CNY celebrations

Gong Hey Fat Choi

 

Our 1st Chinese New Year was fabulous!

 

And we are so thankful for all of our family and friends who took time out of their own busy lives to come celebrate with us, and honor Audra and Charlotte's culture.

Saturday evening we had a houseful of love and laughter.

 

We feasted on:

dumplings

lo mein

sweet and sour chicken

General Tso chicken

fried rice

and oranges in many varieties

 

We drank tea and indulged in chocolate covered fortune cookies & Chinese donuts!

 

Delicious!!!

 

All the little girls wore Qi Pao's,

danced around with dragon wands,

and were gifted with red envelopes

(filled with chocolate money instead of paper money!)

 

 

 Even the little ones gave chopsticks a try,

but then they reverted to using their hands!

 

 Uncle Mike obviously did his research before arriving...

he came bearing a red envelope with $5 for Audra,

and she carried it around ALL night long!

 

Today we went to the CNY Gala put on by Charlotte's Chinese school.  She attends Chinese school every Sunday.  The entire show was spoken in Mandarin and the program was printed in Chinese.  And we were just about the only non-Chinese people in the entire auditorium.
It was two hours of insight into the culture shock it must have been for Charlotte and Audra when they joined our families. 

  Charlotte is right in the middle...

 Here she's the first child from the left...

CNY Eve and Day

Thursday was Chinese New Year Eve.

In trying to maintain the custom of having a big meal with family...

we went to a local Chinese Buffet with Uncle Tim, Aunt Dawn, Daniel and Charlotte.

 

 

The food was good, and Audra was in all her glory with aisles and aisles of buffet choices!

She loved that she could keep going back to get more...and more!

The girls at the Koi wishing pond:

A few poses once we got home...

 

This year we skipped out on the tradition of making dumplings on CNY Eve,

but it's on my list of things to accomplish next year!

Friday was CNY Day!

I dressed Audra in her qi pao for school.

(turns out her teacher is planning to celebrate CNY on Monday,

because friday she wanted to do Groundhog day)

 

I spent the day decorating the house with red lanterns.

I tried really hard not to clean, as that is bad luck on New Year's Day.

I put out the tea set I got in China and hung some of the scroll artwork we bought there also.

Audra and Maura got a surprise gift to share,

they waiting anxiously...

and were delighted to receive...



a special edition 2014 CNY My Little Pony!

 

To end the day,

Charlotte stopped by for a little surprise too...

Each girl got a new Qi Pao to wear at our CNY party this weekend!

Chinese New Year in a nutshell...

Chinese New Year is 1 week from today!

Last year at this time we were eagerly awaiting the final steps in our journey to Audra.

This year we are looking forward to celebrating Chinese New Year with her. 

Which means I have been busy researching exactly what it means and what the traditions/customs are.  Traditionally, Chinese New Year is celebrated for two weeks.  It begins on New Year's Eve (the last day of the last month of the lunar calendar) and ends on the full moon 15 days later with the Lantern Festival.

Chinese New Year is all about health, wealth and abundance...and it is even bigger and more splendid than Christmas is in the West. 

In the days/weeks prior to the New Year:
~people clean their homes because it is believed that it will help them get rid of bad luck and make room for good luck in the year ahead
~people pay off their outstanding debts
~people get their haircut to symbolize a new beginning to the New Year
~people hang red signs with the characters for good luck, happiness and fortune around their house...and to increase their good fortune the signs are hung upside down!

New Year's Eve:

The New Year's Eve meal is the most important dinner of the year with the entire family gathering together.  The traditional foods eaten have important meanings:

~dumplings = wealth
~long noodles symbolize long life
~oranges are a sign of completeness
~whole fish represents prosperity (It is often a feast for the eyes only, placed on the table as a reminder to the family to spend wisely in the upcoming year)

Fireworks are launched to celebrate the coming of the New Year as well as drive away evil.  The more fireworks and noise there is, the more luck there will be in the New Year.

New Year's Day:

new clothes:  from head to toe, all clothes and accessories worn on New Year's Day should be brand new...including lucky red underwear!   {I ordered a new Qi Pao for each of the girls, a traditional Chinese silk dress}

red envelopes:  children receive gifts of red envelopes filled with money in certain numbers that reflect good luck.  It is believed that the money in the red envelope will keep evil away from the children and keep them healthy

There should be no cleaning on New Year's Day...it is serious bad luck...you could sweep away all the good fortune!  {I'll have no problem following this custom!}

Bad luck may also be brought on by breaking dishes, scolding children, crying, sweeping the floor and washing hair.  {I'm going to try really hard not to do any of these}

Lantern Festival:

The last day of the Chinese New Year festival is considered by many to be the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day.  And this year, ironically, it falls on Valentine's Day.  Brightly decorated red lanterns are hung everywhere.  People play the Lantern Riddle game, trying to guess the answers to the mysterious riddles on the lanterns.  Children carry paper lanterns to light their way to a bright and happy future.

...I can't wait to see how our Chinese New Year celebrations turn out. 
We have a lot planned...stay tuned.

another 6 year old

We have two 6 year olds in our house now...

Today my sweet, not.so.little.anymore girl, Maura turned 6 years old!

How is it possible that my baby girl is six.years.old....6!!! 

 

Love you more than a million,

to the moon and back,

forever and ever,

and

EVER!

 

snow days

We have had more snow so far this winter season than I remember having in a very long time.

Which has meant quite a few snow days already this school year (including yesterday AND today!)...

which has made 3 kids in our house very happy,

and 1 kiddo not.so.happy.

 

I think Audra is beginning to accept that this snow stuff isn't going away anytime soon.

She doesn't say "no" quite so adamantly anymore

when we ask her if she wants to go out and play in it.

 

 Today, I even caught her with a hint of a smile a few times...

 

 

Give her another snow day or two,

and she'll be a snow bunny for sure.

 

Just like my almost.six.year.old snow angel...

Aided

Friday was an exciting day...

 

Audra finally got hearing aids!

 

She was a real trooper.  She wasn't too happy about them at first, but just like anything that's new...she needs some time to get used to them.  She is very good with them...she leaves them in her ears and doesn't play with them or take them out.  But just in case...her hearing therapist attached both hearing aids to a strap that clips to her shirt...because I am sure one (or both) would end up thrown out a car window, on the ground of one of the many stores we visit each day, in the mulch at the playground, etc., etc.

 

They tested her hearing without the aids at first,

then with the aids.

 

Without the aids she was in the severe loss range for her left ear,

and the moderate loss range for her right ear.

 

They programmed her aids to only amplify her hearing partially at first, to allow her to get used to hearing differently {and better!}.  When they tested her hearing with the hearing aids on it showed that they brought her hearing loss up to the lower end of the moderate loss range. 

Great progress!

 

She will go back in a few weeks and they will reprogram her hearing aids again to *hopefully* bring her hearing loss up to the mild range. 

Amazing technology.

 

We haven't noticed a huge difference yet,

although her cry does sound different.

I was wondering if she would be quieter with the aids on.

I thought maybe she would finally realize how loud she can be.

But no such luck.

She is as loud as ever,

and enjoying every minute of hearing her loud self!

We are hoping to hear her mimicking new sounds,

and even new words, soon. 

Very soon hopefully.

They gave her a teddy bear with hearing aids too! 

 

Last week Audra had an appointment with the ophthalmologist.  She needed a vision exam, since she hadn't had one yet, but also, I have been noticing her left eye turning in.  I was thinking maybe it was just the angle I was looking from, or the shape of her eyes that made it appear to be crossing.  Turns out she is very farsighted, with her left eye being worse.  So that eye has become weak (or "lazy" as some call it).  First she need glasses, and time to get used to wearing them, then we will begin patching her "better" eye to strengthen her "lazy left eye". 

 

I am still trying to figure out how we are going to fit hearing aids AND glasses on her petite little ears.

 

Once Audra can hear AND see better...

it will be a whole new world for her!

9 months

Audra has been with us for 9 months today. 

And to be completely honest, I am feeling quite discouraged.  I apologize in advance for the pity party that follows...but this is our reality. 

Nine months ago I was full of hope for all the things that Audra would accomplish once she was home.  I assumed she would be a "different child" by this time.  After nine months of medical care, education, therapy and the love of a family...I was sure she would have made so much progress.

But here we are...nine months later...
and she still wears the same size clothes,
she can still say only a handful of words.

The malnutrition and developmental delays that she had in China are no better. 

Sure, she has had some hiccups along the way these past nine months...
she has spent 6 weeks total in the hospital,
and had countless other visits, tests, procedures, etc,
AND we have learned that she has hearing loss,
something we weren't expecting...at all!

It took until November to finally have an IEP in place for her,
but then she was in the hospital for 3 weeks during November,
and then there was no therapy for a week due to Thanksgiving.
She did have 3 full weeks of therapy in December,
then no therapy for 2 weeks due to the holidays.
This week she is just getting back into her therapy routine. 
Hearing therapy 4 days a week,
Speech and OT each once a week.
But I worry that at this rate we will never have her "ready" for kindergarten in 8 very.short.months!

I worry that I am not being aggressive enough in getting her all the help she needs and deserves to grow, learn and be successful.  Kindergarten is no joke these days.  It's hard work and they expect the kids to come prepared with a lot of knowledge.  She will be seven years old when she starts kindergarten, and will be the smallest by far I am sure, with a very limited vocabulary. 

I am worried.  I want the best for her.  She is smart.  I know it. 

Because I need to remind myself that she has accomplished many, many new and amazing things during these past 9 months, here is a list...(even if they are not the lofty goals I had in mind for her...but then that's my problem...not hers!)

her first airplane ride...a 15 hour airplane ride!

 

becoming a daughter, and a sister

 

...and a cousin too!

 

going to school

 

taking dance lessons

 

turning 6 years old

 

trying out the swimming pool

 

and amusement park rides

 

learning to tolerate the snow

So many new and somewhat scary things she has experienced...and she has embraced them all, tried hard and learned to live in a way so different from what she was used to for the first 5 years of her life. 

And that is MORE than I can say for myself over these past 9 months. 

It's time for me to rethink my overambitious expectations...and to remember, enjoy and be proud of all of the things she has accomplished over the past 9 months!

Thanks for hearing me out...I think I just talked myself out of this pity party. 
Blogging is good therapy :)

This turned out to be a bit of a New Year's resolution post, not what I intended when I started...but appropriate I suppose.  I didn't even know that I already knew what my resolution this year needed to be.  I just needed to tell myself.

Here's to 2014...