Anyone for Little Mermaid

Everyday is getting better. We have smiles everyday now. We still have no words though. Well, except for tlast night. Last night we called one of the girls from her orphanage who was adopted last month (Jen) and these girls had a little trouble getting started but once they did it was a 40 minute marathon. Jen would say "hello" and of course Alison wouldn't respond so Jen thought no one was on the phone. Finally, I pulled up Jen's blog and kept telling Alison that it was Hai Zhen and then they made the connection. I loved watching the girls talk to each other. It was so animated and got kind of loud at times. You have to wonder what these two were discussing!!!???? I wanted Lynn to tape the whole thing and then we could get a translation. But, he didn't. I guess that is a bit invasive. We will have a chatterbox in the house before too long!

We met with her teacher yesterday. With her age, we thought she was in third grade but she says she was in second. Our goal this semester is to get a good language foundation with phonics so she can read well. We aren't concerned with grades this semester. We are putting her in our church's grade school. Because we thought she was in third grade, we had been discussing third grade. We were going to leave her in third grade but with the expectation that she will repeat third grade next year. But after looking at our options, we are moving her back to second grade. She will be in a class with another Asian girl who is fluent in Mandarin & English...now how did that happen? God only knows . While Mandarin isn't her first language, Alison should be able to communicate with this girl. Anyway, school starts next week. I think we are both ready.

She can copy English words and type them into the translator and then see what they mean in Mandarin. She did that a couple of times today. I think she will get more inquisitive and do this more often. She understands more and more each day. She also is more comfortable with us and the kids. Seems everyday someone is over for at least a short time.

Anyway, good news on this side. brenda