Tricks, Treats, and....Teeth??

Maliana ~

Daddy worked nights this week and so he was able to take you to the dentist bright and early on Monday morning. You have had some tooth pain in the front for a little while and we thought it best to get it checked out. Lo and behold...this is what we saw!

wow! look at all those teeth!

Our baby is going to start losing her baby teeth soon! *sniff *tear *sniff

On Tuesday as I packed your lunch, I asked if you wanted to keep my most recent lunch note. When you said yes, you asked, "Mom, do you want to know why I want to save them?"...then you sang this little song to me..."Making something is one way to say...I. Love. You." ~ it was just the sweetest. I have no idea where you heard that, but you are so right.

Wednesday brought a huge first for our family...Daddy and I attended our first parent/teacher conference with your kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Fitzpatrick. We got nervous when we first walked in, but found there was absolutely no need to be. Mrs. Fitzpatrick adores you and evidently, you are doing very well in school. You are like a sponge and listen very well in class, soaking up everything you are being taught. You are a bit chatty, but once reminded you say, "Oh, sorry!" and get back to work. The only other time you need to be reminded to get back to work is when you get distracted by helping classmates when they need it. Mrs. Fitzpatrick said that there is one little girl in particular that has a difficult time interacting with the other children, however you make it a point to reach out to her and encourage her. She said that you do find some of this little girl's antics amusing and giggle sometimes, giving the teacher a shrug and a "What are you gonna do?" look, before attempting to steer your little friend in the right direction. Mrs. Fitzpatrick made a point to share how you are so very sensitive with your classmates and she can see you have a lot of empathy for the kids who are teased. I teared up when she told us this. It reminded me of the letter that I read to you before your first day of kindergarten which you can find at the end of this previous blog post. Here is the excerpt from it that most rang out to me again as I sat in this conference with your teacher...

"We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the kids think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most LPS toys or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can never lose it.
We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.
Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.
Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.
Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.
Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other."

Bottom line, baby ~ You are taking the words above to heart. Sewing them permanently to that big beautiful heart and soul of yours. And I couldn't be prouder of you.

Along with all of the wonderful news above, we also learned that you have been asked about the scar on your lip a few times by the other children. Thankfully Mrs. Fitzpatrick encourages your classmates to ask you about it directly, to which you graciously explain everything to them...opening your mouth wide to not only show the scar on the outside but on the inside of your mouth as well. You casually tell them you were just born like that and had surgery to sew it back together. Once you explain it so openly to them, your classmates are completely satisfied with your answers. I am so relieved to hear that you not only have the confidence in yourself to explain it but the verbal ability to do so as well. While there are challenges in your speech, which we are diligently working on with Ms. Katie and now also with Miss Wheeler, Mrs. Fitzpatrick reassured us that any speech delays do not slow you down at all. You talk, and talk, and talk about all sorts of things (even to the point where it gets you in trouble as I mentioned earlier). I am so relieved to hear this, even if it means that I could get a phone call or two from teachers throughout your school years. My fears that perceived differences between you and classmates or your speech delays would get in the way of your social skills were completely unfounded. I am so grateful, but also in awe. Your spirit is indomitable. I am so inspired by you...every day. You amaze me.

All around, it was such a wonderful first ever parent/teacher conference. Daddy and I are so incredibly proud of you. You have no idea...

Once home...the surprises just kept coming as a big package showed up for you in the mail, from none other than Jo (aka Yo Yo) in Colorado! It was a super fun Halloween package with a special card, candy, toys, and a super cool Toy Story game rug. Daddy and I both remarked that the mailman probably got a chuckle as the package was addressed to "Mali (the Great) Wilkinson", ha ha.

it's addressed to "Mali (the Great) Wilkinson"

And one last final surprise before bed that night...as I got into your backpack, I noticed your kindergarten pictures arrived! Check them out ~ adorable!

woot! woot! so cute!

The next morning, I got an email from your school with this picture...evidently, Daddy brought a paper bag and shared the "magic marble" trick with your entire class and teachers. To say they loved it is an understatement, and later when I picked you up, your teacher said you told her, "My dad is so cool!" Yep, kiddo...we are very lucky to have a daddy that does fun and spontaneous stuff like this!

showing everyone the magic marble

With my packing your lunches now, you are creating your own combinations of food items to snack on and this is your latest combination...your own "salty caramel" invention...Pringles and caramel sauce. Yum??

clever concoction

It's been cooling off in a big way this week and so you have pulled out your mittens for the winter. You love them and refer to them as your "Hot Wheels" mittens since they have a big red flame on them, even wearing them during your entire speech session on Friday morning! That night, Daddy, you and I all drove out to Granville on a spontaneous pre-Halloween trip to see the haunted Buxton Inn and have dinner (or just a sundae in your case) and look around the inn. You, once again, wore your mittens for almost the entire meal until your sundae arrived. (What is it with these mittens?!)

you were not appreciating my spooky noises
or sharing of ghost stories...

On the way home you used my phone to watch some videos and cracked Daddy and me up with your latest Mali-ism. You got frustrated by the phone's buffering and exclaimed, "Hurry up, ya buffalo!" Ha.

We had mandarin class on Saturday morning, then home to work on your homework, and later that night we headed over to the Neuhausel's to check out their new house and of course, play!! It was so nice to spend time with this lovely family and as usual, so much fun to see you kids running around, listening to you squealing and laughing, and enjoying all of the simple stuff kids enjoy. I feel very fortunate to have met these people...once again, thank you adoption!

getting your crafts on with Mia and Freddy

quiet time with Mia

but not for long...here comes Freddy!

Sunday morning Daddy slept in while you and I hung out, listened to Katy Perry's Roar (a lot) and made some special spider deviled eggs for Halloween. Yum!

Click here for a video of your Roar! performance.


I don't know if you could catch it in the video above, but my favorite quote from Sunday morning...  Mali: "I like lions; I like tigers; I like sharks; I like bears and I like T-rexes. I like them all...I just like teeth!"

the spooky black olive spider deviled eggs!

After that, we headed off to see Aunt Lindsey and (soon to be Uncle) Jeff, Cate, and Ellie at a Halloween event, dragging your crazy cousins and Memaw along with us. It was a really fun time and so good to see everyone again. We headed home where you and your cousins made pizzas and you took a bath with your youngest and equally grungy cousin, Sammy. Man, was that bath water dirty when you girls emerged all squeaky clean! Ha.

going to gather some tre!

a prelude to the big night of treats later this week

chocolate...mmmm

we'll take any opportunity to wear our capes!

Daddy is definitely not afraid to
express himself

Aunt Lindsey and (soon to be Uncle) Jeff
(minus Cate and Ellie...we'll get them
in the pic next time!!)

a little help with the monkey bars

cousins

"shaving"

making pizzas

Getting to see all of these people today made us realize that we desperately need to make more time to see each and every one of them much, much more often. 

Love,
Mama

My Blooming Social Butterfly

Maliana ~

Holiday on Monday which meant bonus weekend day for me! You still had to go to school but we did get to sleep in and then out for donuts together. That night, once it got dark, you and Daddy took Abby for a walk and I lit up your pumpkin on the porch so you both could see it as you walked up to the house. It looks great and once it was lit, it reminded me of someone with a cleft lip. I asked you about it and you told me that it wasn't necessarily your intention to do that, but agreed that it reminded you of someone with a cleft lip too and it looked really cool! I told you I thought it was one of our best jack-o-lanterns yet!

This week you also had your first official school field trip. Your kindergarten class went to Lynd's Fruit Farm to pick some Fuji apples and learn about the life cycle of an apple and how they process all of the apples they harvest. I met you all at the school and followed your big yellow bus to the orchard. I have to admit, I got a little teary-eyed as I watched you hop onto it and drive away. It was your first time riding a school bus on your own. There are times here and there where I am very ready for you to get a little older and be able to do certain things a little more independently, but most days are like that day, where I just can't believe how fast the time has gone and I am so not ready for you to grow any older at all.

At certain points during the field trip you snuggled into me and wouldn't let me leave your side, and other times you seemed to not even notice me at all. It was so fun to watch you with all of your classmates and I have to say, kindergartners have to be one of the most entertaining bunches of little people around. That day I not only got to go on a fun field trip with your class, but I also got a glimpse of your growing social life and it was really neat to see.

trying apple cider while we learn about the
life cycle of an apple and the orchard

looking at the bees and their honeycomb

learning about the apple press

getting last minute instructions before they let you
all loose on the orchard

one of your friends at school, Jocelyn

getting on the big yellow bus...as I walked back to my car across
the field, I heard a tiny "Mom! Mom!...Bye, Mom!!" and
turned to see you waving at me...so cute.

It was a big week for school events because not only did we have your first official field trip, but also held Wilder's big Oktoberfest festival fundraiser. I helped with the cake walk and Daddy helped with the games' prize table. It was so awesome to see everyone together, having fun and raising money for the school. The first thing you wanted to show all of us once there was your favorite part of the whole school ~ the library! I love that you love books and libraries as much as I do. You had had your eye on a particular Doc McStuffins book all week so before we left, you had suckered Lao Lao into getting it for you from the book fair. Since Daddy and I had to work an hour each as part of our PTA duties, you got to hang out with Lao Lao the entire night. Lao Lao remarked on how comfortable you seemed there at your school, and I noticed it too. It was fun to see how many friends you ran into, how many kids you joked around with, and how many hugs were shared between you and other children. As a mom, I always wonder how your school days go, hope that you are liked and appreciated by your peers (and vice versa), and endlessly worry about you encountering difficulties as you learn to navigate your own social world. At the Oktoberfest, on that particular night, it was reassuring for me to realize that I probably don't need to worry about you nearly as much as I do...you are doing just fine.

helping me bake the cakes for the cake walk

decorating our cakes

getting the sprinkles just right

showing us some books at the book fair in the library

playing the games...not sure if you can see it
 or not, but Lao Lao's face here
cracks me up!

carefully selecting your prize

The weekend began with a beautiful day. This autumn has been spectacular. So, whenever I have an opportunity, I try to put on my running shoes and hit the trail. I had you in tow on Friday, but not wanting to waste my chance, I took you running with me while you ate dinner in the jogging stroller ~ two birds with one stone. I love that we live so close to a trail like this, especially during these gorgeous days of fall. Perfect running weather, if you ask me! And even more perfect was one of our conversations during the run...it went something like this:

You: "I love spending time with my family"
Me: "We love spending time with you too!"
You: " Mom, if I didn't have a mommy and daddy...it makes me happy when you came to get me in China"
Me: (stopping the stroller to look you in the eyes and give you a kiss on the head) "I am so happy you are in our family. Daddy and I are so lucky"

Man, if you only knew how much your Daddy and I love you...

dinner and a jog

Here was some of your artwork this week too...priceless stuff right here.

you told me this was a monster mom and dad

a family portrait with me in the middle of you and Daddy...
did you notice that I have a little "something
extra" going on?? ha ha!

Saturday we got out of town for an impromptu girls' trip with Lao Lao and headed down to Cincinnati, not sure exactly what we were going to do but then decided on EnterTRAINment Junction. Home of the world's largest indoor train display. This week they were having a special Halloween event along with all of their usual train stuff. We even took a ride on Thomas the Train right before we left. Your absolute favorite thing of the day was Curtain Chaos in their fun house, a maze of sorts, which I think we went through about 6 times, at least!

choo choo!!

checking out part of the huge train display

going through Trick or Treat Manor

you are getting so interested in what things
say now...it's fun watching
you learn how to read

crafts after trick or treating

trying to keep your balance in the
"anti-gravity" room

you LOVED this thing!

inside the Curtain Chaos

super cool optical illusion ~ Lao Lao shrunk!

excited! here we go!

fun ride!

just after this picture was taken, Lao Lao and
I discovered that you do an amazing zombie
impression ~ it was hilarious!!

On Sunday you and Daddy went to Gena's for breakfast, (hadn't been to that stomping ground in a while), then once home you watched football together while I grocery shopped and went running. Daddy is excited that you were really getting into watching the game with him. He finally has a football buddy in the family. It was a good 'daddy/daughter' morning for the two of you.

That afternoon we loaded a bunch of decorations in the car and headed to 'trunk or treat' at your daycare where they had hot dogs, games, face painting, and of course, trick or treating from all the parents' trunks. We've never done an event like this before and it was really nice to meet more kids and parents at your school that we haven't officially met yet. You actually ended up enjoying passing out the candy more than the actual 'trunk or treating' as you were a bit shy at first, but of course by the end you were running around like a crazy person with your friends. Once again, I love to see you branching out and making friends. I'm really glad we came to this event.

the world's smallest Ghostbuster ~
she may be tiny, but she's tough!

helping Daddy pass out candy

attempting trunk or treating

ready for the next customer!

you felt pretty cool in charge of that big candy bowl 

waiting for our next trunk or treater

with one of your favorite teachers, Ms. Barb

pumpkin bowling!

running!

chatting with friends

running, running, running...

with Lexie from your class

That night Blake and Allie came over for some stromboli and a giant iced chocolate chip cookie to celebrate their 7th anniversary. It was fun to hang out together and before they left, you all got into a huge tickle fight, or "tickle torture" as Aunt Lori used to call it. You did your best to help Allie out and try to fight off Daddy when he was tickling her. He's so strong, we'll have to strategize for next time and figure out how to really get him.

My takeaway this week has been how much I have noticed you blooming into this independent and social creature. I always knew you were a personable kid, but this week I have really realized that you have a very distinct social circle growing outside of our family. It's amazing to watch. I can't wait to see what the years ahead hold for you.

Love,
Mama