Baby Day

Friday was Baby Day in Ms. Preeti's class at school. Maddie had been counting down the days until she could bring Amelia to school to show her off to her classmates. She had been showing pictures online and her friends may have seen me pass briefly in the hallway, but this was the big show!

We met all of the children first. Amelia was the smallest at two weeks, Bauer was six weeks old, Trinity was four months old and Eva was nine months old.


The children brainstormed questions beforehand and had most of them answered by the time we all left. Maddie's questions was, "why do babies cry?" which I thinks he asked because she knew the answer!!! The children wrapped up the day by singing a song to the babies. BUT Maddie wasn't done...

We had taken Amelia to the doctor the day before and had pictures. Andy had printed them off for Maddie to share and she sat right next to Ms. Preeti and acted as a teacher herself by holding the pictures in front of each child's eyes. She was soooooo proud and we were so proud of her!!!

Still Three and Loving Life...

I dropped Maddie off at school this morning fully expecting that the next time I saw here would be with sister in hand. Ends up that sister is just as stubborn as Maddie and will do things her own way in her own time. She's moved to an "unfavorable" position so we'll just a little bit longer...

Today was an important day at school for Maddie though. It was the annual Shanghai American School Spirit Walk. Every time we get Maddie's House Shirt out, she just starts giggling. This year, she wrote us invitation to participate with her - which we couldn't do, but I was able to snap this pic beforehand. Maddie is a PUMA, Ms. Preeti is a PUMA, Malin is a PUMA.... Maddie couldn't be happier! I amazed that she knows and recognizes all of the House names. Falcons, Bears, Dolphins... she knows them all and says, "look mommy, that boy is dolphin!"

I love this school for her - it's such a positive and uplifting environment. As a parent, my favorite things is how the grades mix together. Middle school kids go into Maddie's class to read, older elementary kids acknowledge her in the hall... it's a genuine community. Maddie is one lucky young lady and loving life all the way...

Maddie's First Year of School

On Maddie's first full day of school back in August she sported her Fighting Illini orange dress that her Grandpa Bill had picked out for her. She had her pink Hello Kitty backpack, her Tevas, and she was really ready to go. We didn't make a big deal out of going to school because she has been doing everyday and I really think that this helped her transition a bit better. I did catch her taking a few moments of quiet reflection though right before she entered the school gate. All of the other mom's were dropping off their children as well and I could immediately tell that I was thankful that Maddie has grown up in schools. While others were sad that their mom and dad were dropping them off, Maddie gave us a kiss good-bye with just a bit of trepidation in her eyes, but let us go without incident. I'll never forget her focusing her attention on Malin, who was sad that her mom was leaving. "It's okay Malin-don't cry...", Maddie reassured her.

Ms. Preeti had us fill out a survey about what we wanted our child to learn during their very first school year. I wrote one item and one item only - I just wanted Maddie to love school. If she loves school then everything else will fall into place in its own time. As we reflect on the year, I can say with 100% satisfaction that Maddie loves school. She just happened to get a few bonus items throughout the year to make it even better! She knows her colors, her shapes, recognizes all the letters of her classmates - not to mention the social skills she is learning day in and day out. Mid-year Maddie learned how to write her name for the first time and has been practicing it ever since.



The last day of school was so much different that the first. Maddie is much more confident and won't shy away when people talk with her. Maddie is much, much bigger now and even though she's still the youngest in her class, she's taller than many. Maddie can walk herself to her own classroom now (though there is NO WAY I would miss the opportunity to see those first few moments at school). She has gone from quietly entering the class, to mid-year announcing herself with a bark or a meow when she entered, and finally now runs in with the latest caterpillar or bug to share with Ms. Preeti and her classmates. She always has a story to share. She wore a new dress on her first day of school, but even her backpack had "grown up" to a Dora bag with wheels!

What a wonderful year for Miss Maddie with so much love and support from her SAS community family!

Chinese Fun Day!

Chinese Fun Day!

I have to giggle a bit because at Maddie's school, they plan days focused around all things China. I think the parents expect this too. Sometimes I just want to say, OPEN UP YOUR DOOR, but a lot of expats surprisingly aren't comfortable really getting in there.

Admittedly, we are about 50/50 when it comes to experiencing the China around us. It's not because of desire though - it's because of time! When Maddie's Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl visit us in China, they remind us quickly what it's all about. We'll head off to school and they'll head off to the most excellent adventures around Shanghai. Oh The Places You'll Go!!! (A most excellent post by Maddie's Grandma! - Go to Friday, May 11 on her blog!)

Maddie has a great day at Chinese Fun Day! Though I think she has just as much fun with Ms, Zhou on their Fridays together. I actually stayed home this Friday while Andy went to a school function and was able to eavesdrop on Maddie and Ms. Zhou when they weren't outside playing or going to movie night. The entire conversation is in Chinese and I have NO CLUE what they are saying. They were chattering back and forth, singing songs, Ms, Zhou even "corrected" Maddie in Chinese when Maddie splashed her with her bath water - Maddie responded with excuses in Chinese that went something like this.... "but Ms. Zhou, I do this every week to you and I think it's funny!" I stay out of the way because the minute Maddie sees me, she stops speaking Chinese. She's not embarrassed - it's just that it doesn't make sense to speak to a non-Chinese person in Chinese.

Chinese Fun Days can really be everyday if we want them to be. We are a very lucky family and Maddie is a very lucky three year old!

Annie the Musical or Annie the Horse?

When we woke up this morning, we called Grandma Dotty in Tucson and chatted with her a bit. Of course, every time Maddie talks to Grandma Dotty she asks about her horse, Annie. Maddie loves horses as most children do. She always acts like a horse, galloping and neighing about, and her favorite movie is Spirit (aka: The Horsey Movie). She even enters her classroom every morning in a full gallop and gives our a big neigh to her teacher!

When we got off the phone with Grandma, we told Maddie that we were going to see the SAS Middle School musical at school that night. You should've seen the excitement in her eyes when we told her it was "Annie". As soon as I said Annie, I knew what she was thinking. We tried to explain all day long that we were getting on a plane to go to Tucson to see Grandma and Annie the horsey, but she thought we were just being silly. Even after we arrived at school and started watching the musical, she turned to me and said, "can we go to the airport now?" It was quite funny and quite sad all at the same time. It just goes to show the lasting impressions that family makes on our young ones throughout their lives!

All in all, she made it through the show, but and the end of it she declared that she "did not like this Annie." It was a good show though as I had a lot of my students in it. I was impressed at least! So, at least we know which Annie Maddie prefers!!

Aunt Sissy and Uncle Bubba Come to School!

Our last set of guests of the school year arrived last night and to "help" them get over jet lag we invited them to school to visit Maddie's classroom. It was a beautiful day here at Shanghai Links so they walked to school and I met them near the entrance as the guard escorted them onto the school grounds. Sissy was so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about being escorted by Chinese guards. I had Patty cover my class for me so that I could take Jan and Greg to the Pre-K, K, 1 Chinese performance. (Did I mention that I LOVE being a teacher in Maddie's school?!)

So here's the thing with 3 year olds on stage... they either perform for the audience or ignore the audience and go about their lives. Maddie chose to do the latter and we were cracking up the entire time! She saw me walk into the auditorium and her demeanor immediately perked up... I've always seen other children perk up when their parents walked in, but this was Maddie perking up at seeing me, her mom, walk into the auditorium! (Love being a mom - just love it!) Maddie was very cute for the first song, and I suppose was cute in her own way for the second and third songs. But the attitude definitely came through!! Another student bumped her accidentally so she bumped him back not so accidentally and the proceeded to pout about it the rest of the song. During the third song, she thwacked Jordy one, twice, three times was a charm for no apparent reason. I think she just felt like it. The other parents just looked at me and laughed... ah, what to do but say.... "she must learn this from her father!"

Welcome to Jan and Greg! I hope that we can show you all that Shanghai has to offer while you are here! Maddie sure loves showing off her life for you!!

Love of Reading Week

Last month I mentioned how cool it is for Maddie to have her daddy at school all the time. When I attended the elementary assembly on Monday with Maddie to kick off Love of Reading Week, I was completely gob-smacked when she turned to me and said, "Look Mommy! It's Mr. Torris!"

Even though I'm a professional working woman, I'm also a mom and working in this environment let's me be a mom even when I am working. Everyday I walk to school with Maddie, I think of all those moms back home that drop their children off with family members or day care providers. How lucky am I? Sitting front and center at the assemblies with Maddie lets me talk to her about her day when we get home. We spent the rest of the week talking about Mr. B's silly socks on stage.

To quote Maddie's teacher, "children and teachers have been thoroughly enjoying all activities organized by the Library for Love of Reading Week! On Monday, teachers performed on stage in the auditorium to “kick off” the week. On Tuesday, we wore READ ME shirts- some of the messages on the shirts were great- “Mommy reads to me”, a list of “My favorite books”, a funny quote about sharing by Silverstein, an “innocent” “I didn’t do it” etc. On Wednesday, we Dropped Everything And Read. On Thursday, we wore crazy socks and met with visiting author Kathryn Lasky, who read to us one of her favorite books. We also saw a fantastic musical production of the Kimmel book: “The Greatest of All” performed by Grade 2 students. On Friday, we wore pajamas to school and met with visiting author Eric Kimmel, who read/told us one of our favorite books that we focused on in December - “The Gingerbread Man”."

I can't imagine Maddie actually reading some day, but I suppose that it's only a matter of time! Afterall, I couldn't image her walking, eating real food, talking coherently, singing the alphabet, etc... When we are out and about she is very aware of the letters around her. She'll point out "Maddie's M" or "Sophia's S". I know that we won't push her to read - rather we'll just be normal. We'll read to her throughout the week and we'll let her "read" to us when she wants to do so, but we won't push her. As her father always says, "Life is about the journey...". We'll just turn Love of Reading Week into a Love of Reading Life!

Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl

One of the greatest challenges of living overseas is staying connected with family. We've been pretty darn creative though. We have phone calls, we have Skype calls, we have video i chats, we have care packages going back and forth... I have to admit though that there's no replacement for having family come visit and there's no replacement for us heading back to the States to spend time with them. Within the past year, we've had Grandma Barbara, Grandpa Earl, Aunt Susan, Grandma Dotty, Grandma Bill and Mary, Great-Aunt Rhonda, Great-Uncle Jack, and we have Aunt Sissy and Unca' Bubba heading our way at the end of March. We have been very, very lucky!

As soon as Barb and Earl arrived this time, Maddie was right in step with them. There was no warming up time needed... it was just instantaneous adoration. They have come to school a couple of times while they have been here and Maddie has loved it. They came for Chinese New Year celebrations and Maddie's teacher, Ms. Preeti, video-taped some of the performances on that day. In today's elementary assembly, Ms. Preeti showed the movie and Maddie sat right in front and re-lived having her Grandma and Grandpa at school. She yelled "GRANDPA" when she saw him flash across the screen! When Barbara and Earl came to school in the middle of the assembly to walk her home from school, she was absolutely giddy! This truly has been quality family time and that is irreplaceable!

Dad and School

Having your father work at your school must be terrific when you are three years old. I knew that it was important to Maddie, but I really didn't how important it was until Andy was gone recruiting in the States for over two weeks. In short, Maddie was miserable, I was miserable... and we were really good at being miserable together! On the first night that Andy was gone, we made a sign that spelled out WELCOME BACK!!!. We then proceeded to color one letter each night before heading off to bed. This was our way of counting the number of sleeps until Daddy came home. I don't think she has a real concept of how long (or short if you're an optimist) two weeks really is so this helped her count it out each night. Big things happened while he was away. Maddie wrote her name all by herself for the first time and she had M Day at school where she was responsible to bring in items that started with her letter. Ms. Zhou, Mommy, and Maddie made muffins and she brought them to school to share! Of course we recorded all of this on our sign for Daddy! She was really happy before when Andy visited her classroom... now she's just down right thrilled to have her father work in her school!

Today was a big day for Maddie! When we visited her classroom, she did not see us so we were able to spy a little bit to see her in her true form. She's quite the bossy one at times, especially with Justin who she was very articulately telling how to properly put the glue on the back of the mitten in order to stick it on the banner correctly. She also go a new pink coat from Grandma Barbara.... such a monkey! Pink is definitely the color of choice these days!! Pink coat, pink Converse shoes... I guess she'll just have to dress up for the assembly tomorrow when her daddy comes as a special guest to read to the early elementary kids!

Back to School!

Maddie LOVES school. She was so torn this morning at about 7:15. Andy and I were walking out the door for school and Maddie couldn't decide if she wanted to come with us or wait until after 7:30 when Ms. Zhou arrives. She also wanted to walk to school with Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl. It was almost too much to handle, but in the end, school won. She raced to the car with her backpack and coat! We played in the school office with dad and the office ladies for about 15 minutes before heading to class. She couldn't wait to gallop into class to hug Ms. Preeti. As Maddie says, Ms. Preeti is her friend!

I see Maddie every single day at 12:00 on the button. It's the end of my lunch period and the beginning of hers. I think I can honestly say that it's my favorite time of the day! She actually goes to the lunch room with her class, holding onto a jump rope the entire way so that she stays in line. She sits down and grabs the appropriate drink of the day and then waits.... for me! (At least I like to think so!!) As soon as she sees me coming, she always jumps up, always yells "mommy" in a sing song voice at the top of her lungs, and she always, always runs to me with absolute glee. I will always, always, always treasure these moments even when she decides that it's just too embarrassing to act that way in front of her friends. Maybe that won't happen until she's 18, ya think?

Happy Year of the Golden Pig!

As I sat in the audience at the elementary assembly last week, I was completely amazed at how confident Maddie was up on stage. She IS the minority here yet she doesn't even notice... unless of course we're walking around Shanghai! She had spent the entire week preparing for her very first on stage performance. Lessons were filled with the meaning of Chinese New Year and she made lanterns and scrolls filled with Chinese characters. I very simply asked her what they said and she very simply told me, "Shin nien quai le." "Of course it did," I thought as I searched the files in my brain to recall that little tidbit I had forgotten! We had a Chinese dress made for her at the fabric market in the fall and she just managed to squeeze into one last time for the New Year celebration at school. After a big meal full of homemade dumplings and visits from Grandpa Earl and Grandma Barbara, she was off to perform her two songs on stage with her peers! It was a perfect start to a perfect holiday!