It's official--my little D has been in K1 for less than 2 full weeks and he can confidently count to 10 in Mandarin. I am so proud of him!

We were reading books before bedtime last night and he was counting the stars in the illustration in the book aloud in English. I asked him if he could do it in Chinese and he got all shy and said he couldn't do it even though he counts it with G sometimes. I knew he could do at least to 3 or 5.

And then he made some comment about how he couldn't do it because only G knows how to count in Chinese. !!! I felt so bad for that little squirt. He's got a sister who, like her daddy, seems to be effortlessly good at stuff right away. He knows he doesn't know as much as she does so he was really sheepish about trying. I didn't pressure him but I gave him a big pep talk about it and let it go.

So tonight, we were looking at the exact same picture as last night and I asked if he wanted to try the counting in Chinese. He jumped right into it and flawlessly counted to 10 in his most commanding little voice. He owned it! I asked him to do it again and he got a little out of order between 7 and 10. What a hoot! He makes me laugh. I told him I was so proud of him and I could tell he was really proud of himself.

I got a phone call from his Mandarin speaking teacher today because somehow he had misplaced his bus id. She was just calling to tell me it was at school and they had found it, not to worry. She then told me that D is very good at school now (he cried a few times in the first few days) and that he is happy and seems to enjoy being there. That was great to hear. She is intimidating. She is a teeny tiny little Chinese girl with a BOOMING very in-charge voice. Which is why, I am pretty sure, D used his commanding little voice to count those numbers out loud.