Two Eyes Open

About 10 days ago, Les took Lacey to see a retinoligst.  The opththamologist had suggested that we have the retina in her left eye scanned for a definitive diagnosis.  The doctor said that Lacey has "microphtalmia," which is simply the existence of a small, under-developed eye.  The doctor also confirmed that Lacey was born this way.  He gave Lacey a brochure showing photos of children who had been fitted with prosthetic eyes.  The purpose of a prosthetic eye in a child is twofold .  The primary concern is to ensure that the eye socket grows and maintains the symmetry of the child's face.  The secondary concern is cosmetic. 

Lacey studied the brochure very carefully.  When Cassie arrived home, Lacey ran to her and, struggling to find words to express herself, said, "Cassie!  Doctor said, ah, ah, ah. . . two eyes open!"  I certainly couldn't have found better words to express what Lacey had understood and what she was feeling.  But, I realized that since Lacey has joined our family, she has already begun to see with "two eyes open."

When we first met Lacey, she focused only on the present.  She worried about what she would eat next and what she would wear the next day.  As we traveled around China, we encouraged her to enjoy the sites.  But, she really didn't want to look at anything.  Everywhere she went she clung to her new toys and repeated the Chinese phrases for, "Give me," and "This is mine."  For the past three months, Lacey has continued to repeat these phrases.  Not surprisingly, these were the first two phrases that Cassie learned to say in Mandarin!

I've always prided myself on being a creative mom.  When Cassie was little, we sometimes fingerpainted at breakfast, and had a tea party for lunch.  We never knew what dinner would bring.  Cassie would sometimes appear as the president's daughter, a princess, a newspaper journalist, or maybe a pioneer.  One time, she even role played an emperor's daughter.  We quickly realized that Lacey was unaccustomed to freedom and wasn't going to thrive in this type of environment.  We had to adjust our style and establish a very defined routine for her.  This was difficult for all of us, but helped Lacey begin to open her eyes and explore her new world.

Looking around our house now,  you can easily observe how Lacey has changed.  In the kitchen, a plastic grocery bag, filled with acorn tops, hangs from her chair.  On Cassie's placemat rests a drawing from Lacey that has Cassie's name printed in shaky letters.  On the counter sits a vase of water that is home to a handful of dead leaves Lacey collected in the backyard.  The bottom half of the refrigerator holds a collage that she made by gluing leaves together.  The family room floor is littered with drawing paper, crayons, colored pencils, and an overturned bucket of cookie cutters that Lacey was tracing.  The stairs are adorned with doll clothes, books and craft supplies, all waiting to be put away.  The bulletin board in Lacey's bedroom holds family photos, brochures from the cat show, tags cut from new clothing, and other little mementos.    

If you eavesdropped on our home, you'd be amazed at the volume of English that Lacey can produce.  She uses beautifully complete sentence such as, "Cassie, you can use my crayons." and, "Can I help you?"  Yesterday, she told me which classmate had to go to the quiet table in the cafeteria.  Today, her class visited a farm and she provided a vey detailed description of what she saw.  Recenlty, Lacey overheard a conversation between her parents and piped in, "Me no kiss anybody's butt!"

Lacey is also gaining a sense of time, and starting to anticipate future events.  Shortly before school started, I realized that she had little understanding of the calendar.  She couldn't name the days in Mandarin and didn't know that there were seven days in a week.  I began showing her a calendar and after a few days got her to understand that it represented the passing days.  She was able to understand that we had met her and brought her home in July.  I could really tell that she understood when she began rapidly paging through the calendar and asking me over and over again to show her Mommy's, Daddy's and Cassie's "Happy Birthdays."  This awareness of time might be her most enlightening experience so far.  Every day now we look at the calendar.  We talk about what she will do at school tomorrow and how many days before the weekend is here.  I now understand that she lived only in the present, without thinking about her personal history or future.  And although Lacey is much more eager to talk about the future, she has begun sharing small details of her life in China with us.

 I too have to look with both eyes open to appreciate how far Lacey has come.  And, while there are many adjustments for us all to make, they're not all bad.  I have started getting up just a couple minutes earlier in the morning.  This is because now when I tiptoe on my ritual trip down the hallway, I have to stop and listen for the quiet breathing of not only one, but two sleeping girls.

Track and Field Day

Columbus Day dawned especially bright for me.  It was a holiday for Les and for me; but, the girls had to attend school. Because many parents were home from work, the girl's school had scheduled Track and Field Day for Columbus Day.  As is his custom, Les had volunteered to help with Field Day.  Ahhh!! For me this was shaping up to be a holiday in every sense of the word.  The house to myself?  A trip to the mall?? A good read in the coffee shop???  (To be honest, even grocery shopping alone would be a luxury.)  But, it was not meant to be.  Cassie asked if I could PLEEAASE help with Field Day, and guilt got the best of me.  However, it was also "Daddy Doughnut Day" at school.  All the kids lined up early with their dads in order to slop down juice and doughnuts in the gymnasium, and I did get about 20 minutes to myself.

The morning began perfectly -  a little cool and overcast, with dew on the grass.  Third, fourth and fifth grade Field Day was held in the morning.  Les signed us up for "the parachute."  This activity involved getting about 20 kids to grab onto the edges of a large and colorful parachute.  Then, everybody had to squat simultaneously, then rise up, holding the parachute above their heads.   Finally, everybody had to snap the parachute down and try to flick off the balls that were riding on top of it.  Here are some pictures to aid your understanding.

A group of kids (and Les) holding the parachute

Raising the parachute

And the balls go flying!

This activity was great fun for both kids and adults.  We were all laughing and screaming.  Of course, the kids weren't strong enough to do this without help from the adults.  About an hour into the activity, my body was screaming in pain.  Did I mention that we had signed up to help the entire day?

Cassie and her friends

Cassie and classmates

 When our lunch break came, we were too tired to go home.  We dragged ourselves down the street to a fast food restaurant and absorbed as much air conditioning as we could.  When we hit the field for the second half of Field Day, the temperature was almost 90 degrees.  The smaller children really didn't have the strength for the activity.  Les and I had to work harder than ever.  We were able to recruit a few more parents to help us.  Finally, the day came to an end.  

As we were packing up the equipment, I got to be the one lucky parent who was singled out by the principal because my child had gotten overheated and thrown up.  "Oh, Mrs. Minihan," she said, "The heat got to be a bit much for the little people.  Lacey just got sick."  I immediately began whooping and doing the "end zone" dance down the hallway, knocking over a couple parents in the process, because I DIDN'T HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP!!

 I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder and heard, "Oh, Mrs. Minihan!  Are you all right?" 

"Oh yes," I replied.  "The heat just got to be a bit much for the big people too."

Now, if you're thinking that I was acting a bit selfish or shallow, let me explain that I got to carry "the clothes" home, sealed tightly in a plastic bag.

Lacey perked up about 10 minutes after we got home and I got to do an unscheduled load of laundry.  

Lacey with her friends

October is Here

Everybody has settled into the school routine.  I have pretty much accepted that my life will never be routine.  That makes everything easier.  

Les and I survived two "Back to School" nights.  Lacey is doing very well in school.  She loves being part of a large group of children.  Recess and physical education are her favorites.  Her English is progressing incredibly quickly.  She can recite rhymes and speaks in complete sentences.  Her understanding of phonics amazes me.  For example, she can list about 10 different things that begin with the letter "B."   Today she wrote letters to me and Cassie.  She had "Mommy" written on the outside of one envelope, and "Cssd," written on the outside of the other.  Inside, she had placed drawings with our names on them.  I'm guessing that she'll be reading soon.

Lacey and her favorite sport - eating potato chips!

Cassie is enjoying 4th grade more than she thought she would.  She is making new friends and has helped some of her classmates organize a club.  I believe she is the "creative director."  Our friend, Maria, gave Cassie an easel and a set of oil paints.  Cassie went right to work, letting her talent flow.  Cassie is also busy writing a play for school.  And, she has been rehearsing with a group of young violinists that will play Christmas carols at the Festival of Lights in December.

The artist at work

We finally had the kitchen floor redone.  The tiles have been breaking for the past six years.  Our house was in upheaval for 10 days and most rooms are still covered with a powdery white dust from the construction.  But, as you can see from the before and after photos, it was worth the effort and wait.  Cassie and I saved a box of broken tiles for future craft projects.  Well, I'm supposed to wait 28 days before washing the new floor so that the grout can thoroughly dry.  During the following 3 hours, muddy feet made about six sets of tracks across the floor and two glasses of milk were spilled.  I did a quick wipe up with paper towels and told everyone that I refuse to be coerced into washing the floor before its time.

Before

After

The orange doors

 Over the weekend, I painted the pantry doors.  They are sort of a dark, country shade of orange.  This is the same color that I had used to paint the kitchen chairs.  I don't have the time or money (frankly it's a money thing) to tear off the faded wallpaper in the kitchen and redo the walls.  This was a much cheaper option - it cost me one can of paint, a little cajoling to get Les to agree, and a couple hours of labor.  We hung the doors today and I think they look great. 

 

In the midst of the construction, we celebrated my birthday.  The state of the kitchen was a good excuse to eat out.  We enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner and wonderful behavior from both girls at Red Lobster.  Here are a couple pictures of me with the girls.  I would be the one wearing the princess crown.

 October is notorious for blowing germs into our household.  I refilled all the allergy and asthma medications, hoping to deploy a good defense.  Thursday afternoon I had to pick up Cassie from school.  The verdict from the nurse was "croup or bronchitis."  I took Cassie home and discovered that the basement was flooding.  Did I mention that we were in the midst of a downpour?  Gee, I had thought that the new sump pump we installed after the fire in August would have done the job.  I took Cassie to the doctor on Friday and she does have bronchitis.  When I had her prescription filled, the kind pharmacy employee took a good look at me and asked if this wasn't my fourth visit to the pharmacy in as many days.   I responded that yes, now that I thought about it, I had made four consecutive trips to the pharmacy.  The lovely lady continued, "Now, Mrs. Minihan, I surely hope that Cassie is feeling better.  But, it seems to me that you're the one who's going to be needing rest."  A little sympathy is always nice.

Staying home with Cassie on Friday gave me a head start on cleaning the kitchen.  I basically had to wash everything in each drawer and cabinet, and the entire contents of the pantry.  I discovered that, thanks to Les' enthusiastic and vigilant shopping, we have three bottles of Worchestershire sauce; about four gallons of white vinegar; six containers of Wasabi paste; three bottles of red vinegar; and at least two gallons of olive oil.  I guess we are ready for the next flood.

So, our house if full of life, and that life is good!

Back to School

I went back to work on Aug. 30th and threw the whole family into shock.  The girls had to attend a week of Taekwondo Camp.  They were dismayed that the days of wandering down to a breakfast of their choice at 9:00 a.m. were over!  They had to get up almost as early as I do for the first three days.  Then, on Thursday and Friday, they got to sleep in a little because they had school orientations.  They actually enjoyed the camp.  Each day included an outing.  They went swimming, played laser tag, and had a pizza party.  

The week before school, Cassie and her friend, Sydney, spent each evening "practicing" for the first day of school. I went up to the girl's bathroom one evening and was a little horrified to see the condition of the bathroom.  Cassie's stereo was in the center of the floor.  The blow dryer was in the sink.  And, there were hair clips, bows, scarves, necklaces and other accessories covering the counter and floor.  I don't think I was as upset by the mess as I was by the realization that, "it's only just beginning."

We celebrated Labor Day with a backyard picnic.  "Magic Bob" came and did his tricks and made balloon animals for the kids.  The kids ran from the bounce house to the play house to the balloons.  The weather and the fellowship were both magnificent.

Magic Bob and the kids

The first day of school finally arrived.  For Cassie, the first day was all about accessorizing.  As you can see, her efforts paid off!

Cassie on Day 1

Lacey was also excited about school.  But, she was more excited about being able to carry a lunch.  In fact, she was so excited that she came home with not just one, but two lunchboxes!  Yes, she had her lunchbox and a lunchbox that belonged to another child, complete with a lunch inside.  Lacey was unable to explain what happened, but happily returned it the next day.

A Day of Firsts!

Our new sitter didn't start until today.  Les stayed home to put the girls on the bus the first day.  "Uncle Bob" helped out Wednesday through Friday.  We've all adjusted to the new routine.  Mommy and Daddy have agreed that there's no TV until homework is done and violin has been practiced.  After spending most of the day indoors, the girls are happy to play outside. 

We ended the week with a fireworks celebration that would have made my Dad proud.  We set up chairs in the driveway, invited the neighbors over, and let the bottle rockets fly.

Sparklers

 
This past Saturday, we headed to the annual cat show.  We convinced our friends, Mickey and Sydney, to come along.  The cat show is not something to be missed.  It's attended by a rare, subculture of cat people, who really are beyond my descriptive ability.  I'm sure the event really left Lacey wondering about her new homeland and its inhabitants!!  First, we had to look at all the glamor kitties.  The cages were almost as beautiful as the cats.  Some of the cats even had their own vanities.  Next, we took in some of the cat shows.  There were about six shows going on simultaneously.  We really had no idea what was happening.  But, the judges were really entertaining. 

The Cat Judge

Of course, there was a multitude of vendors with every conceivable kind of cat toy.   Then, there was a multitude of rescue groups and shelters, all appealing to our cat natures.  One shelter had face painting as a fund raiser.  As you can see, this was well worth the investment.

Cat Girls

We ended the weekend with a trip to the hair dresser because picture day is this week. 

Glamor Girls