Geez- so much for improving my blog record and updating once a week! To my defense we have been pretty busy and changed our Internet service. Of course there was a hiccup or two with that so now that I am back online it is time to catch everyone up.
First, on February second we marked the one year anniversary of Meina's referral. Wow- how far we have come (and traveled) in a year. As we spend each day as a family it is pretty amazing that she was not here last year.
So like most of the country Montana has been very snowy and cold this winter. We are so ready for spring and it is only February. Ramzie has already burned through two pairs of snow pants and boots, not to mention the number of mittens that have come home with holes in them. Our girl knows how to play for sure. Meina on the other hand HATES the cold and will grab her arms and say Brrrr as soon as she feels a draft.
Meina and I have been spending our days when Ramzie is in school playing and just hanging out. She is pretty attached to me and follows me from room to room like a shadow. She is also a mini-tornado and has not yet grasped the concept of putting away her things. If she loses interest in something it hits the ground and off she goes to the next thing. She is good at directions though and will happily pick things up when asked.
She is crazy about her "thissy" as she calls Ramzie. Once Ramzie is home Meina becomes her shadow.
Meina is getting better and better with her speech. She is pretty clear with the words she uses. She just does not jabber constantly like Ms. Ramz did so she seems a little quieter.
Activities this month have been many. At the first part of January, Ramzie went ice skating for the first time and I got to join her which was a lot of fun. I think we will make that a more consistent activity. Of course she is still doing gymnastics and wants to join the YMCA track team this spring.
The best activity we did this month was the Chinese New Year party with our local FCC group. Each year we get to reconnect with families that have also adopted children from China (or other countries in Asia). Of course with the slowdown in Chinese adoption there have been fewer kids come home recently. Meina was actually the newest in our group. There is another family though that just got a referral for a DARLING baby girl in the last group received on Feb 3rd!
Anyway, we really enjoyed the party and love to be able to bring some of the girls culture into our celebrations each year.
Yesterday- I visited Ramzie's class to discuss Chinese New Year traditions and pass out a few goodies (red envelope with chocolate coins, panda stickers, fortune cookies and some dragon headbands). It went well and Ramzie was very proud to share some trivia about her birth land with her peers. After our trip to school Meina and I went to the store and got stuff for our family celebration dinner. We enjoyed dumplings, noodles and brown rice sushi along with jasmine tea and oranges for dessert. We decorated with red lanterns and red banners and used the special bowel set and table runner that we picked up on our last trip to China. All in all a very nice evening.
The pictures are of everything from the past month..... Enjoy.
Joanie
