I have seen Yi Mei make gigantic leaps in both language acquisition and emotional maturity these past two months. The last major meltdown she had was at the beginning of December. We are finally at a point where we can problem solve together when she is frustrated about a situation. I knew things had turned around the evening she was very upset because we had company and she had to go to bed. Instead of resorting to one of her primitive screaming/kicking fits she cried and yelled, "I am so mad at you!" While most mothers wouldn't consider such a display of emotions grounds for rejoicing, I knew a significant corner had been turned. Yi Mei actually sounded like a very typical four year old on that particular occasion.
Yi Mei has developed an appetite for broccoli and discovered that cereal tastes much better with milk. Yi Mei now loves pizza and macaroni and cheese like a true American child. She still has a fear of going hungry and insists that we have "5 eats" every night. Yi Mei invented a game called "fall asleep". In "fall asleep", Yi Mei gets to decide when everyone goes to sleep and wakes up. I am quite fond of this game too, as I get to close my eyes for short periods of time. Playing with dolls, little figurines and stuffed animals are still her favorite activities. She will spend hours sending her little figurines to school and tucking them in with blankets she cut out of an old cloth.
Yi Mei has a love hate relationship with her culture. She will not speak her native language or engage anyone who speaks Chinese to her. Yet, when she viewed Mulan, she kept referring to China as "my China". She is trying to put together the events of her life and will often say, "I missed you when I was in China". Seeing the mother and baby elephant reunited in Dumbo, has helped her work through some emotional memories. Yi Mei has watched it no less than ten times already. She has already asked me if she came out of my tummy.
The reading teacher in me is happy that she now prefers storybooks over word books. I am finally able to share some of my favorite picture books with her. Yi Mei loves simple fairy tales such as, "The Three Bears" and "The Three Little Kittens". She will even read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to me. When I read to her, she will put my arm around her neck and will snuggle into me as close as possible. This is my favorite time of day, as it is the only time when I feel her body totally relax and trust me. It is the only time that she allows me to be the mother and herself to be my little girl, without fighting for control. Reading together is bonding at its best!
Yi Mei's latest expressions are "just a minute" and "no touchy". She is very curious about the world around her and continually asks, "Doin mommy?" "I don't like it", is still the most common used phrase. She uses this phrase to express her displeasure in certain TV episodes, foods and many clothing items. Yi Mei loves to wear "pretty dressies", but much to my dismay she will not wear hair accessories, dress up shoes or boots. Her shoe wear of choice would be flip flops or crocs, but will wear tennis shoes in the winter. Yi Mei is my "footloose and fancy free" girl, still preferring to sleep and run around in nothing but underwear.
Yi Mei spent her first Christmas in Chicago and handled the week long trip very well. We had to spend the night in Iowa, as she could only tolerate 41/2 hours of driving a day. Yi Mei loves family life and relished the love around her. She and her grandma, "Ni pour", are very close. When we arrived in Chicago, she jumped out of the car and ran to the door announcing, "Ni pour, Ni pour, I am here!" She still talks about Ni pour and is counting down the days until we see her again.
