Our first day with our temporary big girl is done (or at any rate, both girls are in bed and I haven't heard anything out of them in the last few minutes), and it went well. We picked her up this morning on our way to church, so we had her most of the day. She went into Sunday School, but sat with us for the first part of the service (which was a celebration of babies and small children in the church) and then chose to come with me to help out in the nursery for the rest of the service.
It is, for me, mentally tiring to spend all day with someone I don't know, especially if I'm responsible for them! But other than that it has been better than I expected. Big girl is doing her best to make herself agreeable, and succeeding quite well. There were one or two times I think she recklessly disregarded her own opinion when expressing agreement with me on something, and I noticed that she's very good at observing what people around her are doing and adjusting her behavior to fit in. However, she is not shy about asking for things she wants (especially if it involves food) and she has told us some of her likes and dislikes. Some of the things she likes are gardening (which she knows more about than I do!), cooking, art, playdough and spicy food. She volunteered to help me with both weed-pulling and cooking. So now I have some ideas of what we can do together for the next few days! Esther thinks she is The.Most.Exciting.Person.Ever and wanted to be with her every minute. Big girl clearly has experience with smaller children, and they played together most of the afternoon without getting into a single fight! For the most part they played playdough, and I was able to do a bunch of dishes and study Chinese while keeping an ear out on them in the living room. I was tickled, though, when Big girl wanted me to "taste" her playdough "food"!
One of our new house rules, which we are getting to test out this week, is that children's bedrooms are private. No child may go into another child's room without being invited, and then there must be a parent present. Well, they both got the "invited" part (although Esther is not keen on it!), but early on in the day I did come to check on Esther after a minute away to find that she had been invited into Big girl's room to watch her put away her stuff! So apparently, the "parent" part of the rule went in one ear and out the other. It wasn't an issue the rest of the day, as Big girl mostly chose to play with Esther in the living room. We'll see how the relationship goes the rest of the week.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
dentist
I did remember the name of our dentist, of course. Tim wasn't feeling great yesterday morning, and Esther had been complaining from time to time of an "owie" tooth, so I called and asked if I could switch her appointment for his (she and I were scheduled for next week). They said fine, so in we went. Esther was a little nervous initially, but she did great! She opened her mouth, complied with instructions, and got a good cleaning and inspection. I really liked both the hygienist and the dentist.
The good news: Esther's teeth are very healthy. The "owie" tooth could be gum tenderness, or it could be the tooth hurting from banging into the one below it, but it does not appear to be a cavity.
The bad news: Esther has a class-three malocclusion, otherwise known as an underbite. I knew she had an underbite, but didn't think it was a big deal. Our dentist respectfully disagrees, so we now have an assignment to get an orthodontic evaluation. Apparently (piecing together what the dentist said with what I read on Dr. Google last night), there are two possible causes for an underbite: skeletal (the lower jaw is outgrowing the upper one, causing the lower teeth to align in front of the upper ones) or orthodontic (the jaws are in the right place but the lower teeth are pushed too far forward and/or the upper teeth are recessed--this can happen with extensive pacifier use or thumb-sucking, or if the tongue is constantly thrusting forward, which I think Esther may do when she sleeps as the tip of her tongue can frequently be seen protruding from her mouth). The two causes have different prognoses and treatments, and the orthodontist should be able to tell which we're dealing with. When the dentist was having Esther open and close her mouth, we could see that her top and bottom teeth actually line up almost exactly, but in order to close her mouth fully she has to push her lower teeth in front of her upper teeth (rather than behind). I think the dentist suspects that her underbite is of the skeletal variety.
As for long-term consequences of having an underbite, I asked the dentist and he said it was primarily an aesthetic issue. Well, that's not so bad. I learned that about 10% of Asians have an underbite, and thinking of people I know or know of who have an underbite (Michelle Obama apparently being one of them), I don't think it's especially unattractive. But it can also cause less-than-ideal wear patterns on the teeth, which could be a problem long-term, and from my reading last night I gather that underbite can also be implicated in chronic jaw pain for adults. And that is bad, especially since the treatment for an adult with a skeletal malocclusion is a year of braces, followed by jaw surgery (which I think involves breaking and repositioning the jaw), followed by more braces. Yeah, not what I want my little girl to be going through in a couple of decades. For children, I'm not sure there's clear consensus on treatment, except that they shouldn't have surgery since their jaws aren't done growing. There are devices which purport to retard the growth of the lower jaw or enhance the growth of the upper jaw, but they sound uncomfortable, and their results could be undone by adolescent jaw growth patterns. Orthodontia can be used to change the angles of teeth and how they line up in relation to each other, but it can only do so much if the jaws themselves are out of whack.
I'm really not keen on treating something that she can probably live with just fine. But if, on the other hand, putting her in nighttime headgear for a couple of years could prevent her from having chronic pain or jaw surgery further down the road, it would be worth it. I guess we'll have to wait and see what information we get from the orthodontist. (In any case, I don't think interventions are typically done until children are several years older than she is now.)
The good news: Esther's teeth are very healthy. The "owie" tooth could be gum tenderness, or it could be the tooth hurting from banging into the one below it, but it does not appear to be a cavity.
The bad news: Esther has a class-three malocclusion, otherwise known as an underbite. I knew she had an underbite, but didn't think it was a big deal. Our dentist respectfully disagrees, so we now have an assignment to get an orthodontic evaluation. Apparently (piecing together what the dentist said with what I read on Dr. Google last night), there are two possible causes for an underbite: skeletal (the lower jaw is outgrowing the upper one, causing the lower teeth to align in front of the upper ones) or orthodontic (the jaws are in the right place but the lower teeth are pushed too far forward and/or the upper teeth are recessed--this can happen with extensive pacifier use or thumb-sucking, or if the tongue is constantly thrusting forward, which I think Esther may do when she sleeps as the tip of her tongue can frequently be seen protruding from her mouth). The two causes have different prognoses and treatments, and the orthodontist should be able to tell which we're dealing with. When the dentist was having Esther open and close her mouth, we could see that her top and bottom teeth actually line up almost exactly, but in order to close her mouth fully she has to push her lower teeth in front of her upper teeth (rather than behind). I think the dentist suspects that her underbite is of the skeletal variety.
As for long-term consequences of having an underbite, I asked the dentist and he said it was primarily an aesthetic issue. Well, that's not so bad. I learned that about 10% of Asians have an underbite, and thinking of people I know or know of who have an underbite (Michelle Obama apparently being one of them), I don't think it's especially unattractive. But it can also cause less-than-ideal wear patterns on the teeth, which could be a problem long-term, and from my reading last night I gather that underbite can also be implicated in chronic jaw pain for adults. And that is bad, especially since the treatment for an adult with a skeletal malocclusion is a year of braces, followed by jaw surgery (which I think involves breaking and repositioning the jaw), followed by more braces. Yeah, not what I want my little girl to be going through in a couple of decades. For children, I'm not sure there's clear consensus on treatment, except that they shouldn't have surgery since their jaws aren't done growing. There are devices which purport to retard the growth of the lower jaw or enhance the growth of the upper jaw, but they sound uncomfortable, and their results could be undone by adolescent jaw growth patterns. Orthodontia can be used to change the angles of teeth and how they line up in relation to each other, but it can only do so much if the jaws themselves are out of whack.
I'm really not keen on treating something that she can probably live with just fine. But if, on the other hand, putting her in nighttime headgear for a couple of years could prevent her from having chronic pain or jaw surgery further down the road, it would be worth it. I guess we'll have to wait and see what information we get from the orthodontist. (In any case, I don't think interventions are typically done until children are several years older than she is now.)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Can I just say...
...that my head hurts?
I've been trying to get all our family medical appointments in line. My first-choice pediatrician for big boy (selected after careful research) turned out to have retired last year. My second choice (selected after further research) turned out to have moved out-of-state. My third choice doesn't do appointments for first visits--we just walk in on whatever day we want to. I'm not quite sure how to note that on the calendar but okay, whatever, at least he's still practicing in the area.
Then I realized that I wrote down when all our dental appointments (made a week or two ago) are--but I didn't write down the name of the dentist. Being as Tim's appointment is tomorrow, I sure hope I can remember!
AAAAAAAAARGH!!
I've been trying to get all our family medical appointments in line. My first-choice pediatrician for big boy (selected after careful research) turned out to have retired last year. My second choice (selected after further research) turned out to have moved out-of-state. My third choice doesn't do appointments for first visits--we just walk in on whatever day we want to. I'm not quite sure how to note that on the calendar but okay, whatever, at least he's still practicing in the area.
Then I realized that I wrote down when all our dental appointments (made a week or two ago) are--but I didn't write down the name of the dentist. Being as Tim's appointment is tomorrow, I sure hope I can remember!
AAAAAAAAARGH!!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Random thoughts
I have several well-ordered, interesting topics for blog entries percolating, but I don't have time to write them today. So instead, here are a sample of the things on my mind.
Naps. Is Esther ready to give them up? Over the past few months she has sometimes taken a long time to fall asleep at naptime, and/or bedtime. On Monday she didn't take a nap at all, despite two attempts, and did not appear to need one. At first I was alarmed. Then I thought, "Wait a minute, if she doesn't nap, I can put her to bed earlier at night, she might stop waking up at 5 in the morning asking to come into our bed, I won't have to lie down with her two times a day to help her fall asleep, and the end result would be that I get more sleep myself and spend less time doing nothing. Brilliant!" Then the next four days she took a nap, and obviously needed it. So I guess we're in that in-between phase where she needs a nap some days and doesn't some days, and I will never know which is which until she either falls asleep or doesn't. Sigh.
I posted a comment on another mother's blog the other day and signed it, "Mom to another aging-out boy...." I didn't realize until a little later that I had signed it in the present tense. I guess this adoption is feeling pretty real!
Remember how our home study agency required us to become an accredited foster care family for our state? Well, we have been asked to do respite care for a 12-year-old girl whose foster family is going out of town for a week and can't take her with them. We said yes! It was absolute perfect timing--probably the only week this spring we could have done it, actually--and we certainly want to help other families out. Still, it is a step out of our comfort zone. I spent yesterday trying to wrap my brain around the fact that we had actually agreed to do it. It shouldn't be nearly as challenging as our first weeks with our son, especially since she will be in school during the day--but you expect to make major investments of time and energy in a relationship that is going to last a lifetime. It's a little weirder to do it with a child you have no connection to. Now, though, I'm getting a little excited. I don't know much about the girl yet except that her foster family (who have toddlers in the home) haven't seen any concerning behavioral issues during the time she's been with them. Her foster mom is going to call and talk with me early next week.
I'm getting to write in the blog now because Tim and Esther are out getting gas and "maybe stopping by the dollar store while we're at it." Esther has been telling me lately something about buying a present at the dollar store and hiding it. But I really shouldn't be telling you that, because it's a secret. ;-)
Naps. Is Esther ready to give them up? Over the past few months she has sometimes taken a long time to fall asleep at naptime, and/or bedtime. On Monday she didn't take a nap at all, despite two attempts, and did not appear to need one. At first I was alarmed. Then I thought, "Wait a minute, if she doesn't nap, I can put her to bed earlier at night, she might stop waking up at 5 in the morning asking to come into our bed, I won't have to lie down with her two times a day to help her fall asleep, and the end result would be that I get more sleep myself and spend less time doing nothing. Brilliant!" Then the next four days she took a nap, and obviously needed it. So I guess we're in that in-between phase where she needs a nap some days and doesn't some days, and I will never know which is which until she either falls asleep or doesn't. Sigh.
I posted a comment on another mother's blog the other day and signed it, "Mom to another aging-out boy...." I didn't realize until a little later that I had signed it in the present tense. I guess this adoption is feeling pretty real!
Remember how our home study agency required us to become an accredited foster care family for our state? Well, we have been asked to do respite care for a 12-year-old girl whose foster family is going out of town for a week and can't take her with them. We said yes! It was absolute perfect timing--probably the only week this spring we could have done it, actually--and we certainly want to help other families out. Still, it is a step out of our comfort zone. I spent yesterday trying to wrap my brain around the fact that we had actually agreed to do it. It shouldn't be nearly as challenging as our first weeks with our son, especially since she will be in school during the day--but you expect to make major investments of time and energy in a relationship that is going to last a lifetime. It's a little weirder to do it with a child you have no connection to. Now, though, I'm getting a little excited. I don't know much about the girl yet except that her foster family (who have toddlers in the home) haven't seen any concerning behavioral issues during the time she's been with them. Her foster mom is going to call and talk with me early next week.
I'm getting to write in the blog now because Tim and Esther are out getting gas and "maybe stopping by the dollar store while we're at it." Esther has been telling me lately something about buying a present at the dollar store and hiding it. But I really shouldn't be telling you that, because it's a secret. ;-)
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Imagination fails
I was recently reading some articles about talking with adopted children about adoption. Usually I just read the preschool stuff, but this time I thought I'd better read the adolescent stuff as well, since we're about to have an adolescent in the family. One thing the article touched on was what an intense part thoughts of birth family can play in an adolescent's inner life. Not that it is the same thing, but it made me think about what an intense part our children-to-be have played in my thoughts for each adoption, even before we were officially in process.
All that to say, I have been thinking a lot about our son lately. The trouble is, I don't know what to think. I know our lives will change drastically in less than two months, but I can't picture how. It's not lack of information. I have read numerous books about older child adoption and first-hand accounts from other adoptive parents, and I know what range of experiences is normal. But I have no way of knowing where in that range our experience will fall. Even though we have been blessed by way more information about our son than is generally available to families adopting from China...none of it really tells us what kind of a person he is. We have reports from people at his orphanage who know him well...but I have to wonder how selectively the information may have been chosen and presented. After all, their main goal is to recruit a family, not to paint a perfectly objective picture. We have other reports from people whose objectivity I trust, but their observations were much more superficial. So when I try to picture what it will be like to have our new child in our house, I'm at a loss. And I find that it's frustrating not being able to picture my life beyond six weeks from now!!
For example, when Tim and I were trying to develop teenager-ready house rules and consequences recently, we found it hard to formulate them without knowing either what discipline issues we will have, or what our son cares about enough to motivate him to do things "the way we do it in this family." (On the subject of behavior issues, I should clarify that I think we have a pretty good idea of issues that are common among older internationally-adopted children coming out of institutions, we just don't know which issues our particular child will have. I don't, for example, see him being both an over-pleaser and oppositional at the same time.) I don't know which of our favorite summer activities will be things that we can do with him. I don't know if he will like what we normally eat, or what we/he will eat if he doesn't. And the list goes on. At least with a newborn you don't have to know their personality to have some idea of what it will be like caring for them the first few months!
Here are the things that we do know (or are pretty sure we know) based on our various sources:
He has a beautiful singing voice (possibly in transition right now--he is about due for his voice to change), and he loves music.
When he is happy, he has a smile that lights up a room. (We got some update pictures of him playing in the snow that made me hope for a snowy winter next year!)
He very much wants his own family, and is willing to move to a foreign country to get one. He has had some experience living or visiting with families in China. He has had a much wider range of social experiences than most kids growing up in orphanages.
He is skinny and a little on the short side for his age.
He is a favorite of adults, gets along well with peers, and helps out with younger children (but that's not necessarily the same as being kind to them).
Our most recent report from the orphanage says he "has his own opinion on how to live his life"--perhaps a positive way of saying, as his nanny did on his video interview (in response to a clarification question), that when he is upset he argues with his caregivers! Still, that is normal for a teenager, and I would rather live with a child who knows his own mind than one who has never had an independent thought. His initial report described him as very understanding and good at communication and expressing himself.
We have heard him described as both "outgoing" and "quiet." He impresses outsiders as being mature compared to his orphanage-mates, but who knows.
Back to the discipline question...we finally gave up. Our basic house rules (no hurting people, no destroying stuff, be safe, listen to Mom and Dad) will be the same for him as for Esther, and we will just have to figure out the details as they come up...and accept that it will take some trial and error to figure out consequences that get the desired effect (motivation to improve behavior) without triggering shame, fear or rage that could make the effect of the consequences worse that the effect of the original misdeed. I don't like getting things wrong...but I generally get things wrong with Esther a time or two when first addressing a new phase of misbehavior, so I don't know why I would expect to be more competent with a teenager that I barely know! I have a feeling I'm about to get a lot of practice in letting go of my own expectations for myself, and accepting being a learner rather than an expert. I'm not looking forward to the exhaustion that I know will accompany all this learning, but part of me is getting really curious and excited to finally get to know our new son!
All that to say, I have been thinking a lot about our son lately. The trouble is, I don't know what to think. I know our lives will change drastically in less than two months, but I can't picture how. It's not lack of information. I have read numerous books about older child adoption and first-hand accounts from other adoptive parents, and I know what range of experiences is normal. But I have no way of knowing where in that range our experience will fall. Even though we have been blessed by way more information about our son than is generally available to families adopting from China...none of it really tells us what kind of a person he is. We have reports from people at his orphanage who know him well...but I have to wonder how selectively the information may have been chosen and presented. After all, their main goal is to recruit a family, not to paint a perfectly objective picture. We have other reports from people whose objectivity I trust, but their observations were much more superficial. So when I try to picture what it will be like to have our new child in our house, I'm at a loss. And I find that it's frustrating not being able to picture my life beyond six weeks from now!!
For example, when Tim and I were trying to develop teenager-ready house rules and consequences recently, we found it hard to formulate them without knowing either what discipline issues we will have, or what our son cares about enough to motivate him to do things "the way we do it in this family." (On the subject of behavior issues, I should clarify that I think we have a pretty good idea of issues that are common among older internationally-adopted children coming out of institutions, we just don't know which issues our particular child will have. I don't, for example, see him being both an over-pleaser and oppositional at the same time.) I don't know which of our favorite summer activities will be things that we can do with him. I don't know if he will like what we normally eat, or what we/he will eat if he doesn't. And the list goes on. At least with a newborn you don't have to know their personality to have some idea of what it will be like caring for them the first few months!
Here are the things that we do know (or are pretty sure we know) based on our various sources:
He has a beautiful singing voice (possibly in transition right now--he is about due for his voice to change), and he loves music.
When he is happy, he has a smile that lights up a room. (We got some update pictures of him playing in the snow that made me hope for a snowy winter next year!)
He very much wants his own family, and is willing to move to a foreign country to get one. He has had some experience living or visiting with families in China. He has had a much wider range of social experiences than most kids growing up in orphanages.
He is skinny and a little on the short side for his age.
He is a favorite of adults, gets along well with peers, and helps out with younger children (but that's not necessarily the same as being kind to them).
Our most recent report from the orphanage says he "has his own opinion on how to live his life"--perhaps a positive way of saying, as his nanny did on his video interview (in response to a clarification question), that when he is upset he argues with his caregivers! Still, that is normal for a teenager, and I would rather live with a child who knows his own mind than one who has never had an independent thought. His initial report described him as very understanding and good at communication and expressing himself.
We have heard him described as both "outgoing" and "quiet." He impresses outsiders as being mature compared to his orphanage-mates, but who knows.
Back to the discipline question...we finally gave up. Our basic house rules (no hurting people, no destroying stuff, be safe, listen to Mom and Dad) will be the same for him as for Esther, and we will just have to figure out the details as they come up...and accept that it will take some trial and error to figure out consequences that get the desired effect (motivation to improve behavior) without triggering shame, fear or rage that could make the effect of the consequences worse that the effect of the original misdeed. I don't like getting things wrong...but I generally get things wrong with Esther a time or two when first addressing a new phase of misbehavior, so I don't know why I would expect to be more competent with a teenager that I barely know! I have a feeling I'm about to get a lot of practice in letting go of my own expectations for myself, and accepting being a learner rather than an expert. I'm not looking forward to the exhaustion that I know will accompany all this learning, but part of me is getting really curious and excited to finally get to know our new son!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
On to the next step!
China has reviewed all of our dossier documents and issued its definitive approval of us as our future son's parents!!!! Now we have to complete part two of the immigration process, in which our son will be found eligible for an immigrant visa, and then all we need is our official travel document from China! The immigration process is actually more complicated than one would guess, involving multiple steps and offices in two countries, but still--we are getting closer!!!!!!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Easter tidbits
Happy Easter! (a little late) He is Risen! (then, now and always!)
We started our Easter doings just over a week before, with an Easter egg hunt at our church. The event started with all the kids coming into the sanctuary to sing along with a couple of kids' praise music videos that are favorites on Wednesday night. The leader invited any kids who wanted to, to come up on stage and help lead the singing. Esther was one of the first ones up, and boy, did she get into it! I wasn't able to get any really good pictures, but the one below will give you an idea of how she was dancing. The child was airborne! (One of the other kids told her afterwards, "You did good, Esther!")
The eggs had to be hunted indoors, as the ground was sopping wet outside. Esther's age group went first to the gym, where eggs were simply scattered across the floor and they all ran around like maniacs picking up as many as they could. Then they were let into the kitchen were eggs were a little more creatively distributed. I had picked out a not-too-big bucket for Esther, somewhat on purpose since I didn't want her inundated with sugar, so she got maybe twenty eggs. Some other kids had more like 40--yikes! She was satisfied with what she had, and willingly shared some of the eggs that were threatening to overflow her basket with a toddler.
After the egg hunt, we all re-convened in the sanctuary to watch a children's Bible version of the first Easter, which I thought was quite well done. We finished up with a pizza lunch. The next day, when I was on nursery duty, I (or rather, the babies) found four overlooked eggs in the nursery.
On Palm Sunday, she enjoyed waving palm branches and saying "Hosanna!" The next few days we read through the story of Jesus' last week (on earth) in a children's Bible several times. Esther had evidently been through the story in our church's children's program as well, in some detail--she kept asking me why people put thorns on Jesus' head and there was blood running down his face. The children's Bible was a little graphic as well, and one morning she told me she had had a bad dream that "bad guys cut Jesus into pieces and he said 'Wah.'" After that I backed off a little on the reading.
I already posted about coloring Easter eggs and our Seder at church, so I won't repeat that here. She got to do a second Easter egg hunt at her story hour on Friday, this one outside. She also got to color some more eggs!
On Saturday evening, we went through our set of "Resurrection eggs" with her. This is a set of twelve plastic Easter eggs, each of which has some symbol in it to remind the viewer of Jesus' last week. For example, the first egg has a little plastic donkey because Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The last egg is empty, because Jesus' tomb was empty on Easter morning. We let Esther open each egg and tell us what was inside and what it had to do with Jesus. She knew a lot of them, and had fun discovering what was inside each one.
On Easter morning, Tim and I both had parts in our church's early service drama. Tim had a monologue as Malchus, the servant of the high priest whose ear was cut off by Peter. Esther did not care for hearing him talk in first person about his ear being cut off! I had a short monologue as Mary Magdalene, after she had encountered the risen Jesus. One of the last lines in my monologue was, "Jesus is alive!!" Esther was much impressed, and has been asking me periodically ever since, "Why did you wear that thing [scarf] on your head and say 'Jesus is alive!'" In the actual service, right after my monologue, I was to walk over to one of the windows, which we had covered with a thick material, rip the material off to let the light shine in, and proclaim, "He is risen!" Then the rest of the cast members and other volunteers ripped the material off of the other windows. In the middle of the excitement, I heard a little voice from the second row (where Esther was sitting with family friends) exclaim, "He is risen! Jesus is alive!" Then the worship leader went up on stage and said, "Hallelujah," and Esther shouted back, "Hallelujah!!" Ordinarily I don't want my child to be loud in church, but under the circumstances it was very appropriate. After the dramatic first service, we had an all-church Easter breakfast and then a more standard second service.
Esther wore a silky pink qipao (a traditional Chinese style) with a floral pattern. She did not want to be subjected to a photo shoot. The picture below is the best one I was able to get. (Yes, she is wearing her rain boots!)
After her nap, she hunted for her Easter basket, finally finding it inside our recycle containers.
Her favorite part of the contents was a plastic, wind-up chicken that walks and lays bubble gum eggs. We had been watching an old home video the last time we were at my grandma's house, which showed my brother getting such a chicken for some holiday (I think his birthday). Esther thought that was the coolest thing ever and asked if she could have one. I couldn't remember having ever seen anything like it, but I told her if I saw one I could get it for her. And wouldn't you know, when I was in Walmart shopping for her Easter basket...there was the chicken.
We started our Easter doings just over a week before, with an Easter egg hunt at our church. The event started with all the kids coming into the sanctuary to sing along with a couple of kids' praise music videos that are favorites on Wednesday night. The leader invited any kids who wanted to, to come up on stage and help lead the singing. Esther was one of the first ones up, and boy, did she get into it! I wasn't able to get any really good pictures, but the one below will give you an idea of how she was dancing. The child was airborne! (One of the other kids told her afterwards, "You did good, Esther!")
The eggs had to be hunted indoors, as the ground was sopping wet outside. Esther's age group went first to the gym, where eggs were simply scattered across the floor and they all ran around like maniacs picking up as many as they could. Then they were let into the kitchen were eggs were a little more creatively distributed. I had picked out a not-too-big bucket for Esther, somewhat on purpose since I didn't want her inundated with sugar, so she got maybe twenty eggs. Some other kids had more like 40--yikes! She was satisfied with what she had, and willingly shared some of the eggs that were threatening to overflow her basket with a toddler.
After the egg hunt, we all re-convened in the sanctuary to watch a children's Bible version of the first Easter, which I thought was quite well done. We finished up with a pizza lunch. The next day, when I was on nursery duty, I (or rather, the babies) found four overlooked eggs in the nursery.
On Palm Sunday, she enjoyed waving palm branches and saying "Hosanna!" The next few days we read through the story of Jesus' last week (on earth) in a children's Bible several times. Esther had evidently been through the story in our church's children's program as well, in some detail--she kept asking me why people put thorns on Jesus' head and there was blood running down his face. The children's Bible was a little graphic as well, and one morning she told me she had had a bad dream that "bad guys cut Jesus into pieces and he said 'Wah.'" After that I backed off a little on the reading.
I already posted about coloring Easter eggs and our Seder at church, so I won't repeat that here. She got to do a second Easter egg hunt at her story hour on Friday, this one outside. She also got to color some more eggs!
On Saturday evening, we went through our set of "Resurrection eggs" with her. This is a set of twelve plastic Easter eggs, each of which has some symbol in it to remind the viewer of Jesus' last week. For example, the first egg has a little plastic donkey because Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The last egg is empty, because Jesus' tomb was empty on Easter morning. We let Esther open each egg and tell us what was inside and what it had to do with Jesus. She knew a lot of them, and had fun discovering what was inside each one.
On Easter morning, Tim and I both had parts in our church's early service drama. Tim had a monologue as Malchus, the servant of the high priest whose ear was cut off by Peter. Esther did not care for hearing him talk in first person about his ear being cut off! I had a short monologue as Mary Magdalene, after she had encountered the risen Jesus. One of the last lines in my monologue was, "Jesus is alive!!" Esther was much impressed, and has been asking me periodically ever since, "Why did you wear that thing [scarf] on your head and say 'Jesus is alive!'" In the actual service, right after my monologue, I was to walk over to one of the windows, which we had covered with a thick material, rip the material off to let the light shine in, and proclaim, "He is risen!" Then the rest of the cast members and other volunteers ripped the material off of the other windows. In the middle of the excitement, I heard a little voice from the second row (where Esther was sitting with family friends) exclaim, "He is risen! Jesus is alive!" Then the worship leader went up on stage and said, "Hallelujah," and Esther shouted back, "Hallelujah!!" Ordinarily I don't want my child to be loud in church, but under the circumstances it was very appropriate. After the dramatic first service, we had an all-church Easter breakfast and then a more standard second service.
Esther wore a silky pink qipao (a traditional Chinese style) with a floral pattern. She did not want to be subjected to a photo shoot. The picture below is the best one I was able to get. (Yes, she is wearing her rain boots!)
After her nap, she hunted for her Easter basket, finally finding it inside our recycle containers.
We ended the day by having friends over for Easter dinner in the early evening (which turned out to be lateish evening, since our downstairs refrigerator is apparently set too cold and the turkey didn't thaw as it should have). But the food all tasted good when it was done, and meantime Esther and her little friend had had a blast running through our new play sprinkler, and the grown-ups had enjoyed chatting outside on a very warm spring day. So all in all, we had a really nice Easter!