Wednesday, February 22, 2006
BONDING THROUGH BOWLING

The weather continues rainy & cold, all in all not very conducive to sightseeing or running around town. So we headed to the Dolton's very nice bowling alley for a couple of games (great price: 15 yuan - about $2 - per line per person). This time Wenyan did not try to snooker us by telling us she didn't know how to bowl when she really did...she had never bowled until today. Wenyan scored a very respectable for her first ever bowling experience 45 & 55 respectively. The real story was Mommy's game; rumors flew after she bowled a pair of 89's...she always breaks a hundred. (She's claiming hemispheric interference due to bowling on opposite side of the globe...the smart money says something else is the cause. :) Daddy is writing today's post so modesty prevents me from writing in detail about the victories. ;)

Wenyan's new camera
We got a digital camera for Wenyan yesterday and she is enjoying snapping pictures of many things - mostly people. My favorite picture though is of the rack of colorful bowling balls.

Faith & Hope...baby steps
We met a lovely couple who are also from Colorado. Their beautiful daughter's name is Hope and we were fortunate enough to see her take her first steps. Faith gravitates to those littler than her, from infants to young girls, and obviously has much experience caring for and playing with them. She helped launch Hope to her first steps much to Mommy and Daddy's delight; (the Sniders were fortunate enough to be there to watch the landmark moment.)

Last Night in Changsha - Special Dinner... at McDonalds?!?!
For our last night we wanted to go eat someplace special so we asked Wenyan where she wanted to eat and she chose McDonalds. In China one can buy corn in a cup to accompany one's burger. We were OK with that, but we explained that corn would not be available in the U.S. McDonalds and urged her to try a fry dipped in ketchup. It was a "Mikey likes it" moment when she pronounced that she enjoyed the fries. (I was bummed though because I tried some of the McChicken grill sandwich she ordered - it had some kindo of Hunan hot sauce on it...and it tasted great!!

These are great activities of course and fun to write about, but I should really try to focus on moments that will be of value for those who may read this. Two memories of lasting significance for me that have occurred over the last few days will be watching Wenyan in a moment of fun or learning as she leans into Susan, throws one or both arms around her, smiles and buries her head in her shoulder or arm.

I'll also never forget those moments hearing Wenyan call to me when she wants me to come over to the computer to read a question or statement translated off the babel fish site. As I'm reading, I hear a "Daddy" from the other side of the hotel room. On the physiological surface, Wenyan's "Daddy" sounds different from my other two daughters - it is a bit softer and of course carries the accent of a thirteen year old girl learning to speak English...but it also enters my ear with a familiar tone, inflection, and loving feeling that fill my heart so suddenly and so fully that I feel unable to get an adequate start on counting even a fraction of the blessings that are flooding into my life from this beautiful daughter.