Have I Told You All How Much I Love This Kid?!

My baby girl slept for nearly 11 uninterrupted hours last night! She went down around 8:00 and woke up just before 7:00 this morning. Not too many tears today and she was, again, excited for her bottle right away!

As she was walking around with her bottle in her mouth, she went into the bathroom, pointed into the tub and smiled at me. We hadn't given her a bath yet (because she smelled so good and we wanted to limit too much trauma), but we planned on doing it before we went down for breakfast. So, when she did this, I was in a bit of shock and told Darren to go get the camcorder. She let me undress her and smiled SO big when I stuck her in the water. I brought a couple of bath toys but she was minimally interested in them so I got down to business and washed her. When it came to pouring water over her head, she didn't like that very well but did really good. When we were finished, she stood up and reached for me. All done! I figured it must be a part of her daily routine that she is used to! And just like that we had given her our first bath. I was soaked and she was happy. We put lotion on, which she loves to help with, and put her clothes on. She immediately grabbed her shoes and she was ready for the day!

Still in shock over how easy she made that on me, we headed down for breakfast. She ate 2 eggs, a glutinous rice thingy, a partial bowl of rice, and the center out of 2 steamed buns (which has been one of my favorite things to eat every day, especially the sweet ones). I think she is starting to learn that she can have food whenever she wants it because she is slowing down, but she is still very serious about eating!

As we finished eating breakfast, she was getting antsy, and I did not want a repeat of yesterday so I excused myself from breakfast (we were eating with the Zinn's and Savor again) and took her back to the room to let her play and get things organized while Darren finished up.

When we got back to the room she was testing me and was being kind of ornery, and I figured it was okay to set some ground rules because I think she knows already when she is pushing our buttons. I told her no with a stern look on my face, and she gave me a pouty face, but I didn't give in. Finally, she started being sweet again.

Then Darren came back to grab his passport so he could go exchange some more US currency for Chinese currency, and the disposable camera we sent to the orphanage to drop off to be developed. She was happy to see him and talked him into a short walk in the hallway. He was going to take her with him, but she lost interest and stayed with me instead.

While Darren was gone, she grabbed the box of cheerios we bought yesterday and placed my hand on the top flap, asking me to open it for her. She was so excited! When she gave it to me, I grabbed the tupperware container I was storing them in and sat down on the floor. She copied me (and does this often to both Darren and I) and sat down on the floor too. She watched with anticipation as I opened the bag and poured them into the container. Then she grabbed a big handful and proceeded to check the bag and the box to make sure I wasn't throwing any of them away! She caught a couple and retrieved them! Then she grabbed her water and wanted to play in the office space, which is pretty much a separate room. I grabbed the chair and put it in front of the window like she likes so she could sit on my lap and look out the window.

Somewhere in there she was back in the bathroom and was pointing to the faucet so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try brushing her teeth. Once again, she totally let me do it! She laughed because I think it tickled, and it wasn't the best brushing in the world but it was a start!

Later, while she was sitting on my lap in front of the window again, she took her shoes and socks off, and then showed me how she could put them back on all by herself! She wouldn't let me put her down the whole time Darren was gone, so no cleaning got done, but that was okay...we are here to bond...not to clean.

After Darren got back, we told him about our activities and then he took her for a long walk. They walked through the halls and into the lobby and went outside for a bit. She LOVES outside! There just isn't a good place to take her here to play. We have a feeling she is going to LOVE going to the park and on walks when we get back home!

After her walk with Darren, she played with the dimmer on the lamp while she ate MORE cheerios and some raisins. We could tell she was getting tired so we made her a bottle, shut the curtains, and turned out the lights. To her, all of the lights are like noise is to a hearing baby, and it creates a distraction.

I changed her diaper, and we crawled onto the bed. She chugged her bottle while asking if she could get down and go to the window by making gestures. I told her no, and she pouted, but I knew she was tired so I kept her on my lap and asked Darren to make her another bottle. She was so excited when he was making it and gave him a big smile when he gave it to her. I then laid her back down in my arms, turned away from the window, and watched her as she slammed bottle# 2.

She fought me for a few minutes and kicked her feet (Darren kept his face covered to prevent injury). Then her eyes locked on my eyes, and I started to rub her leg. She maintained eye contact with me (on gotcha day, she would not look at me). Then, after a minute or two, with her eyes half-closed, she gave me a smile, closed her eyes, and fell asleep while I sat there holding her in my arms with tears streaming down my face. I could not have been given a better gift at that moment.

I love this precious little angel, and I thank God for bringing her into our lives. This is our little girl, and she could not be more perfect!