New Pictures and Pre-School Visit

I have uploaded some new pictures at:

http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r21/gretchenfaith/

We took Lana to see her new pre-school this morning with an unexpected result. (And honestly, we should have expected this, and the fact that we didn't makes me wonder about our cognitive abilities in the face of some serious jet lag.) Lana was AFRAID. The look on her face when we took her down to the baby and toddler room to introduce her to Gabe's old teachers was pure terror. Pure, cold terror. She clung to David like she might drown if he let go of her.

And then it dawned on me. She thought we were at an orphanage. She thought we were at an a orphanage and we were going to leave her there.

So, David held on to her and we walked down to the "Gecko" room, which is the preschool room she will be in. We went in and sat down at the back of the class and watched the children. She was still afraid. We watched for a while and the other children came up to say hello, but, Lana sat firmly in David's lap and didn't budge.

So...we have located a student from the Vietnamese Student Association at the University who is going to meet us at the nursey school (which is on campus) and he is going to explain to her that this is a SCHOOL and that it is not an orphanage, and that she will go to school there just like she went to school in VietNam and that mother or father will pick her up from school every day and go home. And then David is going to spend some time with her there every day for a week. And we are going to meet her teacher one night next week in a setting away from the school. And hopefully, after that, she will feel okay about the situation.

Lana also went on a cub scout "go see it" outing last night with Gabe and Dave and I. It was the Historical Museum and Village, and she did very well. She was shy, but, no more shy than the two other little sisters who were there. After the outing, she ate some rotisserie chicken and some grapes and some lettuce, and we put her in her new footy pajamas, since it was so cold.

The footy pajamas were a hit while she was awake, but, when it came time to go to sleep, she tossed and turned and eventually started tugging at the feet, and when I changed her out of them, she was sweaty and burning up like a chimney. So, I guess the footy pajamas are not actually going to get a lot fo use.

Gretchen