Christmas and Such

As you might have guessed, Santa was a big hit! June was quite excited, having visited Santa at the mall and asking him for a Dora purse and a "Tinkerbell brush my teeth", there was quite a thrill at the heap of gifts waiting on Christmas morning. June has become enchanted with all things electronic - her iPod, her Fisher Price ixl...fortunately, her headphones have been a big hit, too. She definitely needs to have her electronic usage regulated as she would be more than happy to be plugged in all day.

The Miss has developed very definite ideas about what she will wear. No more skirts - only "pretty pants", by which she means leggings or "school dresses". She has also developed an aversion to certain shoes, and will not wear anything that is not pretty enough. Her hair has grown nearly down to her butt, and she is very choosy about hairstyles as well. We need Goo Goo to live with us so she can design elaborate hairstyles. Her eating continues to be voracious...she has decided that she will try to eat only "small foods" so that her tummy won't hurt and she won't have to poop so much. Gross, but true.

June's big excitement lately was that she went on her very first playdate! She was quite happy to leave me behind : ( She said that as long as I came back she would be fine all by herself! She is so independent about some things : ) She definitely seems much older than she did just 5 months ago when I first met her! She continues to keep us laughing; continues to fight with Quinn; and continues to struggle with sleeping through the night. She has started to tell a few more little anecdotes about life in China - her friends, a leaky roof, etc. Enjoy the pics!

The 9am sweet potato

June had a sweet potato at Thanksgiving, and has eaten one nearly every day since. For all I know she was eating them in China; but, it is super funny when your four year old brings you a bag of spuds and asks you to cook one at 9am. A good, healthy snack no doubt.

June is currently in love with her Advent calendar. Yesterday while eating her little candy, she said "maybe tomorrow 8, okay"? She is really smart, counting really well. Quinn finds it super irritating that, while doing her homework (counting back from 50 or something), June starts chiming in. June has begged her teacher for homework - and every piece of paper, from the Market Day order to the newsletter is closely guarded as her personal property. She and Quinn continue their love/hate relationship...sometimes they can play dolls together for a long time; then, June said the other day in response to Quinn's constant nagging about being older "In China, Junie not younger. No Quinn in China!" That about sums it up for those two.

We are definitely seeing the testing of limits I was expecting. She, like all 4 year-olds, I suppose, would like to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants. She would like to "watch tv all day", "mommy watch me (play) all day", "sleep all day no school today". She occasionally hits when mad, which I am sure is a frustration over language sometimes - generally her hitting is restricted to altercations with Quinn. She does not love a time out on the stairs, bringing out the tears in no time. She talks all day, which is great - most of the time!

June enjoyed her first LPA party, meeting some new friends, and playing with others she has already met. We attempted the Brookfield Zoo lights the same day - an awful idea...it was cold, so Quinn cried the whole time...and you couldn't see many animals, so June cried the whole time. Plenty of frozen snot for all to see. Tom took them home early while I stayed w/ Delaney and Riley, who had a good time as long as they were fed every 20 minutes as usual.

We are into our 24 days of Christmas cookies, so there is a lot of baking and a lot of mess. Still have shopping to do, school parties...need the stomach flu to get OUT OF OUR HOUSE. So far, Tom, me, Riley me AGAIN...a caseload of Lysol is coming my way!

3 months (and 3 days) home : )

At the Halloween party...

Proudly displaying her story time chicken...


"I do it my byself!"

"I want food, mom."

"Junie not cry, Junie big girl."

"That's mine!"

"Go away!"

"I don't want to go to school, I want to do sleeping at home."

This is one funny kid. June has been a busy lady - bumping up to school every afternoon, enjoying story time, her first Halloween, asserting her authority in the world order....

June would like to do everything "my byself"...this requires patience on my part (which I had in higher reserve 4 kids and 10 years ago). She brings a stepstool to the car, so she can climb into our giant Yukon. Then, she would like to do the seatbelt herself. She brings the stool to the fridge to get herself some water. She likes to click the garage door button, press the elevator buttons at the library, pick things out at the store...

Halloween was a lot of fun, with June really getting into the idea of asking for treats. "Go ahead and pick one" said one of our nice neighbors..."I want two" was her reply. Well, who could turn down that angel face? She really loved collecting all of the candy she could get her hands on. She wanted to show her "Peng Mama" from China her costume, and her carved pumpkin...and she wanted to give Peng Mama some of her candy : ) She is so sweet, and really has only shared positive memories from her SWI....so I am sending off some photos to the SWI for all of her friends and caregivers to see. A stubborn standoff ensued a few days after Halloween when June sneaked a piece of chocoloate candy after being told no. It was a chocolate feast. She refused to apologize (yes, she did know what I wanted), instead opting for a morning nap before preschool. This girl can be very, very stubborn. And then oh so sweet when she cuddles up and says "I miss you mommy". I am not sure how she latched onto that, but she uses it alternately with "I love you mommy", so I'll keep it : )

Some very sweet friends made June the beautiful quilt in these photos. We appreciate all of the thought and hard work that went into giving our family this beautiful and meaningful gift. We are hanging it in June's bedroom, above her little bookcase. It was hard to tell June that she can't sleep with it, but I want her to have it forever, and I can just imagine her puking on it or something.

So, things continue to go very well here! I still can't believe it has only been three months home all together. We are talking up the fun of Christmas...June has upgraded her Santa list from " a banana" to a long list of puzzles she would like.

Finally, I am looking forward to parent teacher conferences next week...I have already gotten a preview from one of the boys in June's class, who tells me "She's really bad at circle time and never listens to the teacher..." Can't wait!! Add that to one who hates school, one who is nearly mute in school, and one mini celebrity who struggles with her math...who wants to meet me for drinks after conferences??? Surely there is a margarita with my name on it somewhere!

" Junie didn't do it"

We have a tattletale on our hands. Last week, J came home from school saying that "all the friends were yelling". This was followed by the sincere proclamation, complete with head shake, that "Junie didn't do yelling". I'll try to believe her on this one : ) Later in the week, when caught jumping on the bed, she again proclaimed her innocence "Junie didn't do jumping. Junie no do it". Most disturbing is the very straight face she can maintain when trying to lie!

A week or so ago, we had the pleasure of our return trip to the ENT. No crying, which J is very proud of. The ENT removed a seriously disgusting amount of impacted ear wax. Now, everything is very loud to her! Definitely has improved her hearing. Unfortunately, we had a big thunderstorm last night. I can say that the SWI was correct when they told us that she does not like "loud thunders". Very true. Too bad the storm began at bedtime : ) Once everyone was asleep, though, they slept all night, which can only be counted as a minor miracle at the Lyons house.

In other quick updates: I am really hoping that Lin Lin has found a family this time : ) I will keep you posted. Riley is having a successful gymnastics season, with lots of first place ribbons to her credit. Delaney's softball season has ended - a winning season - and is looking forward to the start of volleyball. Quinn and June are continuing with their dance class and are very happy that their friend Aly has joined the class! We are looking forward to Halloween as an angel, a mean witch, a "goth" Little Red Riding Hood", and a pirate!!

2 months home!

Hanging out at the zoo...



Seriously, she is eating an egg at the zoo...




Wishing to join the sea lions...





The bus ride, a longed-for experience...




June has officially been home for 2 months today!!! Wow. It feels like a lot longer, everyone here agrees. 2 months ago, June, Ying, was still living in China, with people who loved her, but without her own family, hanging out with her friends and waiting for her family. Since then, she has traveled thousands of miles - much to her delight she has now traveled by: taxi, car, plane, horse, boat, and most recently, school bus! She goes to school, dance class, library story time...plays with her sisters, loves to read, sleeps pretty well!


She came speaking no English, and now uses short English sentences often: She touch-e me. There it is, Mom's car. Take the bus-e, see the monkeys. She is very curious - she wants to know what all signs say, she likes to read the instructions that go with games. She can identify lots of letters - M for Mom, D for Nini (Delaney), etc. Her favorite letter is W. She can tell the names of all the foods she likes, body parts, colors, toys, etc. She is really amazing us with her resilience and humor. She starts most sentences with "I want to".....drive a truck, swim with the polar bear, go to the big girl school, do that again, go to the library. She loves to be on the go, and she loves to snuggle up. She really would like to play softball, so it looks like t-ball in our future next year!

She has had a successful visit to the dentist - no cavities! She did not enjoy the ENT, where it took 4 adults to hold her down while the dr. tried to remove the giant ball of hardened ear wax that is keeping her from hearing as well as she should. A return visit is needed next week. Due to her non-stop eating, she has gained two pounds since coming home, and possibly grown a bit, although I never trust the measurements. Someone has taught her the word "WHY"! A word that now echoes throughout the house at all hours.

Something that illustrates the change in her and her experiences - when I took her to the zoo in China two months ago she was TERRIFIED of the animals, thinking that the tigers could get out and eat her, that the monkeys would leap out of their cages to bother her...when we went to the zoo field trip for school today, she spent the whole morning in eager anticipation of riding the bus and thinking about seeing the monkeys! She really wanted to get in there with the monkeys (well, apes and chimps, really) and eat a pumpkin as they were doing. Before we were even leaving she was asking to go again. Last time, she would not get out of the stroller. Today, she was climbing the fences to get closer to the animals. Also today, we watched lines of kids go in and use the bathrooms....in China, we watched kids squat down at the side of the path to pee at the zoo....enough said.

Enjoy the photos of our big girl!!

Complete sentences!

Well, we have had a few little phrases in English and tons of English words...and June often says "I don't know..." But our first complete English sentence is:

Quinn push-e me!

Sigh...