That means Happy New Year in Cantonese, or so my Carmella tells me. She is learning a lot about China in her 3rd grade class. And for a special treat, I got to chaperone her field trip to Chinatown today. I love getting to spend one-on-one time with my babies!
We had a great time, got to learn a lot about Chinese history in this country and in Chicago. As we walked around after lunch, I had a whole new appreciation for all the dragons, lions, and different colors that all have special meanings. We ate a wonderful lunch at one of the 60 restaurants in this little 4-5 block area! We also learned that there are also about 50 grocery stores in Chinatown, and that most Chinese people actually prefer to go grocery shopping twice a day to ensure their food for each meal is fresh!
The shops we stopped in were so fun, the food store was just full of the most unique things. I recognized the Knorr brand but not the Chinese characters on the label! The dried seahorses were our favorite, though the ginseng's price (behind the glass case) was the most astonishing for me.
The one building with the most "authentic" Chinese look in Chinatown was actually designed by some people from Denmark and based it on some pictures of China from a German book. It's certainly beautiful though, and the carvings on it are amazing. Though we didn't get too close, we also saw the Wall of Nine Dragons and it looks equally impressive.
I'm guessing that Carmella's favorite part (other than lunch) was probably the shopping in the little gift shops. There she got her own set of chopsticks, a fan, some earrings, and a change purse. We also brought some goodies home for her sisters. We didn't see anything we thought poor Jack would like though.
Though I loved it all, this particular sign tickled me. Check out the phone number for the Hong Kong Noodle Company!
Here's the big saw, about to cut into my daughter's leg! Just kidding, it was just loud, they put headphones on Nora, but the rest of us had to listen to the ROAR of the saw.
Nora said it tickled...and look at that smile, you can't tell she was happy to get the cast off, can ya? Clapping and everything, I think she might have danced a jig if it weren't for the broken foot.
As the nurse got to the last leg of the cut (pun intended) on the opposite side of Nora's leg, I saw Grandpa's cute little get well message "Grandpa says HEAL!" (pointing to her heel) and had to take a picture. He also added the THIS END UP, because he's oh-so-funny.
After the sawing was complete, the nurse pried open the cast and you could see this cottony stuff inside. In this picture she is cutting away the sock part (the smelly part) and that was basically it! Check out those nasty toes though...they are dirty and dry and gross because Nora refused to put a sock over her cast because "it looked dumb"...and now she knows just how smart her toes looked all this time. Haha!
The cast came off in 2 pieces that fit back together like a jigsaw puzzle, here's Nora holding the top half with all her friends' signatures. She's already planning to wear it to Awana on Ouch Night which we think is coming up in March! The other kids tried it on, of course, but Nora has the skinniest legs in the house, or so they tell me.
We had been warned about atrophy by a few people, so we wanted to make sure to get a picture. Of course I was expecting a shriveled up prune of a foot/leg, but it wasn't THAT bad. You can kind of see where her right calf is slightly smaller in this picture. Now I'm just wondering if we are going to be able to find all the missing right shoes that she hasn't been able to wear for all this time. :)
The newness and funness of having crutches has started to wear off already, and she's got a little chaffing under her arms where the pads are rubbing her side. It rained ALL DAY long, so even just getting from the school to the van in the parking lot wasn't much fun...and extremely nerve-wracking for me. Part of me just wants to scoop her up and carry her around, but then I remember she's 10 and I probably can't lift her without giving myself a hernia. All in all though, she's been such a trooper. Her cast is halfway covered in signatures from all the kids in her class and she has certainly gotten a lot of attention. Pretty soon I'm guessing she will start making up a more exciting story than just "I fell down the stairs" but I'm trying not to put any ideas in her head just yet! Her friend Gabriella (in this picture) has been a huge help, carrying her backpack and helping her with her lunch. Every day at recess she can choose a different friend to stay inside with her. Three weeks in this cast so no gym or bowling or anything before then, and at that time they will remove this cast, do some more xrays and decide if she needs another cast or just a brace. We are praying for the latter, of course!
My Nora managed to break not one, but TWO bones in her foot! The doctor says he thinks the bad break will be able to heal on its own without surgery, but now that I've seen this xray...I don't know if I believe him. How cool is that though, they gave me a CD with the xray picture right on it. Of course I asked to see it so I could scrapbook it (one day) but the real reason they gave it to me was so that I can take it to the orthopedic doctor when we go follow-up. I am hoping they are in the office on Saturdays...if not, it will be Monday before we can do anything. They put Nora in a temporary cast, and gave her some crutches...she's a pro already at walking with them, though she would have preferred a wheel chair, she says!
Well last night was amazing. Jack had his first band concert with the 5th grade Beginner Band. It was at the middle school where Jack will attend next year, and we got to hear the middle school bands and choirs as well. 
