Happy CNY!

Saturday was our local FCC chapter's Chinese New Year party. It's really the biggest event on our calendar and, although it's a ton of work for those of us who are board members, it's so much fun for everyone.

This was the first year that Emma pretty much took off with her pals and partied all afternoon. In the past, she has stuck fairly close to me, but she wasn't shy about running off and playing with her friends. Just another sign that my little girl is growing up (sigh!) Here's Emma with her very good friend Amy...doing their version of a Chinese fan dance...


A lot of the girls grabbed ribbons and ran around dancing until they practically collapsed!


I think the only sad part of the entire affair was that we are really starting to see the effects of the Chinese adoption slowdown. Normally at our CNY celebration, we see 25 or so new families with their babies. This year...three. And we live in a fairly big metropolitan area. It really makes you wonder how long these kinds of events will go on. Let's face it, as most girls get older, they are less and less interested in attending CNY festivals and the like. A good friend of mine with adopted daughters who are 8 and 10 didn't come for the first time this year...she said her girls were tired of going. I worry that as fewer girls are adopted from China, and those who are already here get older, events like our CNY party and Moon Festival will just fade away.

I hope I'm sounding the alarm prematurely...maybe Chinese adoptions will pick up soon and more babies will find their way to homes in the U.S. You can't help feeling that way when you see all the beautiful and happy girls (and a few boys) with their families.