Ice Cream and French Fries

Skype session # 5.

Ahhh, another evening with Katelyn. It was an interesting night!

First, we discovered that she has yet to receive our package. Apparently they have a call into the main office in Taipei to ask where it is. They know that every time we speak, we ask if she's received it. Included in that first care package is a letter from us to her regarding her name. We wrote the letter and had it translated and it explains that we want to use the name Katelyn for her first name, and her given name will become her middle name. We are both sort of nervous about telling her this, but ready for her to know about it so we can begin using it.

Well we were disappointed that she hasn't received it. And what do you know, the translator started by saying that "Linda" (her American name they use during English class) had a question. She explained that Linda had asked this question last week and that it was the first thing she brought up today when she arrived. She wanted to know if she could change her American name and wanted to know what we would like to call her.

We were shocked! Changing her name is a delicate process and we'd put time and effort into a letter explaining how the name Katelyn is special to us and that we want to call her Katelyn. And bam...in the course of 10 seconds we were about to just tell her about it over Skype.

Sooo, we did! She thought about it. She literally put her little finger to her chin, eyes looking upward, and thought about the name. Next thing I knew she was referring to herself as Katelyn and off we went with the rest of the conversation.

Of course I envisioned the different scenarios that we might have as she read the letter and learned her new name. Telling her "in person"on Skype and getting her live reaction wasn't one of them! But how fun! She'll still get the letter and learn more about why we would like to use that name. I've prayed so often asking God to prepare her heart for this process. I've asked specifically that He open her up to the name Katelyn and that she would be okay with it. What a direct answer to prayer that we got to tell her about it, watch her reaction, and that she accepted it with no problem. Wow, just wow!

We spoke about Halloween. She got to trick-or-treat last Wednesday. She did not dress up but wore a jack-o-lantern hat. We explained that the boys would be dressing up and going TnT'ing this week. She became upset because she won't be there to do that with us. We explained that we would get extra candy for her and save it. We also pointed out that she could do this with us next year. She immediately began planning her costume. At last count the list included princess, Barbie, a bunny, and a cat. Can you imagine the list by next October? ;-)

She also stated that she is looking forward to going to McDonald's. Ha! That's a "we're on the road, nothing else is open, and it will make the kids happy" kind of place. Sounds like we might visit it a little more often after she arrives. ;)

It's pretty common knowledge that many Asian adoptees have a milk allergy. Having dealt with a milk allergy for 3 years (Nathan grew out of it at age 3), I know how hard it is to incorporate that into the family diet. I've been wondering if she is allergic to dairy or not...so tonight when talking about McDonald's I asked if she liked ice cream. She immediately said yes...that and french fries. A girl after my own heart.

She was corrected by the translator (asked Katelyn to speak softly so that she could hear us) and she got up and left. Literally, pouted, hid her face, then simply left the room. Apparently, she does that often. We asked about her foster sister's wedding this past weekend. The foster mom said it went well but that unfortunately there was only one picture of Katelyn because she left half way through the ceremony. THEN the translator explained that Katelyn can become very upset and grumpy and that you have to "make a deal with her" so that she'll cooperate. Ah-ha! She's one smart cookie...has the adults making deals with her in order to behave? I see a battle in our future. One we'll eventually win, but I have a feeling this could get sporty. I hope one day that when she reads this blog, this part is amusing. That can only happen if we have successfully corrected this problem. Yeah, I pray it's funny...one day.

All in all a great visit with her. I long to have her home...I pray we get "the call" soon, very. very. soon.