Wu Yi always enjoys helping in the kitchen and Christmas cookies were a big hit! As we cleaned up, she told me how lucky I am to have a dishwasher. (Clothes driers and a pantry so full of food are also very nice to have!)
Stockings were hard to explain, but she enjoyed the candy, hair ribbons, and art supplies.
Of course, Barbies are a big hit!
Wu Yi and Grams with her new American Girl doll and wearing her favorite new Hello Kitty shirt!
She loves to eat American food now and she was thrilled at the big dinner I made. She felt very special to get a turkey drumstick (and she ate the whole thing!)
Wu Yi in her favorite dress in front of Grandma and Grandpa Daly's Christmas village.Despite my previous post about explaining Santa to Wu Yi, she later decided that believing was a fun thing to do and soon she was planning a visit to the mall to sit on his lap, was making a list for him, was planning the snack to set our for him on Christmas Eve, and was talking about being a really good girl so as not to disappoint him. (Not hard ~ she is already pretty darn good almost all of the time!) As I went along with her in her "Santa preparations", she would occasionally give me a hesitant look and say "but he's not real?". I would just shrug my shoulders and continue on with our Santa activities and she would happily slip back into the "believer mode" and really enjoyed all of the above mentioned tasks.
On Christmas morning, as per tradition, the stockings were opened first. She seemed a bit hesitant about how to react to all of the goodies inside. (You have to remember, she has never received any gifts in bulk before. She was mortified by her birthday ~ she had only been here a couple of weeks then. And, when she arrived initially from China, I didn't have many toys out in her room. I kept them mostly hidden away so she wasn't overwhelmed, and just gradually brought things out without making a big deal of it.) Fortunately, the boys set a good example for her ~ emptying stockings, acting appropriately grateful, saying thank-you's and then moving on to the wrapped gifts.
As she held her first wrapped present, we all waited and watched. She didn't open it right away. She looked unsure, and then finally, quietly asked me "do I break it?". When I told her I wasn't sure what she meant, she slipped a finger gently under a corner of the wrap and said again "do I break it?" Well, that just about melted my heart that she wasn't sure if it was ok to rip the paper to see what was inside. My sweet 8 1/2 year old daughter had to ask me how to open a gift! As the boys proceeded to rip the paper off their gifts in a wild frenzy, she quickly joined in the action and was soon a pro!
Most all of her Christmas gifts came straight from her Santa list. They included: Barbies/dolls/clothes/accessories, roller skates, an IPod shuffle (just for music), a curling iron for her hair, a snow globe, DVD's (Barbie, Pooh, Shrek), art tablets and fancy pens/pencils, books (the Pinkalicious series and Amelia Bedilia), a wristwatch, and an alarm clock. Wu Yi loves to listen to music, both in the car and in the house. She also likes to sing and has a microphone hooked up to Don's guitar amp so that she can sing really loud to her favorite stuff. She LOVES Justin Beiber. Also Selena Gomez (Justin's girlfriend in case you don't keep up, duh), Adele, Pink, and Black Eyed Peas. She also likes the Barbie soundtracks and songs from Disney cartoons.
As soon as she was done opening her presents, she immediately packed them all up in her arms and took them to her room. I explained to her that we usually keep toys in the living room for a couple of days so everyone can just hang out and play together. Her response was "but they're MINE"! Understandable, I know. She came to America with almost no possessions, and now she is a bit of a packrat. The good thing is that she is not so possessive that she can't share. In fact, she is usually pretty generous. As with all things, if she has trouble sharing, I can just remind her how she might like to play with something that belongs to someone else, and she is quick to comply. She tries very hard to please me and also just to be good in general. She really thrives on praise. I don't think she got enough praise or attention in China, but I do think she was raised to make good decisions and to work hard. As always, I am eternally grateful to all of the people who make up her "first family".
