Knowing me, Knowing you... Adoption & our Happy Family.

Mia went to church this past Sunday, she has been very interested in praying before dinner and now saying a prayer at bedtime.  This is all her idea.  She decided one night that we should pray before we eat.  She was exposed to this ritual at my Mom's and we are not opposed to it, just not very consistent... till now.  Mia needs to pray.  She gets a little confused on the sign of the cross and the other day it was "The Father, Holy Spirit, now I know my ABC's". :) 
At church she was very well behaved.  She was quiet and knew she had to whisper while the priest, "king" was talking.  She tried to get out of the pew (for a little hall dancing I'm sure) and was NOT HAPPY to be taken into the crying room.  A short lecture from Mommy about staying in the pew was all it took to get out of there.  For communion, Mia walked proudly in front of me to receive her blessing.  She watched as Mike and I received communion and, as we crossed in front of the alter, exclaimed "hey, where's my sticker, I didn't get a sticker".  I think mass was a success and Mia is ready.

I'm taking advantage of my Tuesdays off with Mia.  We got ready early and headed to the pumpkin patch before story hour this morning.  It was fun - we had the place to ourselves.  Mia liked all the pumpkins, but not the scarecrows.  She is starting to show fear of things and was not interested in those scarecrows.  We are going to take advantage of our cooler weather this coming weekend and hit another patch with Daddy & Grandma.

I'm so proud of myself.  No need to really go into details about what I've done.... but if you're really interested.... in the last month I have changed my life for the better three times! 
   First, I started another semester of school and - ahem - I'm doing great!  Who ever knew I could get A's & B's in college!  Certainly not me!  I actually have told my Mom for years that I have a learning disability.  I wasn't just saying it get out of school.  I really thought I did.  I had such a hard time in high school and it only got worse in college that I really thought I must have SOMETHING wrong with my brain.  Well, now I know the truth.  Don't tell my Mom she was right, but all those times she said I just "wasn't applying myself" which pissed me off even more, was correct.  I was not applying myself or even really trying to do my work, study, etc.  I had NO INTEREST in going to class and as heartbreaking as that was to my parents they really should have not forced me.  It cost them a lot of money and our relationship a lot of heartache.  I don't know what you say to a kid who is not ready or does not want to go to college after high school and I hope I don't face it myself in 15 years with Mia, but I do know if they try a semester or two and want to quit I would let them.  Its far easier to start over with a few credits than to try to repair a GPA marred with f's, d's and WX's.
Second, I started a new healthy eating plan!  That's hard for me to put out there, but I did.  I'm doing it for myself so I will be healthy.  I'm an old Mom and I want to be around for Mia for a long, long time!  No one can care for her like I do.  I'm proud of that.  Which leads me to number 3!
As you can see from previous posts, I finally moved Mia to a new school!  I have been stressing about this move for months and I finally did it.  I feel so comfortable with my decision and I'm glad I didn't wait one more day.  I will miss a lot about her old school, but it was not the right fit for Mia.  I can't wait to see her blossom at her new "big girl" school!!!!

Today was Mia's first day at her new "big girl" Montessori school. We will have lots of memories from her first school but felt it was time to introduce Mia to the Montessori way. I have always been a big fan of the Montessori philosophy and was waiting till Mia was closer to three to start her in a Montessori environment. She did so great her first day and really made me proud. She is such a ham and really had the teachers cracking up with her Spanish vocabulary, lining up for potty (though she's in a pull-up) and sitting at the big girl table where her feet don't touch the floor. She was so brave and said to goodbye to me without a tear. Hopefully its the start of a new attitude about school! Keep your fingers crossed!
The pictures above are "practice Montessori" at home.  ;)

We had another successful Moon Festival at the Norton museum this year. Mia, Mum and myself attended while Daddy made us dinner at home (and watched football, of course). Mia loved cutting paper to make her very own dragon puppet who we later named "Danny Dragon". Danny and Mia had quite a few conversations that Sunday at the museum. We also got to watch a very famous Chinese musician, Wu Man, play the pipa for a few minutes. It was so interesting and Mia loves live music so she concentrated and was still for about 5 minutes. It was long enough to enjoy Wu Man's music. We look forward to our next American holiday, Halloween, where so far Mia is going to be a princess with wings!

Mia has been testing her limits lately. Ever since our trip to NH she is just pushing all the rules. There has been a lot of hitting and she is even trying to bite again. I know it is stress related from the trip. She got away with things on the plane and at the Ganley house that we would have given her "alone time" for at home.
That said, I can already see her calming down and my sweet Mia emerging again. After one of her outbursts she was sent to her room for some alone time and things were just too quiet. She is usually crying and calling to us, not this time. Why? She was busy making art... on her skin.