Jan 30th - More Shopping & Videos

We slept about 12 hours last night. She must think we are hibernating bears or something. Alison slept as much as Lynn and I. I think she is exhausted with her cold and all the emotional stress. She is getting the drill down now. She is acting more like a kid. She will push the elevator buttons to call the elevator and will use the card to open the room door. She got dressed this morning and has the bathroom routine down. She washes her hands like a surgeon rubbing the soap over every part. She is trying to eat with a fork as much as possible. She hasn't mastered cutting foods with a fork yet. She watches closely while we eat and tries to mimic.

We really treated her to a wonderful Chinese buffet by accident last night. We walked to the White Swan and I just wanted a buffet so I could have some choices. Those of you who have been here are chuckling by now. The buffet was fabulous with sushi bar, all sorts of meats, vegetables, dishes of all sorts. The desert choices went on forever. Once you are seated, you go with the flow, right? Well, when it came time to pay the check, Lynn didn't have enough yuan and they didn't take cash...but credit came in handy. I thought we were going to be held hostage while Lynn went back to the hotel... oh I bet we could have gotten money exchanged at the hotel desk but we weren't thinking that clearly when the bill came. The dinner was great! Alison loves sea weed. She nearly cleaned out the bowl. I thought they were roasting a wonderful chicken and the chef even said it was chicken. Ah but I recognize duck when I taste it and I don't happen to like duck. We all had many surprises with dinner. Alison spotted the ice cream right off but I said later. I think every kid remembers a promise made. She ate every bite. She used the finger bowl to wash her fingers and was eager to pull the napkins and use another one with every messy finger. So, we all learned something with this meal. Our lesson...check the price before you sit down.

Lynn mentioned the museum. That was beautiful. I loved to watch David talk to her. It is like he has a vested interest to explain as much about her culture as he can. I admit a spark of jealousy ran thru this mom's veins as I saw her take his hand over and over but I am patient. I don't have to have her every minute. Once we were back in the car, she is like a baby bird snuggling under my wing. She scoots as close as possible into my side and will rest her head on my chest. She puts her hand on my leg and takes my left hand. How sweet. Maybe she fears being car sick . I don't care what it is. I sigh and enjoy the ride.

She is soooo quiet. She will answer questions if pressured but doesn't speak much. David called Miss Zou again today and she talked to her. She really doesn't want to talk to her but she wants to talk to Ai Li. That is who she is asking to talk to. I didn't tell you how upset she was on day one. We took a nap and I woke up to her silent sobs. I tried to soothe her and held her in my arms. She very boldly told me something and then took me to the phone and said it again. She wanted me to call someone. We called David. David said she wanted me to call Miss Zou so she could talk to Ai Li. She calmed down after he talked to her. Like I said she talked to Miss Zou yesterday and today. David told us again today that she is asking to talk to Ai Li.

In the lobby today, a family came off of the elevator and Alison and this girl just started chatting. This is one of the Zhu Hai girls. We only spoke for a few minutes. They needed to go and so did we so we arranged to meet downstairs tonight at 6PM. I am not sure who this girl is and did not think to ask David what her name is. We will find out tonight. They went to Zhu Hai yesterday and got into the orphanage. When David heard that, he said he would call and we would go to. I am a little hesitant about going since Alison was so upset on day one. David talked to her and he thinks it is ok. So, we head over there tomorrow morning. I can't wait to talk to the family tonight and see how things are going for them. They live in Cleveland so we could meet them halfway several times a year and let the girls see each other.

David took us to the mall after the museum. We took a cab to a mall the other day but it certainly wasn't this one. This one had many children's shops. This must have been the place that the Cox's told us about. I won't even tell you how many videos I bought. I picked up two more pairs of pants, a shirt and a jacket (pink & black... do you see a theme as I do?).

We have just snacked in our room this afternoon and watched videos. She has lounged some on the end of our bed and smiled a few times but isn't really warm yet. She is comfortable with us and I think knows we will care for her and buy her things but isn't family yet. I am patient. I just wish she were a little more vocal. I think she pretends she doesn't understand when she doesn't want to talk. She is picking up nicely on routine things. We haven't used the translator much. She doesn't act like she understands when we use it but I think that is shyness and not knowing what to say yet. We should see a different side of her when we meet with her friend tonight.

I will try to write more later. Happy birthday Angie. We will call you later (well, after we sleep tonight).... Brenda

Oh, Lynn has found a way for us to see Lynn Arnette's blog (she is from A Helping Hand and will be here in the hotel on Saturday) and to see the Wees blog. They are at the White Swan now but we haven't been able to catch them in their room. It is so good to hear how everyone is doing with their new children.

I almost forgot the most important part. Alison called Lynn "papa" today. He was putting a video into the DVD player and she had chosen the next video. She was handing it to him and he wasn't paying any attention. So she said, "papa". Oh man, why do kids always say dad first? She has said momma and papa before but only when she had to for Miss Zou. This was the first non-prompted speech to us. Yeah!