Has it really been almost 3 WEEKS since I last posted an update????!!!! Oh my gosh - that is way, way too long. Now I have so much to talk about. First of all - Jordan is loving kindergarten. My favorite thing right now is the fact that her main teacher, Chen Lao shi, uses her Chinese name in class. Her English teacher uses her English name. I have always wanted Jordan to feel comfortable with both names and I do use her Chinese name intermittently around the house. But now it is being used by her teacher and classmates. I feel like her past is now truly being incorporated into her current life. She asked me if she could bring her lifebook to school because she was born in China and the class might like to learn about that. I was glad she was so interested but I am wary of letting her take it to school in its complete form. I think we'll be making a copy of the pages that are more general in nature and exclude some of the private information that she may later regret being so open about. Plus a copy can be destroyed or ripped and it won't be so devastating. What do y'all think? [Now I feel like I need to get Ellie's done sooner rather than later!]
The pictures above are from our weekend in the mountains at our first retreat. We had a great time - although I came back realizing how out of shape I was after walking up and down the hill from our room to the children's center. My calves were killing me! I forgot to bring a stroller so I was carrying Ellie a lot of the time. Jordan had a great time staying up late to watch a movie in her pajamas with the other girls and eating s'mores with honest to goodness fire-roasted marshmallows.
This past weekend we had our first gymnastics classes. Jordan is in a beginning class with what looks like 50 other kids. I'm amazed that they can keep all the kids in line but they do. They are broken up and rotate around from area to area (just like a real gymnastics meet). Right now she's basically learning balance, and some strengthening moves. Ellie is in a class that is much more "Mommy and Me" which I am unsure about. I think she's too young and I don't know why I am paying to have her run over large tumbling blocks - (oh yes I do know why - because Jordan begged me to sign her up). Let's just say that Ellie may or may not be finishing out the class. I will try to take pictures of Jordan at some point to post up here. She really enjoyed her first class.
Last night Jordan had her first choir practice at church. As I'm musically challenged - I thought it would be a good idea to at least give her the chance to learn from someone a little more gifted than myself (pretty much anyone who can carry a tune). She at first was unsure about going because she thought she was going to have to stand on a stage and sing in front of parents. Once she realized it was just her and a bunch of kids getting to sing fun songs in a room for an hour - she was fine. Ellie and I went outside and played on the playground equipment while Jordan was singing. Above is a pic of Ellie having fun on one of the slides. Her hair has gotten long enough to make actual pigtails - she has become a true toddler!!!
