I get a wild hair every now and then and let a quasi-beard grow. It’s never a full, bushy beard (because that would take 2 years) but rather a closely-cropped beard that resembles a permanent 5 o’clock shadow.

The problem with such a short beard is that the hair is very prickly and sticks my girls when I snoot on ‘em. And since Eliana began to complain, I knew the end was in sight.

I put it off as long as I could but she finally wore me down and I shaved last night after everyone was in bed.

This morning, I woke Eliana up, carried her on my back to the recliner and situated her in my living room chair as I always do. But before covering her with a blanket and while her eyes were still closed, I took her hand and stroked the sides of my now-smooth face and chin.

Suddenly her face lit up and she smiled really big.

And then she dozed off again.

Someone recently emailed Carmi and I with several questions about older child adoption.

Carmi answered the email but I thought it would be a good idea to post a question a day here and share our answers with you.

If you have any questions of your own, please let us know.

1. Was it hard to communicate with Zane?
2.  How did he adjust to you? Siblings?
3.  How did he adjust to school in America?  How did you know what grade to put him in? How is he doing now in school?
4.  How was he able to make friends and feel comfortable at school when he could not speak the language?  How is he doing now that he can speak the language?
5.  How did you try to teach him English? How is he doing now?
6.  Did he go to school in China?  If so, did the school teach him about Buddha and did your child have a strong connection to Buddhism?
7.  Was he in an orphanage or a foster family?  If in a foster family, did he have a difficult time adjusting to your family?  How is he doing today?
8.  Can you share something that you wish that you would have known before you adopted an older child that you can’t get from a book but only through experience?

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We have a Chinese friend who talked to Zane and discovered that he was not in middle school in China so we started him in the 6th grade. Since he came at the end of the year, we had him retained in the 6th grade for this year too. Zane was very small when he first came to the US so he did not look out of place with that age group. One of Zanes friends from the SWI came to the US about 5-6 months before Zane and they started him in the 6th grade as well.

Zane adjusted very well and quickly to school in the US thanks to his ESL teacher who we can’t say enough good things about. When we first put Zane in school, just 4 days after coming home, he was placed with an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher who went above and beyond for her students and treated them as if they were her own children.

Since he started school at the end of the year, he basically received a crash course in English. He was with the ESL teacher, at her request, for 3 full days out of a 5-day school week. She made sure that Zane was paired with a boy in his class who was exemplary in attitude and discipline. She went to lunch with him to make sure he knew the procedures and what he was being served. She had a great relationship with Zanes teachers and they all worked together to make sure that his homework and tests were modified so Zane didn’t feel overwhelmed. And from everything we heard, his classmates loved him.

Zane continues to do well in school, according to his teachers, in this his first full year.

His best subject is math but that comes as no surprise since math is universal.

One of the main concerns shared by his teachers is that he tends to race to be the first done with work in class and makes careless mistakes as a result since he does not always take time to check his work. They say, though, that this is just a “boy” thing and that most of the boys in their classes do this to some extent.

This morning, I observed one of those rare yet glorious moments when Eliana and Karys were sitting together and actually talking to each other.

No squabbling. No bossing. No whining. Just honest-to-goodness conversation.

Don’t know how they got started on the topic but I overheard Eliana explaining to Karys that a person needs Jesus in their heart to go to heaven. That was the happy part.

Then Eliana told Karys that Zane is not going to heaven (right now) because he doesn’t have Jesus in his heart. OK… that was the sad part.

But then Eliana capped off their theological dialogue a few minutes later with a zinger.

She told Karys that there are probably no potties in heaven.

Way to connect with a 5-year-old, big sis!

Sunday afternoons are a great time.

I love having lunch at moms house and then taking the kids out in the backyard to play. Especially now that the weather is becoming more spring-like.

It’s hard to get a decent picture of them though. They are constantly on the move so I normally end up with a picture of their backsides.

But I guess a picture of their backsides is better than no picture at all. At least I see them together.

And that makes me very happy.

We had the final post-adoption visit from our social workers this afternoon.

Afterwards, it was so nice out that we met friends at the park for the kiddos to expend some of their pent-up energy.

I paid my yearly visit to ye ol’ H&R Block this afternoon.

At the appropriate time, I told the gentleman that Carmi and I had a new son. This same guy did our taxes last year in February but right before we traveled to China.

“Well… congratulations.”, he said.

He asked for Zanes name. Then he asked for Zanes birthday.

“2. 24. 1996.”

I just happened to glance over at the tax man. He had stopped typing and was staring at the keyboard with this r-e-a-l-l-y confused look on his face.

“Oh. He’s adopted too.”, I said laughing out loud.

Carmi and I sure are thankful for that adoption tax credit. We will enjoy the benefits this year and next and then it’ll be gone.

Unless we adopt again.

And with that, I think my mother just choked.

I braved a room FULL of women with loud children this morning and registered Karys for kindergarten. {sigh}

Let me tell you… that little girl is some more ready to start “big” school. So she can learn to read.

She’s also pretty excited about going to the same school as sissy. Mmm… I’m not sure that Eliana feels the same though.

The 3rd grade moved back into their elementary school this year so she and Eliana will attend together in the Fall. It’s the one and only year that any of our children will be in the same school at the same time.