Happy 11th Birthday, Shaling Annabelle Reynolds!

Shaling turns 11 today (and her Great Grandma Coonrod turns 84). Shaling is excited about having a pink cake and a slumber party tonight. I'm sure I'll have plenty of fun and happy pictures to share. However, this morning I am feeling a bit more sentimental. I found a poem that I'd like to share with you, only I changed the gender of the child to fit my family. You can find the original here: http://poetry.adoption.com/poems/my-childs-birthday.html

It's my child's birthday
She just went dashing by
Her eyes are sparkling with the excitement meant only for today.
Presents, kisses, hugs, cake, ice cream

It all seems so natural.
It's a day of looking back and looking forward.

It's my child's birthday
But there is something different happening inside me.
This should be a day of complete joy
A day for Thanksgiving
But in the midst of all this excitement
I pause, because my thoughts are about someone else for a time.

It's my child's birthday
I have no memories of her life growing inside me and fighting to be released.
Another someone was there
Another someone suffered for my joy.

It's my child's birthday
But someone, somewhere, is feeling emptiness inside.
I'm sure she is wondering
Who she looks like
If she is big or small.
Wondering if she laughs much.

It's my child's birthday
And in the midst of this blessed day that was given to me
I have a prayer.

Oh God, that I may never forget that someone suffered so much to give life to my child.
That someone loved my child so very much that she gave her the right to live.
May I never forget for a moment and especially now, today, to offer a prayer of thanks for that someone.
And that you, dear God, will always be there for that someone to help her through the hurts she will have when she stops to think that today is "my child's birthday."

~Unknown

A New, Yet Old, Video of Long Sha Ling

I came home late last night from St. Louis (watched the Cardinals beat the Reds) to find a padded envelope on the counter, addressed to me. Exhaustion won over curiosity and I hit the sack. However, I took the envelope to work with me today. During my morning break, I opened it up to discover this:

And this:

Ok, so NOW my curiosity was not only winning, but beating the snot out of me. Unfortunately for me, they turned off our CD drives on our work computers, so finding out just what precious treasure is on this CD had to wait until I arrived home. I knew it would be something good, as Diana, a warm and wonderful lady who works her tail off at our favorite adoption agency, and who herself has experienced adoption from both directions, and her mother got to spend some time with Shaling in China before we went to get her (or ever met her). They supplied me with pictures and videos of my little girl that were all I had to hold onto until I finally had her in my arms.

All afternoon, I was supposing that this CD probably was a back-up copy of those very pictures and videos that Diana and Aleda had already shared with me. Little did I know it would have something even better -- an adorable video of my beautiful daughter I had not yet had the pleasure of viewing. In it, Shaling is singing a Chinese song. I showed it to her and she doesn't remember the video at all. I asked her to describe the song for me and all I can get out of her is that it has something to do with a flower. If anyone knows anymore, I'd love to hear about it.

Here it is:

龙沙玲 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling Reads A Story

Last night, Brock recorded Shaling reading outloud while sprawled across her bed. He took 4 different clips, all 20 to 30 seconds long. I had them sewn together into 1 video (below). For a little girl that couldn't read any English just under 2 years ago, I think she does quite well.

Shaling Reads A Story from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Labor Day Weekend in Monticello, Indiana

We spent Labor Day weekend visiting Grandma & Grandpa Reynolds. Grandma was generous enough to take many pictures. I will share them here.

Shaling, Cooper, & Preston go tubing

 Chase cheeses it up for the camera.

 The 4 Reynolds cousins go swimming.

 Nice "lake hair", Shaling.

 Michelle & Scott, Brock & Amy, Preston & Shaling, Chase & Cooper

Random Update

Shaling is speaking English so well that it is easy to forget that a language barrier still exists. However, it rears its head and shows up at random opportunities. For example, when Brock fixed breakfast for the kids last Saturday morning, I was encouraging Preston (to no avail) to be appreciative and tell his dad thank you. As Shaling entered the dining room, I said, "why don't you set a good example for your brother and tell your dad thank you for fixing breakfast?"
 
She replied "ok", but then proceeded to tell Preston, "Preston, you need to tell dad thank you for breakfast."
 
On the other hand, she just might be over-Americanized in some ways -- like in the use of stereotypes. At supper one night this week, Preston was picking a topping off of his pizza, but his dad was giving him some grief for it. As Preston complained about that, Shaling said, "Preston whines like a girl!"
 
Her verbal skills are probably pretty close to grade-level (5th grade), but her reading/writing is perhaps closer to late 2nd grade/early 3rd grade. Officially, she is still Pass/Fail at school, based on her performance on English-proficiency tests, but we've asked to have her occasionally begin receiving grades so that she doesn't become over-Americanized lazy. We are beginning by having her receive letter grades for spelling. It is more difficult for her than most other students to memorize spelling words, but she is fully capable. Plus, she has a huge benefit in that she has a dad with the patience and fortitude to constantly drill her on her words. Her spelling tests are weekly and include 20 words, plus 5 bonus words. On her first 5th grade spelling test, she spelled 20 out of 20 words correctly. Plus, she correctly spelled not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but ALL 5 bonus words! She had to work hard for this, but it paid off.
 
She is wrapping up a very brief 3-on-3 basketball league season this weekend. She had 6 regular season games over 4 Saturdays and this Saturday is an end-of-the-season tourney. Her dad has been her coach, but he will be out of town this weekend to see his first love Bruce Springsteen at baseball's mecca a crumbling baseball stadium Wrigley Field on back-to-back nights. So, his assistant/co-coach, Josh, as well as another player's dad (Bill) will take the helm. The girls have played hard and really improved during the season. Their first game was rough because we only have 5 on our roster and 2 were on vacation, therefore, we had no subs. It is 16 minute halves, with only 1 time out per half and it is full court. Our girls were winning until about halfway through the 2nd half, when they simply ran out of gas. They went on to lose their next 3 games, so they entered last Saturday, the final day of the regular season, 0-4. They won both of their games that day (27-20 & 25-10) and ended on a positive note. They are so fun to watch, because they are aggressive, unselfish, and passionate.
 
Preston rejoined the bowling league he was in last year and is off to a decent start. Last Saturday, each game he bowled a bit better than the previous one. He started off a bit rough (46), but then bowled a 78, and finally a 106. His school pictures came in yesterday (the junior high does school pictures on registration day) and I'm very pleased:

First Day of School Pictures

Today, Preston started 7th grade and Shaling started 5th grade. Your photographer is Brock Reynolds.

 

Shaling Helps Dad With a New Fence

Shaling digs a post hole from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.