  We like to call it a big arm and a little arm.  And she uses both to do everything she needs to do.  There are a couple of things she has trouble with (starting the zipper on her coat, taking caps of markers, buckling her seatbelt and honestly those are the ONLY things I can think of) but I am realizing they are things she probably didn't have to do in China and so they are new to her.  Most things she can do by herself.  One thing she can do by herself is peel an orange...have you ever tried to peel an orange with one hand?  Mia makes it look easy.  If she wants to do it she will find a way. 

 

Getting ready for her first day of school.

Hurry up mom!