FCC Chinese New Year

I've finally joined the local branch of Families with Children from China (or FCC for short.) Yesterday was their annual Chinese New Year celebration. My mom came, along with my sister and her family. It was a lot of fun. The event is very kid focused so her kids had a good time. As usual, there were many kid funnies to record such as this one. Here's a pic of Teagan holding a Chinese lantern I'd bought for Tatum's room. That's my sister's husband, Bobby, in the background. I got the boys a red lantern for their room. However, Travis informed me that these lanterns were only for people in China so he couldn't have one in his room because he lives in O-H-I-O!

Next came the meal which, of course, was Chinese food. Travis is a world class picky eater so he was not happy with the selection. He says he doesn't like Chinese food and wanted to know why they didn't have any Ohio food. (What's with the Ohio references, Carla? Did he just learn this in school or something?) Tanner, who is like a bottomless pit for food, loved it and I believe had 3 plates full. He also proved himself very skilled with the chopsticks.

Tatum decided that if he could do it then so could she. Her approach was much simpler. She just speared her smuggled in Chicken McNugget. Yes.. my sister has been blessed with two VERY picky eaters so no Chinese food for her either.

Teagan tried to give it a go, too. You can see how deep in concentration he is trying to figure it out. He eventually got one speared but then decided it was more fun to make it spin wildly on the stick instead of actually eating it. He may have launched the thing somewhere. I can't remember.
We finally met the famous Kieren. That's her mom, Sam, sitting behind her with her chin on her hand. We met in bloggerville and now can also add "in real life" to that statement. This little one is a hoot! At one point during one of the children's dance troupe performances, she walked up towards the stage to get a better view. Before we knew it, she was up on stage performing her own dance solo right in the middle of them. It was hilarious! Big brother Cullen had to run up and coax her off. I was so distracted laughing hysterically that I didn't grab my camera. Bummer! She's fast as lightning, full of energy and definitely has a mind of her own. I guess this is what I have to look forward to during the toddler years.

Here's one of the dance troupes performing a ribbon dance. It was very beautiful. These were older girls. Probably early teens. It was cool to see so many Chinese girls of all different ages. It gave me a glimpse into what my daughter will be as a baby, toddler, 5 year old, pre-teen and then young woman. I imagined her as a 14 year old and wondered if she would want to play the violin or be a dancer. Or do both like a couple of these beautiful ribbon dancers did. Or maybe neither one. Maybe she'll be an athlete instead of being into the arts. Who knows?

This is the dragon dance at the end of the show. They invited all the little kids up to be a part of it. Travis and Tatum went up. Basically they just followed one of the dads around the room in a big giant conga line as he carried a paper dragon decoration. They thought it was cool. Sweet Tatum was a little confused by all the Chinese girls. I think that at first she thought they were all the same one. She met a little girl named Casey in the playroom when we first got there. So when there was a big slideshow of many of the FCC group's children, she kept saying "Hey there's Casey." It was funny. I had to tell her that they were all different little girls. LOL!

I also met Traci and her family. She brought Jaden home last year. I followed her blog for awhile, too. But sadly, she's not publicly blogging anymore. I got so engrossed in our conversation that I forgot to ask to snap a pic. I loved meeting both of these ladies, Sam and Traci. I can't wait to get to know them better. It's so nice to make these connections with other China adopters. I feel like I'll be so much better prepared for everything with some of their BTDT advice.

All in all, it was a great afternoon. The kids had fun. I had fun. And I was glad that my mom and my sister and brother-in-law came to get a taste of what my life will be like now with my Chinese daughter. So thanks to them for that. Now I'm hoping that next Chinese New Year I'll be bringing my Mia with me to the celebration.