Long Weeks...

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well! I cannot believe it has been over a week since I have posted but it just confirms how insanely busy the past couple of weeks have been. Over the week-end I took Ella and Paige back to the Zoo and this time another six year old neighbor came as well. Could have been me and the exhaustion from a busy work week but man, that third child made the entire day feel like an eternity. I also think that since Paige and Ella have played together so much they have a nice groove going and the third wheel certainly applied to the extra friend. Needless to say, we will be keeping our outings to two from now on. Hats off to all my Mom friends with more than two kiddos at home! Ella seems to be settling in and I am finding rather alarming the fact that she is losing her Mandarin so quickly. We utilize the translator each day, but she says "I don't know" more and more often when I ask her how to say something in Mandarin. I had her listen to some childhood songs in Mandarin today, and she struggled with many of the verses as she sang. I would love to get her into our local Chinese cultural center but when I pull up the pictures and talk about going to visit and play, she becomes nervous and says "no go". I realize part of this is her fear of perhaps having to go back to China but I worry that if I do not push the matter with her, she will lose her Mandarin completely! Ella is doing really well at school and still says "Yeah School" each day. What a joy to know she is so happy there and although we still have some emotional pick-ups she is doing better. This past Sunday Ella had her first American birthday party and did really well during the hour and a half of jumping in the castles but pretty much hit the wall when it was time for cake and ice-cream. I had to spoon feed her the ice-cream, and she was pretty much done with the whole thing once she got her goodie bag. Too funny, but it was great to see her playing with the other kids and having fun. Unfortunately, I left my camera at our local park and have not received a phone call from the person who found it! :( Hope to post updated pics soon...(here's to wishing that I get my camera back!!)