I have begun my new blog at http://lakeshoreladies.blogspot.com

Yesterday was Eleanor Zitao's first day of kindergarten. She spent the morning with me at the university while I taught my undergrads and tutored in the lab, and I accompanied her to kindergarten in the afternoon. I have to say that I rather preferred the kindergarten section of the day.

We had debated putting her straight into first grade (since she was a first grader in China), but at this time of the year, I felt it was just too much to ask. I walked around the school with Eleanor on Monday, to give her a feel for the place, and the first graders were busily reading aloud in English. And they really did seem huge in comparison to little Zitao (who isn't much bigger than Gennie). There was no way she could feel comfortable in there right away. Her math skills are excellent, though, so I don't worry at all about that aspect of her education. I'm hoping to give her some extra practice with the math, so she doesn't lose that in the easier class. And if she catches up quickly, or even surpasses her peers, it's much nicer to push her forward a grade rather than holding her back.

Ms. Omer, the kindergarten teacher, is the kind of kindergarten teacher everybody would love to have. She's gentle, firm, and controls the children well without having to use harsh words. She's the right kind of teacher for little George, who wore his batman cape to kindergarten yesterday, and was having a hard time keeping his hand down because he had a lot to say about everything. (When he couldn't monopolize speaking time, he decided that poking his neighbor might be a good idea. Poor George got sent to the blue table - horrors.)

Eleanor was quiet and serious, as she usually is when she's in a new place or situation. She breezed through the "color this many jellybeans" exercise - this kid is well beyond coloring jellybeans - and proceeded to color an entire picture red, while the other kids drew pictures of lollipop trees and rainbows. The way her hands were moving as she colored, I could tell she was nervous. And coloring an entire picture red would take a long time, during which nobody would bother her - a good thing at that point. Anyway, none of the other kids could write their names in Chinese characters... she was one up on them there! (We have some great pictures of Eleanor's here at home - I apparently have a triangle shaped body, and a really big red heart or a really big red belly button - it's hard to tell which. And crazy hair, which I already knew about, of course).

They went to an assembly, and recess, and watched movies about hatching chicks (they are incubating some eggs these last weeks in kindergarten). I got to visit with the ESL teacher, who will be pulling Eleanor out for English practice at 2:00 every afternoon. The ESL teacher adopted a 13 year old from Russia some time ago, so she's well versed in older child adoption, and in English language acquisition. She told us to expect a number of years for true fluency, which I'm not terribly worried about. Zitao is getting along fine, even after two weeks. And Eleanor LIKES recess (what kid doesn't). She finally started to smile out there. And she smiled even more when Sarah came to claim her little sister at the end of class. They get to ride the bus home together - big, independent kids that they are. (I had to beat the school bus home, so I could be there to greet them on the other end. Eleanor was looking behind her in puzzlement when she saw me at the bus stop - how did Mommy DO that? She was just at school, and didn't get on the bus with us... hmm... magic.)

"Magic" about sums it up - everything still feels surreal. Of course, that could be the fatigue talking, too...

This past week has been full of all kinds of doctor visits. Monday morning, we went to the pediatrician, who ran blood tests, gave her shots, and took urine and fecal samples to check on her kidneys and whether she was carrying any unwanted parasites. While the needle pricks weren't the most reassuring way to start a doctor/child relationship, at least her tests all came back as normal. She did have a trace of blood in her urine, which may just mean she's fighting off a virus of some sort (we were told to expect that whenever she has a cold, etc.) Anyway, her kidney function came out fine, and her blood pressure was also good, which was reassuring. We were given the contact information for the kidney center at Children's Hospital, just in case we need anything in the future from them for Eleanor's glomerulonephritis.

We also had an opthalmologist appointment on Friday, to follow up on Zitao's failed vision screening in China. Fortunately, they are able to determine prescription strength without any behavioral participation during testing (very nice), and that was helpful, since Zitao was very quiet and visibly nervous about seeing any more doctors after that first visit!

Eleanor Zitao is seeing a whole new world in all kinds of ways - here she is in her brand new glasses:





I admit that I resorted to bribery to get her to pick out some frames. She was fine for the opthalmologist testing, and even having dilating drops put in her eyes. But she was NOT going to cooperate with putting on glasses frames. So we took a walk, bought some chocolate, and went back. I scolded her gently in Mandarin (which got a couple of interesting looks from passers-by), and told her she'd have her chocolate once she tried some glasses, which she DID need (I could see the "Yeah, according to YOU!" look in her eyes as I said that). Amazing what a little chocolate will do for one's disposition. She picked out a cute pair of blue frames, and I think they look good on her face. (They were also the one and only pair she would put on, so it's fortunate that they DID work!) When we went back to have them fit, she smiled as she put them on, and I saw the "aha" moment right away. So that's why mom's been torturing me all day.... so I can SEE!

Eleanor has been settling in well to our home routine. She has, of course, had her moments of testing us, to see what happens when she refuses to eat her rice and roasted porkchops (but chows down on the broccoli, go figure), and what happens when she pouts and says "no" to mommy's request to do something, etc. And what she has found out is that her parents won't let her eat whatever she wants all day (she'd eat nothing but fruit roll ups and tortilla chips if she had her way - typical kid), and that her mom will pick her up and move her to where mom wants her to be, whether or not she's whining about it. Darn - and here she was hoping it'd be Disneyland. Oh well.

On the other hand, we've seen her obvious pleasure in simple things, and that has been a joy to watch. She loves our cats. She loves that there's an entire pantry full of things to eat, and she loves being held as she explores the various brightly labeled cans and boxes. Zitao has been to the park across the street several times, and thinks that's pretty neato-keen, too. And she likes that she has the top bunk now (Sarah and Gennie switched rooms - Sarah decided she needed some space, and I don't blame her - Eleanor is pretty high maintenance as a roommate, so Eleanor is sharing with Gennie, now). I've enjoyed watching her play with baby dolls, as she walks them in a little pram, holds them close as she "feeds" them play bottles, and dresses them in layers and layers of clothes (like the babies at the Chinese orphanages). She's been so enamored with dolls, which is fun, since neither Sarah nor Gennie care much for dolls (Sarah is much more of a stuffed bear sort of person - and Gennie likes stuffed blue rabbits and friendly dinosaur friends). And as Grandma Jean and Grandma Joanne both know now, Eleanor really likes to talk on the phone. "Ni hao, ni hao! Hello! How are you?" (This is usually followed with an enthusiastic recital of the alphabet). "Wo ai ni, I love you! Bye bye!"

Eleanor is very excited to start school; she asks me every day how many more days it will be until she starts "xiao xue" (elementary school). I hope it will meet her expectations - and I hope she's not expecting something that won't happen (like a majority of Chinese kids, or lots of Mandarin-speaking folks). At least school will be somewhat familiar format-wise, since Eleanor did attend 1st grade in China. And thank goodness for the Chinese schools in Boulder - where there WILL be lots of Chinese kids and Mandarin-speaking folks.

I am not finding very much time for anything lately (surprise, surprise), let alone blogging, but I am soon to close this blog chapter, and will move my journal to a new space online. I want to focus on all of my girls (not just my Chinese babe), and upload some pictures of Gennie's birthday, and the girls with their Easter egg stashes, and talk about Sarah's writing, and Genevieve's queenly decrees, and everything that I adore about all of my children. I like journaling every so often, and want to create a better venue for an ongoing blog. So - very soon - my journal will be found at http://www.lakeshoreladies.com

I'll post here when it's live, and will have a link from lakeshoreladies.com to this journal, as well. :)

Sarah and Eleanor were painting in their nightgowns before bed tonight; I liked this picture of Eleanor Zitao. :)

"HEY, MA?" is something all of our neighbors are probably very familiar with, now. Eleanor picked it up from Genevieve (who else), and Eleanor has been using this particular method of getting my attention all day, and is a new honorary member of the Very Loud Club. Although Sarah was getting tired of it by the end of the day ("Here she goes with the "Hey Mas" again, Mom..."), I was really enjoying it. Zitao has been busily exploring her world, and she's been calling me to show me everything (hence the frequent use of "Hey, Ma?"), and it's been so fun to experience all of these firsts with a 6-year-old who really appreciates things!

One thing I can tell you she appreciates a LOT is food. She's been eating practically all day every day since she's been home, and I've been letting her have free rein. Of course, Sarah and Gennie have been following suit to some degree, but I figure they're all growing girls, and there are some unusual circumstances this week. Eleanor is eating all kinds of things, and since she weighed less than Genevieve a week ago in Guangzhou, she needs it. She's been drinking quite a bit of soy milk, too, which she seems to prefer to the regular skim we usually have around. She likes to play at feeding Dave and me, and enjoys being able to give and receive food treats in this way, with lots of exaggerated politeness, "Xie xie, Mama." (Thank you, Mama.) "Oh, no - xie xie Zitao!" (Giggles...)

Usually, once I respond to her "Hey, Ma?" she asks me to pick her up (well, she doesn't really ask - she stretches her arms up and smiles). She is definitely going to get me into shape this way! Then she points in the direction she wishes to go (usually towards the pantry), and she laughs as her gullible mommy bounces her on a hip and takes her wherever she wants to go. Her birthday is coming up next month - shall we get the empress a sedan chair, perhaps?

All three girls have been spending a lot of time outside, which has been good for their bodies and spirits. Eleanor thinks the play equipment in our back yard and at the park across the street is pretty neato-keen. Her joy is so evident during these times, that it makes everyone else around her happy, too.

It has been an emotional roller coaster, though. A couple of evenings ago, she had a very rough night, and she wailed and cried out loud for the first time since she's been with us (until now, she's had silent tears). I held her, and then her Baba, and she finally went to sleep. It was so hard to see her grieving, and I know it's probably not the last time, but I'm glad she is letting out her feelings. During the day, she's been a sunshiney little girl.

We've been inventing our own communication system to some degree, since my Mandarin isn't fluent, and her English is, of course, just emerging. So we have kind of a pidgin Mandarin/sign language/facial expression/English-learning thing going on. She parrots us a lot, and I don't think it will be long until she's a fluent English speaker. (I want to get her enrolled in the local Mandarin Chinese school soon, too, so she doesn't lose her Mandarin). Her Baba has been impressed by her already knowing the alphabet in English (we believe this is a recently acquired skill, as she was asking me about letter names only a few days ago, and today she was drawing them on the patio with chalk and naming them in English), and her ability to do math well beyond what most first graders can do. We feel lucky that she's learning so quickly.

Sarah and Genevieve have been adjusting to their new sister well, too. Genevieve has been having the harder time; I think she probably feels that her space has been invaded a bit - Eleanor is a very similar size despite being three years older, and has needed additional "babying." But I think Gennie is realizing that she is very loved, and is still my baby girl. And as Eleanor comes out of her shell, Gennie is finding a fun playmate, too!

And of course, I love the "Wo ai ni, Mama" (I love you, Mama) that Eleanor has been freely expressing lately. That and hugs and kisses have been coming unsolicited, and with sweet smiles. Between that and snuggles from my two other darling girls, what more can I ask for? Life is good.