Ya know, I was thinking about something Nok did when we first got home and it just made me laugh. I may have already mentioned it to you but I just think it's the cutest thing ever! When we took Cody to school the first Monday we were home, Nok was blowing into the air in little puffs to see her breath. She tried it this morning but it wasn't cold enough and there wasn't enough moisture in the air to make it work. She seemed a bit disappointed but I kept thinking to myself, "just wait til January. Kiddo, you'll get your fill of cold air and wonder what on earth has happened!" No, I'm not looking forward to it at all. Neither is Tommy. Cody asked the other day if God ever made snow that was warm. I said, "hunny, it's already on the ground and it's called sand".
The International Festival is happening this weekend! We are soooo excited! You can purchase tickets to redeem for food and drinks at different booths. There are booths and crafts and people from all over the world there! It's so fun and I think Nok is confident enough w/ our family now that she will have a really good time. The different societies also put on little culture shows and they are the koolest shows ever! They say it ends at 9 but they usually end around 10pm. It's a blast and we love the different foods. Of course Thai, Filippino, and Japanese foods are our favorites.
Yesterday, I had taken Cody to spend her two birthday gift certificates and she was so sweet to Nok. She said "here, Nok, you can have one of my gift cards because I don't want you to feel left out and not get a present." Nok wandered around the store for an hour and couldn't find anything she wanted so I finally got a kitten puzzle. She was pretty bummed at first but I was ready to go home. When we got home I sat her down in front of the puzzle and then Tommy and Cody ended up helping a bit. Everyone put in 4 or 5 pieces and then let Nok take off w/ it. She was done in no time and then took it apart and put it back together again in about 3 minutes!!!! It was a junior puzzle but holy cow! I couldn't have done that! Then we cheered her on and she laughed and laughed! I thought she may be good at memory games so I got out Cody's My Little Pony memory game. She kept up for the most part but would tend to get stuck on one particular pony that she would turn over every single time. Tommy would kinda set it up so she would see a familiar card and then she could find the other pretty fast. I took a picture of the girls playing the My Little Pony game w/ their Dad. I got to play a little but I was cooking dinner. It was really exciting to see them all having so much fun and I told Tommy it was good for him.....it brought out the little girl in him. I don't think he thought that was very funny though.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
Marching Band
I don't think it was so much of an accident. She's been shyly kissing back at me ever since that first night. I like it and I'm pretty sure, secretly, Nok likes it too haha! Dad thinks it's cute and Cody thinks it's pretty silly!
So, after calling every single day for a week, I finally got someone to call me back from the school district. They want to put Nok in a regular classroom and monitor her and provide for her needs in a basic classroom setting instead of putting her in the special education program right away. They did say that if she needs the special ed program that they will be happy to put her there but they really want to see if they can bring her up to speed this way first. I'm happy with the decision and I think Nok will be thrilled to get back into school. We can tell she really misses it and really needs the socialization and "people" skills. I think it will serve well to plunge her into English and encourage her to learn. Right now she is really dependent on a particular Thai CD she has, and although I am hesitant to take it from her, I think she is leaning too much on it. We'll see how things look next week. Nok is doing really well w/ the schooling I am able to provide but still refuses to speak English to me. She will speak to Tommy and Cody but not to me. I can ask her questions until I am blue in the face but I get absolutely no verbal response. Last night I did get her to whisper "yes" to me though. I was cooking dinner and I asked if she was hungry. I didn't look up to watch her nod although I saw her out of the corner of my eye. She nodded and I asked again. I asked if she was hungry about 12 times and she finally whispered yes. Naturally, I responded positively but she just grinned and headed back to her room to listen to her Thai CD. It's interesting that she always turns it on right away after we have done school for the morning. I did catch her watching herself in the mirror yesterday as she recited the ABC's to herself in a violent whisper! It was so funny! I laughed and asked what she was doing and she just snickered and went back to whispering to herself.
And.....Nok has learned how to whistle and how to snap. She learned how to snap just before we left Thailand and thought it was the neatest thing. Then a few days ago I noticed she kept puckering up in front of the mirror. I ignored it thinking it was something silly she was doing. Then yesterday while we were driving down the road I heard my wheels squealing and thought I must have dirt in them. But the squealing seemed random. And then I noticed my wheels even squealed when I was stopped. By turning my head a bit I realized what it was. I flipped down my mirror and watched her pucker up and whistle! She was so pleased w/ herself she whistled for Dad! Then I had Tommy, Nok and Cody all whistling something different at the same time! It was interesting anyway. Today Nok decided to whistle and snap at the same time. I had my very own marching band!
We've had ins and outs but things seem to be going well. What would I do w/out those behind the scenes friends and family members? The ones I call when I am flipping out or need advice or even a bit of translation! Thank you all......and thank you to everyone for your prayers and kind words and endless encouragement. I think of you daily and wish you all the best.
So, after calling every single day for a week, I finally got someone to call me back from the school district. They want to put Nok in a regular classroom and monitor her and provide for her needs in a basic classroom setting instead of putting her in the special education program right away. They did say that if she needs the special ed program that they will be happy to put her there but they really want to see if they can bring her up to speed this way first. I'm happy with the decision and I think Nok will be thrilled to get back into school. We can tell she really misses it and really needs the socialization and "people" skills. I think it will serve well to plunge her into English and encourage her to learn. Right now she is really dependent on a particular Thai CD she has, and although I am hesitant to take it from her, I think she is leaning too much on it. We'll see how things look next week. Nok is doing really well w/ the schooling I am able to provide but still refuses to speak English to me. She will speak to Tommy and Cody but not to me. I can ask her questions until I am blue in the face but I get absolutely no verbal response. Last night I did get her to whisper "yes" to me though. I was cooking dinner and I asked if she was hungry. I didn't look up to watch her nod although I saw her out of the corner of my eye. She nodded and I asked again. I asked if she was hungry about 12 times and she finally whispered yes. Naturally, I responded positively but she just grinned and headed back to her room to listen to her Thai CD. It's interesting that she always turns it on right away after we have done school for the morning. I did catch her watching herself in the mirror yesterday as she recited the ABC's to herself in a violent whisper! It was so funny! I laughed and asked what she was doing and she just snickered and went back to whispering to herself.
And.....Nok has learned how to whistle and how to snap. She learned how to snap just before we left Thailand and thought it was the neatest thing. Then a few days ago I noticed she kept puckering up in front of the mirror. I ignored it thinking it was something silly she was doing. Then yesterday while we were driving down the road I heard my wheels squealing and thought I must have dirt in them. But the squealing seemed random. And then I noticed my wheels even squealed when I was stopped. By turning my head a bit I realized what it was. I flipped down my mirror and watched her pucker up and whistle! She was so pleased w/ herself she whistled for Dad! Then I had Tommy, Nok and Cody all whistling something different at the same time! It was interesting anyway. Today Nok decided to whistle and snap at the same time. I had my very own marching band!
We've had ins and outs but things seem to be going well. What would I do w/out those behind the scenes friends and family members? The ones I call when I am flipping out or need advice or even a bit of translation! Thank you all......and thank you to everyone for your prayers and kind words and endless encouragement. I think of you daily and wish you all the best.
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