Asian New Year Celebration

We attended our first Asian New Year Celebration. It was sponsored by our adoption agency. We didn't know what to really expect. It fell right on Ava's birthday which seemed appropriate at the time. We will be celebrating Ava's birthday with the grandparents on Sunday. Although the party was a little disappointing because this was something I was hoping to bring the kids to every year. But we don't feel like part of the adoptive community at this function. It was way too large and very impersonal. The environment makes it impossible to socialize and meet other adoptive families. The kids were ready to go home as soon as they ate. Luckily the dancers/performers came on right after everyone ate.

Next year I think I'll sign us up with the other Vietnam family group. I think it's a smaller group but it's only the children from the Tam Binh Orphanage I wanted the kids to be exposed to their culture and heritage but today's party was not what we had in mind. By the time I found out about the other Vietnam group, I had already ordered tkts for the one held by our adoption agency. Oh well...at least we found out sooner rather than later.

I know Ava is going to kill me one of these days. I didn't pull out her Ao Dai dresses from storage until Thursday night. I had them stored away for the past year and a half. I had bought dresses from 1 - 5 yrs, hoping that she would have a dress for each year. I didn't realize it until Thursday that I accidently bought two size "2" dresses. Well, Ava long outgrew that size and she fit in the size "3". Now mind you, she just turned two today. She's wearing 24 mth clothes. I think the Vietnamese sizes run slightly smaller than American sizes because the Vietnamese women have such small frames. I remember buying some silk blouses for myself. You should have seen the Vietnamese women laugh at me when I was trying the blouses on in the store. I first put on a size medium, then a size large, THEN a size extra-large. I told them that just because I was barely five feet tall didn't mean that I had the Vietnamese stature. Well, Ava is in the same boat. Ava and I live on a "waffle diet", not a Vietnames diet!

Although I will come to her defense. Ten minutes before we left the Asian New Year party, Ava was running around and I called her name. This man standing near us said "oh, another Ava." I looked over to this other little girl and I said, is your daughter named Ava as well? He replied yes. I said Ava was a popular name in 2007 ;-) The two Ava's stood next to each other and the other Ava towered over my Ava. I swear she was a head taller and much wider than Ava Lieu. I was going to take a picture of them standing next each other but Ava got frightened and dashed off again. The man said that they'd return for a picture once they got their picture taken with the professional photographer. Well by then, we were all packed up to leave and didn't wait. So you'll just have to take my word for it.