Dec 23, 2009

Our highlights of the year

2009 has almost passed, when I looked back, I am really grateful for what a wonderful year we were given:

• My side of the family had the first-time-in-fifteen-years family reunion. Nine people from three continents reunited in our house.  And pretty soon the tenth member will be joining us-my brother’s family is expecting their second baby next year.
•  Alex finally started talking at school on June 16^th, a major breakthrough.
• A big surprise party was planned for me on my birthday. My family and friends worked around the clock and plotted this party seamlessly. I was totally caught off guard when I found myself surrounded by all the familiar happy faces.
• We revisited San Diego. We had a great time reconnecting with our old friends, enjoying the nice weather, and the delicious food.
• Angie started going to day care, a major first step toward her independence.
• I started this blog. Thanks to xmh, the then 高考状元, now my pro bono assistant.
• Xinghui hit an eagle. I guess it’s a good score for golfing. This is the answer I was given when I asked Xinghui his highlight of the year:)

Dec 15th, 2009

Alex has always had the ability to surprise us, but still when we got his first school report card, we were astounded. We saw a page covered with “D”s in the academic session. “D” means development, it has the same meaning with “F” just does not look that despair to be presented.

In the report, it shows that Alex got a “D” for not be able to count from 1-30, got other “D”s for failing to identify letter A to Z and basic shapes. Teacher made a note on the bottom of the report that the reason she has to give him this score is due to the fact he didn’t answer all the above questions during the test. He chose to remain silent instead, what a humble boy!

This report was followed by daily email exchanges between me and his teacher. With Alex’s extensive school experience, I had the honor to get to know variety kinds of teachers and styles, and I have to say his current teacher, Mrs. Atkinson, is definitely the best. She gives Alex big credit for his improvement in classroom behavior, and she respectfully gives Alex space and alternatives to deal with his shyness. Alex has not spoken a word in public in his classroom, he can only carry on conversations in a small, private settings.  

Six month ago, on Jun 16^th, was the day that Alex opened his mouth and for the first time spoke to his Goddard school teacher. He has made big progress since then, he made friends at school, he can talk to his teachers and express himself clearly, so at this point I am not very concerned about his shyness, we’ll work with him and  eventually he will get over it and let the teachers know his “true color”.

The other day I shared with Alex the photos of a village elementary school in 四川黑水. The shabby building and the kids in worn out clothes really stroke him. I tried to explain that not all the kids live the way he lives. Alex doesn’t understand what “poor” means, and he asked if those kids can watch DVDs in the car when I mentioned it usually took the kids more than one hour to come to school.

“Alex, we might have to send you to this school if you fail your report next time.”  I saw a serious look on his innocent face.

I wish we could do more for  those kids living  in poverty. Compared with the life they are facing, Alex’s issues are so small.

11-03-2009

Yesterday while I was struggling with my flu at work, I got a phone call from Findley, Alex was not feeling well, and needed to be picked up immediately.

I dialed my lifeline, Li’s number. Phone only ringed once before I heard her sweet voice, it’s so amazing that whenever I need help, she is always right there for me.

Alex had a hard time coping with the flu in the afternoon; grandma tried everything she could think of to lure him into drinking water. Finally a dose of Tylenol did the trick.

In the middle of the night, his cough became worse and the fever was back, after feeding him another dose of Tylenol, I decided to sleep with him since we are already immune to each other.

Between our stuffy noses, constant coughs, we had a very deep conversation:

Clock showed the time was 12:10 am, Alex was so curious why it’s still dark when we are at am? Then he told me that he can’t work on his Chinese Homework today, because if he does so, “My homework will become contagious, and teacher Zhu will get my cold.”

We cuddled together. I asked him if he likes to sleep by himself or with mommy, he said he likes to sleep with mommy. We both treasured this moment. Ever since he was 3 months old, he hasn’t spent so many nights sleeping with us unless he is not feeling well.

“Alex, in the whole universe, who is your favorite person?” I asked him while I was holding his little hand.

“Emma.” He replied with a sweet smile.

I think he really mean it. Later after he fell asleep, I heard him saying in his dream, “Emma, get in the elevator!”

10-30-2009

Yesterday I met with Mrs. Atkinson at Findley teacher’s conference.

Mrs. Atkinson, Alex’s kindergarten teacher, is an extremely experienced, patient and kind lady whom Alex claims is his favorite teacher. She praised Alex for his significant classroom behavior improvement since we came back from California. He can read while other kids are reading, listening to stories during circle time without wondering around. The bar is being set pretty low to accommodate Alex, I guess

Then I was showed the Journal book Alex has been writing at school, I saw lines of highways with speed limit clearly marked on the side. Maybe recording maps can be his future career?

Mrs. Atkinson reported that Alex is very shy at class, only speak in small groups and one on one with her, being a shy person myself, I can totally relate to how he feels. Alex hasn’t showed his math skills to her yet, since he doesn’t feel comfortable answering questions directly. We need to work on boosting his self esteem at home.

 

Oct 21, 2009

Our San Diego Trip

 

10-14-09.

At 5:00 am, when I went to Alex’s room to wake him up, he greeted me with a big smile, which we never got when we have to drag him out of bed on regular school days. Yes, Alex knows the date, today is the day we are going to California.

Uncle Eric arrived at 5:30 sharp to drive us to the airport. Alex and Angie were excited to find our car was the only one driving on the street. After we got on the plane, they both were happy to see the TV screen in front of their seats, the number guy Alex counted we need 130 minutes to fly to California, and he was very curious about what the flying speed is for our plane.

130 minutes later, we arrived at California, the sunshine state we had lived for 10 years. Xinghui drove us back to the house we used to live, when we entered the community, everything looked so familiar, the trees we planted, the curtains Xinghui installed, it just felt like we had never left.

After we visited the house, it took us 10 minutes to drive to Torrey Pine Beach.  The view was breathtaking, the blue sky, palm trees, white sand beach. We couldn’t find us a good reason why we didn’t come to the beach more often when we were living there.

At night we arrived at Tong’s house, it was so heartwarming to revisit old friends. Zehui and Qinglin  look so fit and pretty. While we were chatting about how fast time flies, and what a good mannered boy Alex turned out, Alex silently poured a full box of fish food into the fish tank! Every one jumped out and rushed to empty the fish tank, no more Alex praising afterwards.

 

10-15-2009

Today we took kids to Lego land.

Alex enjoyed every single ride there. Angie was a bit nervous and didn’t want to try most of the  rides.

We went to our former neighbor Shu’s house for dinner. She looks as glory and pleasant as 4 years ago. Joyce is at last year of college, Kevin, the straight A student, has 4 more years to go before entering college.

As of today only 4 fishes survived out of 7.

 

10-16-2009

Today is Sea World day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At night Zehui and Tong took me to get foot massage. The room has three tables, the three of us lying down, under the dim light, with the soothing massage, we felt so relaxed, both physically and emotionally. 

We had 宵夜 at 老正兴，孜然羊肉tastes as good as 4 years ago.

When we got home, XH told us the news that no more fish survived.

“Zero fish left.” Alex reported to aunt Zehui.

 

10-17-2009

Even Alex can’t count how many people we saw today.

In the morning we visited Qun’s family, the twin boy and girl are so adorable. Then we had lunch with Laura, Fan, and Pei’s family.

Dinner was a big party Nan and Marc hosted for us, more than 30 people showed up.  It was amazing to see how much kids have grown in 4 years.

Nan is a very special friend to me. We met when she first arrived at U.S. I have seen all the ups and downs of her life, the party she hosts for us is the best gift we received, knowing that she has come out of the darkest part of her life, seeing how happy she is now with Marc, makes me feel this trip is so worthwhile.

 

10-18-2009

Alex talked with grandma over the phone; here is his part of the conversation:

“There are highways 56, 5, 405, 15 and 805 in San Diego; we only have 26 and 217 in Portland.”

“No, I don’t want to go back to Portland.”

“If mom and dad have to go back, grandma can come here and stay with me.”

…..

Afternoon we visited Miao’s house, and then we headed to Sea World again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dinner, we met with Xinghui’s former classmates.

 

10-19-2009

We visited Jackie today. The beach house they purchased right before we left is now fully decorated.  After lunch, we went to La Jolla, in my opinion the most beautiful beach in San Diego.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dinner we went to 过桥园，the authentic 川菜馆 which I have longed to visit ever since it was opened 3 years ago.

 

10-20-2009

Today is last day of our trip.

In the morning we went to Carlsbad outlet center, on our way to long beach we stopped at New Port Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eric was waiting for us when we arrived at Portland. We are so blessed with close friends both in San Diego and Portland.

Sep 15, 2009

Weekend ended, back to Alex’s lunch business.

Uncle Eric kindly offered to go help Alex walk through the buying lunch process on Monday. At the end of the day when Alex arrived home, we asked him if he saw Uncle Eric. He firmly shook his head.

 “No, there was another uncle, who works there and speaks English helped me get my lunch.”

 “Are you sure it was not Uncle Eric?” We were puzzled but thought there might be volunteer parent helped Alex.

“No, it was not Uncle Eric.” Ok, we assume Eric must left after he saw Alex was helped by someone else.

And today, we learned the true story from LL: Eric showed up at the cafeteria 10:40 sharp, there was Alex patiently sitting there, waiting to be served. Eric walked Alex to the line, assisted him getting his food, stayed with him till the end to make sure he finished his lunch.

It is beyond our understanding why Alex didn’t recognize it was Uncle Eric who helped him. Alex is the kind of kids keeps surprising us, but, how can he not know Eric?

Sep 12, 2009

Today is Angie’s birthday!

      

Sep 10, 2009

This is Alex’s first week of Kindergarten at Findley Elementary, the 7^th school he has been to.

His teacher, Mrs. Atkinson, is an extremely kind, loving and experienced teacher. Alex said he likes his new teacher, but he is not ready to talk to her yet, “Next Wednesday I’ll talk.” Well, we have learned our lesson; need to wait for his internal clock to send him the ready signal.

Despite all the schooling experience, there is one thing he has never faced before: buying his own lunch. For most kids, the difficult part of buying lunch on their own is to memorize the 6 digit student ID as their pin number, and for Alex, the challenging part of buying lunch is-buying lunch.

XH explained to Alex step by step on how he should go to cafeteria and get his lunch. Alex nodded, waved good-bye to daddy and promised he remembered each step.  When lunch time came, the attentive daddy went to school to check how he is doing. XH followed Alex without being noticed by him, he saw Alex entered the cafeteria, sit down, and sit, and wait to be served! Knowing Alex would sit there for the whole lunch time if nobody helping him, XH decided he can’t be invisible any more, he jump out and rushed Alex to the waiting line and showed him again how to get his plate, and get his lunch. Alex really enjoyed the pizza.

Angie is doing well adapting her new school. For every day she is not crying at school, she is rewarded a princess figure aunt LL gave her. We are so blessed to live in this community, with both daycare and elementary school in short walking distance.

Sep 08, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no such thing called free lunch, the first day we came back from Olympic National Park, we were told each of us have to write something about the trip. Here is the bare bone, the juicy part will be written by master writers.

Friday: Being the most conservative family in the team, we were not so thrilled about the Olympic trip before we left. We had solid reasons: the school will start the next day we are back, what if the kids get sick? The weather is going to be cold and rainy, and there are only two bathrooms in the rental house to serve five families.  The only reason we didn’t show our cold feet the last minute was due to the fear of facing scorns and yelling by the majority party.

And turned our all the concerns were worthless, and we were so glad we went!

We arrived at the beach around 6 pm. We were big admirers of xmh family’s determined travel style: 5 hours nonstop driving without potty break, driving at 60 mph when the road sign clearly suggest 25. While other families taking a 3 mile hiking along the beach, we looked at our kids: they have seen the beach, they have dug the sand for 10 minutes, time to leave. By the time we arrived at our 80-acre rental house, we were welcomed with big hugs and hot dishes by MM’s family. The house was newly renovated with hardwood floor and high ceilings in the living room, the pool table immediately became kid’s gathers center.

Saturday: hiking in the morning and boating in the afternoon.

We took a 1.2 mile hiking in the Hoh rain forest. The trees, the clear spring water, the greenness remind me the daily scenic drive I took to work. Angie was the one leading the group, that little gal is so strong and fast:)

The after boat riding was pretty dramatic: Xinghui, Eric, and 4 kids all quipped with life jacket, I took pictures for them, waved good bye and wished them have an adventure trip on the river. 5 minutes later they were still at where they started, Mingming and Yaya offered to give them a push, that’s how they found out the depth of the water–below the knee, the 5-year-old Yaya’s knee. Emma fell in the water and wet her dress, she didn’t cry a bit, because “I am too tall to cry.” What a brave girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The highlight of the day is the visit of our honor guests, Qing and Kevin. They brought the best, best homemade dishes and 川菜 from authentic Seattle Sichuan restaurant. The delicious food and the warmth feeling of reuniting with them made the night so special.

Sunday:Sol Duc Hot Springs

The rain was pouring, the Hot Springs was out door only, we were driving there without knowing what to expect. I was concerned that the hot spring might be closed due to the weather,  we felt relieved when we saw cars in the parking lot, then I realized another problem: the parking lot was full.

After we finally parked and dressed, we jumped into the hot spring, what a great combination to enjoy the cool, drizzling rain and hot spring water. No wonder this place was packed on a raining day.

Monday: Heading home  

We had to leave early since Aidi’s family is coming to Portland visiting us in the afternoon. Alex and Angie were not happy being first one leaving the fun house, and Alex kept asking daddy to stop and wait for FF’s car catching up. What a great year it has been, we remember clearly that Alex won’t talk to anyone on our last year’s beach trip. The worry of him not showing connection with others is finally behind us now. Thank you, our friends.

Alex’s Top 3 list of the trip:

1. Boat riding.
2. Jump it up on aunt MM’s air mattress
3. Share the same bed with sister

Sep 02,2009

Today is Angie’s second day of school. Her day was well described by aunty Jenny and aunty LL:

Email from Jenny:

Emily told me yesterday that Angie is in the same class as Angie and Angie cried yesterday.
So Pin and I told her to play with Angie and calm Angie down.
Today, Angie was crying when Pin sent Emily to school.  Emily gave Angie a hug and tried to play with her.  Emily said :”Angie, it is me, Emily.” 
Pin forgot to bring Emily her swimming suit. So he came back home and got the swimming suit to school. By the time he went back, Angie was not crying any more. She was reading a book.
Just like to let you know this.  Hope Angie will adjust the new environment soon and enjoy day-care.
 
Email from LL:

I think I am THE most favorite aunt now. When I pulled her up from her little mat and held her, she was just like a soft little bunny. After we waved bye-bye to the teacher, Angie told me to get the bookmark (the business card for goddard) first. Then we were out of there and started our non-stop conversations.

Oh, it is so fun to talk with little Angie. You know it was her who led our little chat. During the distance we travelled between Goddard and Milazzo Ln, Angie told me one teacher is Ms. Rice and another one is Ms. Dalar(?). She told me she did not play water today because you forgot to pack the swimming suit. She told me they lined up and sat on chairs. She is going to marry a prince. She and Alex jumped on your bed last night and watched TV there. If somehow the bed is broken, you can sleep on her bed, both of you. She will sleep with Alex because there are two pillows on his bed. Grandma will sleep by herself because she is big. Then she slipped with “big belly,” then clarified the fox said that and a princess like Angie won’t say that. Did I mention that she insisted to leave her purple stuffed animal in her cube before she left? She knows exactly where to put it.

 

Emily was there when I picked up Angie. It was her who led me all the way to where Angie was resting. The teacher said she did not cry much at all today, but still it was tough on the second day. She is such an easy girl. She did not complain when finding out I did not drive. I held her for about 10 feet, then claimed that aunty is tired. Could she walk by herself? She nodded with great sympathy and got down striding by my side. Holding her little hand makes me feel so proud. She even gave me a hug before I left your house. And you can see how much she missed Alex. She got all excited and energetic when she saw him.

 

Should I pick her up at the same time tomorrow? The teacher said she ate half of the food and did not nap today. Angie gave me permission to pick her up tomorrow too.

Email from little Angie:

Thank you aunties for your love and caring. I am so blessed to be in the same classroom with Emily, we will become good friends and enjoy a  good time at Goddard together. Thanks aunty LL for picking me up today, and please, pick me up early tomorrow. I think I like you more than my mom, she hasn’t showed up at my classroom yet!