She remembers.

Shortly after we arrived home from China SS and I were watching Ni Hao Kai Lan. SS was not really paying attention until Kai Lan said "Ye Ye." SS stopped what she was doing and cruised over to the TV excitedly repeating "Ye Ye," looking back at me and with a big grin on her face. SS, who was only saying Mama at the time, pronounced it just like Kai Lan. I was puzzled and excited and called P to share the incident. I know we had not been home for long because SS was not walking, and Grandpa had not visited. Grandpa visited about a month after we came home and then we introduced the "Ye Ye" means Grandpa connection for SS. P and I have always wondered about her instant recognition of the word. There were a few others in that episode that went right over SS's head, but Ye Ye had a specific meaning to our daughter. Some SWIs accommodate children and the elderly, but we do not know if that is the case with the Kaiyuan SWI. We were told that SS was not in foster care, so there goes that one (and we have often really wondered if that is true). The SWI director was a male, but SS did not call him Ye Ye when we met. I know, we are over thinking this way too much, but that is what happens when you do not have answers to something so basic.

SS was reintroduced to Ye Ye is Grandpa bit last March, when Grandpa visited, but it was only done once or twice. P is not invested in the Chinese term of endearment. SS has had very little exposure to Kai Lan since last Easter when the proverbial attachment hell broke loose.

At lunch today, P was doing his happy TGIF dance and song about having Marsala Chicken for dinner. He can't come right out and ask, he must make a production out of it. SS was behind me eating lunch, while P was in the kitchen. P said, "It's Ye Ye's favorite," and SS happily piped up "Yeah Grandpa!" It was funny because P was about to grab something from the fridge, was bent over, and upon hearing SS he snapped right up. He asked me "what did she just say?" I asked him to ask SS (heck I"m not their interpreter), and SS repeated it for him. Cracked us up.

There are many people who firmly believe that our children have no recollection of that time before we came into their lives and became their instant saviors (you may want to clean up all that sarcasm dripping from your monitor). We know that SS cannot articulate about that time before us, but it is there, indelibly imprinted on her mind. The simple remembrance of that term of endearment gives us hope that not all was bad during those 15 months. Because what we have so far is not that encouraging. We do hope she had a Ye Ye.

Flaunting her flexibility.

I forgot to post this one from a few days ago.

Trying out the kiddie chopsticks Baba bought her last weekend.

Success.