Great End to the 2012 Year.

I have a lot to report since I have done nothing on the Blog since before Halloween.  We had a great October, November and December, and we are gearing up for another great and hopefully healthy and blessed year. 

Not to bore you with the mundane, but here are some snippets of the last several months...

Halloween:   For a child who did not understand the concept of dressing up and going door-to-door to ask for candy, who is somewhat shy when she first meets strangers, and who does not like masks and scary costumes, Zoey did a banner job of cleaning up in the candy-collecting department.   I am thinking it is because she is so stinkin' cute.  

Thanksgiving:  We have so very much to be thankful for, and we have been so blessed - especially this year for the wonderful transition that our family has experienced and all of the excitement that comes with having a preschooler in our midst again.  Zoey is such a champ-every month it is amazing how far she grows into our family (and this we don't even realize until another month has passed and we take a look at how much more progress has been made, if that makes any sense...). 

Disney:   In our traditional style, the trip was planned and executed in a 3-week window.  Nothing like getting an email from Air Tran with rock-bottom rates for flights between our hometown and Orlando to motivate someone in the family (uh-hem, Bryan) to convince the rest of us to go (not much arm-twisting) and make arrangements to go to Disney a couple weeks later.  

If you had followed along, we had gone to Hong Kong Disneyland when our flight was canceled on our way home from China-but this was very different.  This time, Zoey "got" it-she knew who the characters were and loved every minute of it.  And what a rockstar she was.  Two times her photo made the screen shot for the Laugh Floor-and one time as Boo.  She loved getting the characters' autographs and was a little put out that she could not ride every ride (she was a little short for Space Mountain, and cried or pouted every time we took turns riding it without her).  Her favorites: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, followed by Soarin', Test Track, that raceway in the Magic Kingdom, and of course, Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios.  Least favorites: Haunted Mansion, a Bug's Life, and she absolutely hated the Fantasmic show (which is one of our favorites). 

She really was not all that fond of the China pavilion at Epcot...

Glad we brought the stroller...

She loves Stitch! 

Anyone know how hard it is to get 4 kids to smile for a picture-at the same time??

Notice Sam Tebow-ing at the bottom of the Totem.   

O  -  H  -  I  -  O

A little sisterly love...

If you notice, Jenna's hair does not fit in the picture.  Hehe. 

And because I just made fun of Jenna, here is a picture for her-Eeyore is her favorite.  

Christmas: Despite being a little overwhelmed with the amount of people, chaos, presents and attention, Zoey got the hang of Christmas.  The best was on Christmas Eve when we had the kids open gifts to each other-she insisted on being first.  She had picked out gifts for everyone and gave them to us - she was so excited when we loved what she picked out (and I have to say, she was dead-on with her choices for everyone) and gave us all a big hug and said "Happy Christmas everybody!"  

And, not to lose track of the reason for the season-seeing firsthand the transformation of an orphan into a well-loved daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece and cousin helped make this Christmas extra special.  

A little overwhelmed

She loved the Batman cape and mask that Santa brought.  

NYE: We did celebrate the transition to 2013, American Style, and we are all going to participate in the local Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration next month.  

SNOW!:  For a child who was bundled up with multiple layers of clothes most of her life, she took to the snow without much fuss.  She has had a blast sledding and playing in the snow.  

She actually wanted to peel layers off.  Shhh... don't tell Foster Mom.  (Foster Mom did email me that it is getting cold and to make sure we dress Zoey in warm clothes.  Cute.)

My personal favorite. 

Snow Angels, or Michelin Man? Your guess is as good as mine.

New Changes for the New Year:  Not to jinx anything, but she is finally sleeping in her own bed.  A couple nights ago I tucked her in and she said to me, "Mommy-I love my's droom and I love sleeping in my's bed."  (Had to add the little accent-it is so cute.)  WOOHOO!!!  She has done a great job transitioning to that once lonely, desolate, cold, dark, damp and scary room.  Haha.  

One of the more sad things that we did experience these last few months is that no matter how hard we have tried, she is losing her Chinese memories.  She has completely lost her Mandarin and is losing her memories of her China Family.  I have received pictures from Foster Mom of their home, the family and her few possessions that she had to leave behind.  Zoey sometimes has stories about these things (which seem to be fairly accurate) and she'll remember a bike, scooter, dog, room, etc... and that starts her talking.  But in late November I was showing her a picture that Foster Mom had sent of the family and she pointed to her China Brother and China Sister and said to me, "Mom-I can't remember their names." 

I know that part of this is her way of coping-she moved on from Mandarin before we even hit the States.  She wanted nothing to do with poor Miss Tao, the grad student who was trying to speak to her in an effort to help her keep her Mandarin.  She was done with that part of her life and for her it is time to move on.   But part of me thinks that I didn't do my job.  I think the reality is that not matter how hard I would have tried, unless some of us in the house were fluent in Mandarin, there was just no way we would have been able to help her retain that.  Have I admitted this to the Foster Mom?  Heck, no-and she does mention every so often in her emails that she hopes Duo Duo (I have not told her that we changed her name yet either-just can't do that to her) still remembers her language.  Eek.

I have to accept that she wants to live in the present and live for the future, not the past.  I have to admit that no matter what we do, despite only being 4 she is more of a survivor than I have ever had to be, and respect her wishes. 

So - now she sings to Justin Beiber, loves Disney princesses, talks about going back to Chicago for a visit, and (she actually told me this) is going to marry Hunter Hayes someday (not now, as she is "too small").  She is just like any other typical American, 4-year old girl. 

Happy New Year!