Ummmmmm

Tian tonight...

threw her arms around me and said sweetly, "I love you too much to get rid of you!"

Qi Qi and Qin Qin

I've read a lot about adoption and birthparents. From what I have read, it is really important for children to have an ease about discussing birthparents. Personally, I have not wanted to use the word China mommy because I don't want to confuse Tian with two mommy names. So today she and I had a talk. As we were swinging on the swings in the woods, I asked her what she would like to call her Birthmother. She thought for a moment and said, "chee chee." We talked about that for awhile and then asked her what she would like to call her Birthfather. She said, "You name him." So I named him, "chin chin." We talked and laughed about whether she might like to swing, if he had ever used a fork....

Later when I came in and Tian was napping, I researched the Chinese spellings of those pronunciations. This is what I came up with:

Qi means breath or spirit... 

Qin is the name of the emperor during the building of the Great Wall....

So Tian now has names for the very special people who gave her life from a physical standpoint. We are grateful to God for breathing life through them to create our family.

By the way... this should really be a scrapbook page about Tian's first fishing trip today! Caught two rainbow trout!! But although I remembered the camera, I forgot to check the battery! No pictures! But they were HUGE and tasted great at supper tonight!

Cousin Anna

Tian has a very sweet cousin, Anna Grace! Although she is 10 years old to Tian's young 4 years, she manages to adapt to whatever Tian wants to do when she comes to visit. Anna is long suffering and very patient! 

But the funniest thing about the whole relationship is how many times Tian wakes up in the morning or pops out of a room and announces a transformation! "I'm Anna Gwace now, and you (Daddy) are Uncle Ben (Anna's dad), and you are Zizi (Anna's mom, my sister)." Then we are a different family and Tian will not break character until she decided she is finished being Anna. Every time I call her Tian, she politely corrects me, "I'm Anna Gwace!" She tries new foods, shows us all the independent things she can actually do, "reads", and always says, "I can do this because I'm ten." We're so glad Anna is a wonderful example since Tian morphs into her so often.

 

But speaking of transformations, Tian also becomes Thomas the Train, Brum (an English car who is extremely helpful), her "twin" named Tian who is 3 years old (confusing at best!), a dog named Pickles, and many more that I can't think of right now!

At one time, I was worried that she didn't have an imagination!

Egypt

One of Tian's newest interests is Egypt. When we were at Busch Gardens a few weeks ago, Steve wanted to visit the King Tut exhibit there in "Egypt". I thought it would scare Tian but she walked through (in Steve's arms) with eyes wide. When we came home, she found a pyramid, 3-D book I had on King Tut's tomb. For the past week, she has begged to read it for bed time and we have complied.  What fun to discover all of the hidden pages and 3-D images in the book. We've talked about what King Tut believed about needing to bring treasures to his life after death and what we believe as Christians.  

Last night...

Dear God,

Thank-you that when I die and I am buried in the dirt, I will be in heaven and all the stuff will already be there!

Amen

Would you still love me??

Last night when I was putting Tian to bed, this was the conversation...

Mommy, would you still love me if I stuck my finger up your nose?

Yes, of course, I would!

Mommy, would you still love me if I poked you in the eye?

Yes, I still would! But I might have trouble seeing you!

Mommy, would you still love me if I went to China?

Yes, and I would follow you there because I love you!

But what if I found a really good hiding place like under a bed?

Yes, I would find you under the bed in China!

...

Mommy, can I stick my finger up your nose right now!

Sure! (Knowing she would be grossed out immediately!

She did it... barely!)

See! I still love you!!

And that conversation, my friends, was motivation to start blogging again!