What a big brother does...

Hmmm... What do big brother's do for their little sister? Well, it depends on the big brother. If it is Zak, our 15 year old, then it involves good mornings, hellos, pats on the backs, occasional hugs, and kisses good night. I think at first Zak was not sure of what to do with this little girl who has come into our home. He has since warmed up nicely to her, even to the point of sharing his guitar with Anna Lin. (OK, so she made it known that he would share the guitar with her. But she didn't just want him to hold it while she strummed, AL wanted him to strum too.) It just so happens that now AL has her own guitar. Or, at least she thinks that. :-) She liked for Zak to hold his string instrument like a lap guitar while she plucked and strummed. (Reminded me of a zither and I believe its called a guzheng in China. This is a long, 3 -4 ft, instrument usually placed on a special platform to play.) Well, while in Toys R Us today we found a small lap harp which Anna Lin fell in love with. ...And of course we just 'had' to buy it. She plucked that harp all the way home, grinning from ear to ear all the while jabbering about how she had a guitar like Zak now and she was going to show Zak her guitar. (OK, now this wasn't all in English, but I could get the gist of the point from hearing lots of 'wu' (I or me), Zak, guitar and lots of giggles of glee.

One of the reasons we went to Toys R Us today was because one of AL's big brothers. Number two son Spencer has a CD player that he takes with him every time he's in the car. About a week ago, he decided to show her what it was and shared his ear buds (ear phones) with her. Yeah, here they were sitting next to each other with one of them holding the player and the ear buds stretched out between them. (Where was that camera when I needed it!) So, we went to the store to get a CD player for The Princess. (...because while I love my son, his teenage angst music now-a-days called Emo for emotion, is just not what I would like the little miss to be listening to.) Well, not a problem. We found a Hello Kitty portable CD player that has worked out quite nicely. After we came home she listened to it all afternoon. (Sometimes while playing her lap harp.) She listened to music and then to a "Five Little Monkeys" CD that came with a book Ms. Janet gave her. AL listened to it for hours, exclaiming "five monkeys," "five monkeys sleeping," and "five monkeys jumping" at various intervals while displaying numbers on her fingers.

What else does a big brother like Spencer do? He has gotten into a bad habit of picking on her: poking her, patting her on the head, taking her toys, anything to tease her and irritate her. (Hey wait a minute! That's what he does to us! OK he doesn't take my toys but he does take his dad's.) One of the especially fun tricks he is known to do consists of taking her little stroller and bear. Then he zooms around the house with her in hot pursuit. Last night he decided to stop the shenanigans when I got out the camera to get a shot. However, The Princess insisted. AL took his hands and put them on the stroller so he would push it with her. (Too cute!) He is now watching Little Bear with her while I'm typing. He does have the laptop with him, so he can multi-task. However, I have observed him watching some of the show too and smiling. :-)



So, what do you do if you are the big brother number three? Is there anything else you can do with the little sister? If you are Noah, then the answer is yes. Noah plays the most with her. He likes active and rough 'n' tumble play: building with blocks, playing with balls, wrestling around, and just being silly. When they are together they are usually loud (LOUD) and there are lots of thumps, plus lots of giggles. The other night he introduced a new kind of fun: hiding. He brought two blankets down and they wrapped them over their heads like hoods. Then the two of them ran around the house, occasionally opening up the blankets to see where they were going or to surprise anyone they ran past. At one point she picked up the laundry basket and ran around with that on her head. (Again too cute!)



What does a big brother do? If you are in our house, he gives you kisses, hugs, and pats on the head and back. He teases you, but you love it even when you put your hands on your hips and give him 'the look.' He introduces you to new 'toys' like CD players and guitars. He plays with you, teaching you hide n seek among other fun things to do. He also tells mom when you need something just in case you didn't hear.

- Angi

Thank you for your prayers and gifts!

We are so blessed! We have received many prayers and gifts for our sweet Anna Lin to welcome her into our family, to welcome her to The States, and to help her have a new beginning with us. On Tuesday, Ric's work gave a shower for Anna Lin. She did really well. She was very nervous at first as she walked into a building she had never been to before. I did tell her it was where Daddy worked. We picked up Daddy then walked down a hallway into another room with a lot of people in it, decorated in teddy bears and balloons. Once we sat down and began opening presents, she warmed up. The first few presents we opened, then after say number four AL took over and put her heart into it. :-) We have been so blessed by the generosity of the people at Ric's workplace, having received presents before we left for China, then continuing up until and after the shower. We are so grateful to be a part of this family of people.

AL loves all of the gifts received. She loves the LeapPad early learning systems, having great fun with learning the alphabet and her numbers. (She especially loves to count!) The clothes were perfect. Anna Lin thoroughly enjoyed unpacking, untagging, and putting the clothes in her closet. She takes one of the white bears from the shower for a walk daily in the little purple stroller. The rest of the bears sit in her room waiting for their turn at play. We were thankful for the receipts given, which helped us take the duplicate items back. (Several stores will not allow you to return an item now without a receipt (Ex: ToysRUs).) Target gave us a gift card for the duplicate presents returned, which we then added to ALL of the other Target gift cards we received. (Again, we are SOOOO blessed by your generosity!) Then AL and I went shopping (again!), mainly buying clothes for the fall and winter, plus a 'few' shoes. (Ric seems to think we have reached AL's shoe quota now!) We used money received to buy music CD's and Winnie the Pooh "Word Adventure" DVD's to name a few things. (They have some really nice ones on opposites and shapes, etc.) Anna Lin loves Winnie the Pooh and is especially fond of Tigger. Ric has been teaching her to say "TTFN, ta ta for now" along with some Tigger sound effects. By the way, the boys loved the left over food and I loved not cooking that night! :-) Thanks so much!

We have also received many presents and well wishing from friends, family and neighbors. The wonderful people from my work place (school and district) gave us a shower back before school let out in May. Again, we are truly blessed to have such wonderful and generous family and friends (which includes co-workers!). A couple of weeks ago we opened and put together a huge doll house given to us from some of the great people I work with. I was then able to use some gift cards for 'house accessories' that AL was just thrilled with, along with filling it with dolls given to AL by a friend. We use many of the toys, books, coloring sets with The Princess daily. The generosity of the my co-workers also helped us get Anna Lin's room all decorated before we left for China.

Thank you to one and all for your generosity and prayers to our family and new daughter. We are blessed to have your help.

-Angi