Quick! I have to get this written down before I run out of energy and become a bad blogger like some people I know named Holly! (Hi Holly! Just kidding!)
I am a bad tooth fairy!
OK, I've said it and all the world can know.
Annabel hasn't lost a tooth, but Grace lost another.
First thing she did this morning was check for her visit from the tooth fairy, only to announce that as usual, she did not show up!
One time I actually just handed her the money at the end of the 5th day of her waiting for her visit. Other times I pretended like she missed it and I found it while straightening up her bed. I've even snuck it under her pillow while waking her up.
The chance I will remember tonight is slim!
Again, no chance of mother of the year for me this year!!!
I think I'll start from the most recent and work backward since so much has happened in the last 48 hours.
Tonight we finished a day of enjoying the Christmas holiday at a party of a co-worker and friend. I'm so glad we took the time to go. It was great to see friends/co-workers away from work, her beautiful family and house, and give the girls a chance to meet new friends.
The whole way home the conversation was on what her daughter did, her pet rats, what time she goes to bed, wondering what time she has to get up to get to school, etc. I really did not know you could be asked so many questions. Earlier in the day I had finally begged off from answering any more questions for a little while.
Earlier we had gone to Mansfield to help with the Christmas parade. We had so much fun walking the parade route and passing out little bears to all the kids. I don't think Annabel had ever seen a parade that was not a funeral, so it was difficult to explain the concept to her. Grace had seen parades so she had plenty of questions including how long was the route, where were we walking, how long would it last? Annabel was just shocked that we would have to walk the whole route!
But both survived and ran ahead of the rest searching out the kids who had not received their bears yet, coming back, filling up their bags, and going back to the crowd. The parade had horses, clowns, floats, babies in strollers, dogs, marching bands, everything you would expect from a small town parade. The organizer from work let us sit at the beginning of the route so we could watch the beginning of the parade, since we were at the end of the parade right before Santa!
The girls were thrilled with all the candy and goodies they collected. Unfortunately one ended up with 15 candy canes and the other got 16. Yes, we compete on EVERYTHING!!!
Last night we started the weekend off right meeting some of the other families with kids from China for dinner and the Jingle Bell party in the Bishop Arts area. This area has turned around so quickly. When I first moved back to Dallas this area was just getting started. It's an area that had been home to warehouses, auto parts stores, and a long time ago was a bowling alley where Mom learned to bowl while pregnant with one of us!
But now it is full of restaurants and shops, and last night had music and entertainment, and free samples of goodies. The new book store was a hit with the kids. I was glad that Grace and Annabel had some new friends with them while running into old friends.
I am so glad these friends will make the effort to meet us in our neighborhood and let the girls be around others in similar situations. While we are an ethnically diverse neighborhood, we are short on the number of adoptees from China.
A lot of people ask how Annabel is doing.
Well in most situations with a lot of new people and a lot of noise, she is very quiet. She actually withdraws and seems overwhelmed? I'm not sure if it is the lack of comprehension or her hearing is still distorted. We go back in January for the hearing test. Until she gets to be outside playing, she just doesn't seem to know how to fit in. But outside she gets all the other kids to playing the games with her.
She has learned lots of new foods, but can still have trouble finding what she wants sometimes. Chocolate and candy canes are new favorites and sometimes she just can't seem to have enough! It makes me feel guilty to have introduced her to these since fruit is slipping down her list of favorites.
At home she is the prankster, joking and laughing and carrying on. She has learned so much English and the conversation is always lively. She loves playing with the dogs and carries one around most of the time. She would take care of anything Grace needs and will always defer to what Grace wants.
Christmas is coming fast and Annabel is learning the "American" way pretty quickly. At first she was sure that some candy, a barbie, and a Nintendo game were all she wanted. Now the list has grown to a Wii system, Wii games, Barbie computer, Nintendo games, cell phone, camera, and the list goes on and on.
So while she is learning to be an all American girl, Thursday night she made a HUGE step.
We say the usual "now I lay me down to sleep" each night but Thursday night before we could say Amen, she wanted to add that an addendum asking for a good night's sleep and for her teacher, Mr. Soto, to return the next day. I LOVED it!!!
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