One Year Later......

Emma has been home one year and one month and everything is great. She is a happy girl! The first two pictures are first day of school pictures from this year and last year. They were taken in the same place and I was amazed at how much she had grown. Since the last post Emma has finished her first year of school at the Montessori and started her second year of school at the same place with the same teachers.

This summer Emma's swimming ability took off. She had two swim lessons and just fell in love with swimming. From the beginning of our family vacation to Hawaii in mid July until school started this week Emma was in the water ever chance she had. Second to swimming would be dancing/gymnastics - so we are trying classes in both this fall.

Our first Special Day (adoption day) was extra special because we were on vacation and Emma's cousins helped celebrate. We had Vietnamese food and a cake with a few presents and kept the whole celebration low key.

Emma has lost 4 teeth this year. The first one kind of scared her, but then she got the hang of it and now she is ready to lose them all. Doesn't really buy into the tooth fairy story, but hey, if someone wants to put money under her pillow she is not complaining. Money in Emma's hands equals a trip to the dollar store. I've opened a bank account for her and a few dollars have gone into the bank, but why would you give a stranger your dollar when you could go buy gum at the dollar store?

Life is good!!

Easter 2008.....

As the day progressed Emma's true self emerged. Luckily the head stand, at the Marriott where we were having Easter brunch, was performed for a mostly empty dining room!

Six Years Old.......

Emma Yun turns six years old tomorrow and has been home for six months now. She is doing amazingly well and loves her new life. Since my last posting was in November I added pictures from Christmas when Emma Yun spent quality time with her cousins.

In six months Emma's english has really taken off. She understands everything and can speak really well for having been here such a short time. Every week she adds words and sentences. One of her first sentences was "I don't like you" (used when she was not getting her way) which was quickly followed by a new word "naughty" - what she heard when she said "I don't like you"....... To be fair she also sweetly says "I love you". Her favorite word has to be "Mommy". I have often thought about keeping track of how many times she says "Mommy" in one day. She can count to 40, sing the ABCs and repeats everything said to her. There are still a few vietnamese words spoken but the other night while out eating at a Vietnamese restaurant we go to quite often I asked our waitress to speak to Emma in vietnamese. Emma just looked at her and said she did not understand. Three months ago Emma would talk to this same women in vietnamese. I struggle with whether I should help her retain her vietnamese language and still don't fully know what to do. Right now I am doing nothing because I want the sole focus to be on english.

Emma is playing with toys and dolls more than she ever has. Her favorite game is still peek-a-boo/hide and seek which is what I think they played in her orphanage, however, in spurts she will play with her barbies and dollhouse. I just assumed Emma would be rough with her toys and break and/or lose alot of her things. Totally not the case. Emma is very careful with her things and knows where everything is, even if it has been wrapped, placed in a baggy, placed in a purse and hidden under a stuffed animal. Although she cannot read, she loves her books and ends each day "reading" to me. I tried reading to her, but Emma is a completely in charge type of girl and its easier all the way around if she does the "reading".

Emma is very strong willed and will try to do almost everything by herself... except walk! She is a bundle of energy and spends recess at school running around the playground but if I'm around she wants to be carried. I know she is six but I don't mind and I have carried her ever since Vietnam when I feared she might run away if I put her down. I felt it was good bonding for us, however, now that she has officially turned six we talked about her walking on her own and she agreed. We'll see how it goes.

Emma has gained a few pounds but we still struggle with finding a variety of food she will eat. Vegetables are not eaten in any shape or form. Chocolate ice cream was added to the list over Christmas! Chips probably are at the top of her list but are thankfully followed closely by fruit. So when she asks for chips for breakfast and does not get any, she is totally fine with a fruit or two.

Having not had a mommy her first 5 and 1/2 years I wonder what she thinks of me. I got a glimpse into her mind at a birthday party. A little girl came up and asked me to open her water and here came Emma exclaiming that I was not the little girl's mommy. Kind of cute.

Life just keeps getting better with Emma -we have come a long ways in six months!!

Halloween, Football and Fall fun........

Emma has been home 14 weeks and she is doing great! Words are now coming out in small sentences and she understands alot more than she can verbalize. I thought she might be scared of Halloween because she does not like the dark and she did not like all the scary Halloween decorations.....I was wrong. She of course was a princess, and she loved Halloween. She went trick or treating with our neighborhood kids and once she caught on she could not be stopped. She ran as hard as she could from house to house. Her veil had to go because it slowed her down. After we finished trick or treating she sat on our steps and passed out candy. I don't think she found one candy she liked but she could have cared less.

Emma went to her second OU football game where we met my college roommate who Emma thinks is the greatest. This time we stayed until mid third quarter which would not have been possible if we had not had empty seats around us.

Last week Emma had some sad times, which may be some sort of grieving that she cannot communicate to me. She also had a crown put on a tooth that was causing her pain which may have been part of her problem, but this week has started out good, her typical happy self.

Eleven weeks home....

Emma's transition is amazing. She is a very happy child and is trying hard to fit into her new life. She is now talking in a few small sentences of which the first one was "I don't like that one." She's also picking up a few spanish words so Emma currently is using english, vietnamese, spanish and jibberish to communicate - it's quite an interesting mix.

She loves school. My first teachers conference went well - Emma is right on track in most areas but could use improvement with her loud voice. She is very social at school and has adjusted well to full days. She's been to a birthday party for one of her classmates who she now refers to as "Happy birthday Henry". She also plays school soccer (or at least she is on the team) and although her idea of soccer is chasing her little girlfriend on the team she is having fun.

She does not like the Halloween decorations at all. In the stores she makes a face everytime we come across anything halloween. She does not like the dark at all. If it is dark she is supposed to be in bed and there is no changing her mind on this.

First round of shots are done, all blood work is done and 1/3 or her post-placement homestudy is done.

Seven weeks today......

Emma Duong has been home seven weeks today! She is really adjusting well and has a happy personality (well, unless you tell her no!). She has moved up to full day school and reports back from her teachers is that she is doing great. She has made a couple of friends at school. One is three and the other is her age - 5. Last week we got her Certificate of Citizenship in the mail and Emma Duong took it to school for show and tell. Emma Duong of course has no idea what it is but it has her picture on it so she loves it.

The most common word used to describe Emma Duong by people who have observed her in action is fearless. She hesitates for a bit when trying something new but when she finally does she watch out! She loves parks and playground equipment, she loves her bike and she loves to run. Unfortunately all of these activities require boundaries to be set and that is currently a big problem for us. Running is okay since I run myself I can keep her under control. The bike is definately a problem and even the playground is a problem because she just takes off and never looks back to see where I am. The language barrier is hurting us in this category. Since she is fearless, on Monday she is starting a gymnastics class once or twice a week - I think she will love it.

Emma Duong talked on the phone to her little buddy from Vietnam who was adopted at the same time as Emma D. The converstion was short and mainly just saying her name but Emma D. was excited and has talked about her another child at the orphanage quite a bit since the phone call. I have a picture of the 3 kids in her room and since the call she has slept with the picture. She doesn't act sad but she does expect to see them soon.

Emma D's uncle came to see her this week. There were a few tears shed when he arrived - the last time she had seen him was in Vietnam. She recognized him and all we can determine is that she thought he might take her away. She is still unsure of what is happening in her life and daily needs assurance that I am going to be there. She will point to herself and me and if I say yes (ie we are going to be together that day) she is satisfied.

Oh, Emma Duong can sing Boomer Sooner.....

Miss Emma.........

Emma Duong has been home five weeks now and things are going well. She is a very happy little girl who is trying hard to fit into her new world. In five weeks Emma Duong has: started school at the Undercroft Montessori where she currently goes for 1/2 day and according to the teachers is delightful; attended her first OU football game successfully; and ran in her first 1km fun run with a time of 10 minutes 25 seconds (but who's counting).

Emma repeats almost everything you say but has yet to put english words into a sentence. She still jabbers non-stop in vietnamese but knows the important english words that help her get by: bathroom, hungry, no way, shopping and thank you.

I was told by her caregivers that she liked to sing and they were right. She sings non-stop. Once she has heard a tune a couple of times she has it down.. the words are a bit interesting but the tune is usually perfect. She sings at night in bed, she sings in the car, and now most of the tunes are from some sing-along cds she got at her Welcome Home shower. I have not heard a vietnamese song in awhile.

Each week is getting better and better for Emma and I and I am so looking forward to the day the language barrier goes away and we can talk. We do communicate well, but it is alot of pointing and one word sentences.