Big Bird Back in China

Big Bird went back to China tonight once more, and this time Madison enjoyed the video more than ever. She laughed quite a bit at the Monkey King when he appeared - she gets a kick out of him. As chronicled elsewhere, so do we! Today was a return to speech therapy, and to be honest, things didn't go too well. Our teacher let us know that it was largely across the board for all of her students: getting back into the rhythm from Christmas break can take just a bit of time. We'll see how things go next week. Still, Madison was a bit more subdued today afterwards, I suppose reading the disappointment in Mommy and Daddy. We weren't necessarily hard on her, but we were a bit down - we so desperately want her speech to be on level with other children her age by September. In fact, that's one major thing we've been praying and fasting for this January. Daddy has seen certain things just fall in place for Madison - like potty training for example. All over the course of one day, she gets it! And I feel like that's where we're going with her speech. Some time this year, it'll all fall into place. Until then, we hope and pray.

Here's a neat drawing Madison made for Daddy when he got home. It was already done earlier in the day, so that when Daddy arrived home from work, she ran up and handed it to me. Madison has been drawing quite a bit lately - stick figures mostly. This image here is of her and Daddy together. There's another picture she's been working on, one of her, Mommy and Daddy together as well. I have this writing board behind my desk for work purposes, but as you can imagine the lower part of it is completely covered with these primitive stick figures, sort of like those petroglyphs you see in the Southwest or Hawaii. Another thing that Mommy and Madison worked on today was the creation of a new puppet. Along with the puppet theater, one item Madison got for Christmas was a puppet making kit: so Madison and Mommy made one today, one that hopefully will help Madison's speech a bit. It's a snake - Sally the Snake. She helps Madison with the letter "S," which she sometimes tends to drop.

It was another full day - much like tomorrow will be as well. There is a lot going on, which tends to be slightly stressful. But I for one would rather be busy than have absolutely nothing to do! We're hoping to get some home projects done as well: for example, more insulation for that room. Also, decorating Madison's bedroom a bit. Finally, decorating a tiny bit for the Chinese New Year. Tonight, Daddy told Madison a story - all made up - about Chinese New Year. Really, it was just a story about a collection of friends of hers (Indiana Jones, Marion, Mulan, Cinderella, Mickey, Minnie and Wonder Woman), who had all gathered for a Chinese New Year celebration. Marion brought the red envelopes with chocolate inside, and Mulan brought the noodles (long ones for good luck). Indiana Jones brought the fireworks, and everyone had a great time. Madison helps out with the stories, always adding a thing or two. For example, the entire event was evidently catered by Wonder Woman. She's good at making Chinese food. Bet you didn't know that.