Friends and family came to see Hui-Hui this weekend.
On Saturday our friends Paul and Mei-Mei came by to say hello. They have been very kind, and Mei-Mei has translated a number of things for us. We had a nice quiet visit and Hui-Hui warmed up to them pretty quickly. Mei-Mei spoke Mandarin with Hui-Hui and after a bit he took her by the hand and led her through the house. He even let her hold him for a bit. It was nice to have someone who speaks Mandarin spend some relaxed time with him here in our house. She was able to understand a number of his expressions, and could tell that he understood some of the things she was saying to him. We really want to be able to preserve and develop his Mandarin along side of English. I try to use Mandarin interchangeably with English for the few words I know. I wish I knew more because I know he will have an easy enough time learning English. The trick will be not forgetting Mandarin.
Paul and I worked on a couple magic tricks while they were here. Hui-Hui found this very interesting so I got him his own deck of cards to work with. Right now he spends most of his time taking the cards in and out of case. I told him that he needs to develop a good force, a couple false shuffles, his double lift and the classic pass. I figure once he gets these down we can begin some basic "ambitious card" routines and maybe even a gambling demonstration.
On Sunday Tina and I took Hui-Hui on a shopping spree to Target. Our friends Pat and Paula had sent him a very generous gift card. Here's the loot we got:
On Saturday our friends Paul and Mei-Mei came by to say hello. They have been very kind, and Mei-Mei has translated a number of things for us. We had a nice quiet visit and Hui-Hui warmed up to them pretty quickly. Mei-Mei spoke Mandarin with Hui-Hui and after a bit he took her by the hand and led her through the house. He even let her hold him for a bit. It was nice to have someone who speaks Mandarin spend some relaxed time with him here in our house. She was able to understand a number of his expressions, and could tell that he understood some of the things she was saying to him. We really want to be able to preserve and develop his Mandarin along side of English. I try to use Mandarin interchangeably with English for the few words I know. I wish I knew more because I know he will have an easy enough time learning English. The trick will be not forgetting Mandarin.
Paul and I worked on a couple magic tricks while they were here. Hui-Hui found this very interesting so I got him his own deck of cards to work with. Right now he spends most of his time taking the cards in and out of case. I told him that he needs to develop a good force, a couple false shuffles, his double lift and the classic pass. I figure once he gets these down we can begin some basic "ambitious card" routines and maybe even a gambling demonstration.
On Sunday Tina and I took Hui-Hui on a shopping spree to Target. Our friends Pat and Paula had sent him a very generous gift card. Here's the loot we got:
Here's a picture of Pat and Paula's son Jasper. Jasper and Hui-Hui are going to continue in the tradition of their fathers, and their grandfathers by being Great Friends!
After nap time on Sunday our house was invaded by my mom and my sister's family! You could see the tension within them as they did their very best not to overwhelm him! They brought in huge gift bags with crazy amounts of loot inside. Hui-Hui managed to get through some of it. My sister Kris had said she just wanted to scoop him up and hug and kiss him. She did really well at holding back. Here's a picture of Hui-Hui at the table with his Grandma, Aunt Kris, and cousins.
They were all watching him very closely trying to read his body language in an effort to determine how soon they could begin ravishing him.
Devon, who was dying to play with his new cousin finally got to spend some quality time in person with him.
But the kicker was that the one who Hui-Hui really reached out to first was my Brother-in-Law Mark! Mark had been in and out of the house to check the game scores in their car because I wouldn't let him have the TV on in the living room (Hui-Hui turns into a vegetable when the TV's on). When he was inside he kept his distance so as not to intimidate Hui-Hui. But after a bit Hui-Hui decided he wanted to hang with his 6'4" bearded Uncle Mark!
And best of all, Mark got the "pat-pat" invite to "come lie down on the floor with me"! Who can resist?
Aunt Kris was pretty jealous but she did get some one on one playtime too.
It was a fun visit and really good to see everybody. Hui-Hui is handling the excitement of his new life quite well. We are trying to make his adjustment as easy as possible, and we worry about over-stimulating him. But when we think about what our week and half with him in China was like, it would take a lot more than a few relatives to shake up this kid!
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