Our Angel Has a Devilish Side!

Peyton slept like a champ her first night with us. She fought sleep for a bit but was in bed by 8:00 and slept til 5:00 am. 9 hours! We were thrilled! She woke up a little unsure of us but her face lit up when I pointed to her formula. She sat and drank it and played with some of her toy with Darren in the window sill while I took a shower and got ready. She was such a sweetie and let me change her diaper, put on a clean dress, her shoes and even a bow! When we were all finishes getting ready and she sees our shoes on she smiles and heads for the door. She loves to go out!

We headed down for breakfast and saw Savor (our CCAI rep) and the Zinn family and sat down to eat with them. Peyton polished off 3 eggs, a bowl of rice, & 2 of these yummy glutinous rice thingies they have down there. She's a good eater! She just sat on my lap and ate and ate and ate! Darren was worried that I wasn't getting to eat!

After breakfast we were on our way to do more paperwork to become an official family! While we waited for the Zinn family, Peyton asked to go outside by mouthing, "me me me me" and pointing to where she wanted to go. So I took her outside and she grinned really big. She kept wanting to go back out but it was so hot and a watch salesman was trying to get me to buy something from him so I told her no. She did not like that at all! She looked at me, rolled her eyes, arched backwards and then went limp. This little girl is a lug at 27 pounds! Then...still hung over my arms...she started thrashing and whining. I was like...okay...what do I do here...we aren't bonded yet and not sure she fully trusts me yet but I don't want her to think throwing a fit gets her what she wants. So I took her outside. Smiles! Back inside? Throwing a fit! So I tried letting her walk outside on her own while holding my hand for her safety and because she is a little wobbly on her own still. Then I needed to get her back inside to see if we were ready to go yet. She wilted into a pile on the ground. I picked her up and she arched back and thrashed around. I took her inside to see if walking ona different direction in the hotel would help. She was very excited but when we got to the end of the hall and we had to turn and go back she wilted and wouldn't walk. She made a pouty face and ripped the bow off her head and started waving her hands in a "no...get away from me" motion and than lightly hitting her face.

Meanwhile Darren is standing in the lobby talking to Savor but he senses I am having trouble. As I approach him with her thrashing in my arms he offers to trade me the bags for Peyton. She didn't get her way with him either but her attention was diverted when the Zinn's arrived and it was time to go do more paperwork. Once we got in the elevator she was smiles again. She LOVES to ride in the elevator!

First stop was a family picture. Me being me...I wanted the bow back on her head but she was still mad at me so she was refusing. I distracted her with cheerios and then the.photographer dude told me I had to take it off. I was so bummed. It is a funny picture and is affixed to out Certificate of Adoption!

Then it was on to do more paperwork just a few rooms away. We got inside and sat down and Peyton was restless. She wolfed down half of a container of goldfish but we were worried she was going to make herself sick. We were there for what seemed like forever. Darren and I both walked with her and she melted. Finally I took out a coloring book and crayons. That made her happy. It dawned on me that this little girl likes to stay busy and is always engaged. Good sign in my eyes! She will need that determination and energy with all she is going to face when we get back home!

We finally finished and went through a ceremony where we were presented with our Certificate of Adoption then promised to take care of her and not abandon her, were named an official family, paid more fees, and just like that...we were officially a family!

Savor had arranged for us to go on an excursion. Peyton was so happy to be getting into the van! She was so content sitting on my lap pointing at EVERYTHING she could see out the window. It was a long car ride and she was getting restless by the time we arrived at the restaurant. Savor made sure we had our own private room. We sat around a huge round table with a large lazy susan in the middle. As the staff descended upon our table to set it, Peyton's eyes lit up as she watched them magically set the table. She was fascinated! The food came and Peyton ate and ate and ate again. She didn't like the veggies but she couldn't get enough of the soup or the rice. She asked for a taste of the beef and it was a little spicy so I just gave her a little piece. She made a" ha ha ha" motion with it in her mouth but wouldn't spit it out. A drink of her water and more soup and she was good!

In the middle of our meal she pointed to the back-side of her diaper. On one hand I was thrilled because she hadn't pooped yet. The Karen inside of me was horrified because that meant changing her diaper in a public restroom. I had good reason to be horrified. The restaurant was nice but the restrooms were not. I stood in there having a conversation about what to do because it was smelly and felt dirty to me and there were no changing tables. I felt like I could cry! Then I pulled it together like in the movies and devised a plan. One of the stalls had stacks of toilet paper in it so I chose that one. I threw the backpack on top of the toilet paper stacks and sat down on the toilet (thank goodness the toilet seats had lids), laid Peyton down over my lap and managed to change her poppy diaper. Peyton just hung out like a perfect angel and I prayed she wasn't picking up on my fury! She smiled when we were finished and then we walked back to the table without anyone knowing what I just went through. Darren quietly asked me how it went and I told him I had to change her on my lap but didn't tell him the details til later.

So...it was back to our meal. Peyton ate more and made sure she always had a napkin close by. She made sure her face and hands states clean and was wiping spilled food and liquid from the table. Seriously? She IS my kid! Even as we were getting ready to leave she was picking things up off the floor. We have also noticed this with any toys and with the crayons. When she is finished she puts things away. They taught her responsibility! It makes me tear up because every day I see signs of how well she was treated and that they did their best for our baby girl as they could!

We left the restaurant, which was authentic and FABULOUS, and went next door to a silk factory. We learned about the life cycle of a silk worm and saw how silk threads are made. We saw how silk blankets were made and even got to stretch some silk. They were so soft and snuggly like a down comforter! I wanted one but Darren wasn't big on the idea so we passed. Then we were taken to see traditional Chinese clothing made of silk.

Peyton was melting by then again and didn't want to be put down but was hanging in our arms like a wet noodle! We found 2 adorable pieces of clothing...a dress and a cute little vest...a couple sizes too big so she can wear them later since her Grandma Pam already got her 3 outfits in her size that came from a place in Hong Kong.

By the end of this excursion we were ready to get back to our hotel with her but we had one more stop to make....Lotus. It's kind of like a Walmart. We needed a case of water and a few snacks. The lights had gone off which meant what little A/C they had was also off. The lights had just come on when we got there. I had sweat rolling off of me and you know how awful it feels to have that need of sweat roll down the center of your back? It was constant and my hair was soaking wet. Poor Peyton was dripping with sweat and her akin was flushed. I tried blowing on her to keep her cool. That trip seemed like it took forever and we could not wait to get out of there. We were carrying Peyton because she wouldn't ride in the shopping cart and wilted when we let her walk because she wanted to go everywhere we didn't need to go. She was thrashing in my arms at the check-out stand so I gave in when she asked for a sucker. She screamed and kicked when we took it away for the cashier to scan and got excited when she finally had it in her mouth. It kept her busy all the way back to the hotel.

Once we got back to our room we were A...exhausted...B...so happy to be in air conditioning...and C...delighted that sweet Peyton was back! She was smiling and playing and asking for more cheerios in sign language. She does the sign for more and points to where she knows we keep the cheerios and smiles and gets so excited when her request is fulfilled!

The other sweet thing Peyton does is that she knows where the trash is and when something is gone and/or needs to be thrown away, and we didn't teach her that. She noticed an empty water bottle by the tea kettle and reached for it. She then took it to the other room and put it in the trash. She did if again with another one. Then, a little later,after she had some formula she asked for a wipe by pointing to the pocket in the bag where she knows I keep them. She wiped her mouth, her neck, and her hands and then waddled over to the trash can and threw it away. Each time she throws something away we make it a big deal and clap. She gets all excited and smiles and claps too. A little later she saw a water bottle that had a small amount left in it. She picked it up and took it to Darren. He drank it and gave it back to her and she took it to the trash! It was so cute! Then when her formula was gone she put her silly cup in the trash too. She melts my heart!

She spent the rest of the evening playing. She pretended the remote was a telephone. We didn't teach her that either! Her nannies must have done that too! She does know that my phone is a touch phone and that you slide from screen to screen with to view pictures because I let her do that so she grabs it and starts sliding her finger across the screen. So funny! She was pretending to slide the screen on D's PSP and was holding it to her ear like a phone. She's a smart kid!

Finally, it was time for bed. We put her pajamas on and changed her diaper. We turned out the lights and closed the curtains (because she is so fascinated bu the lights that she will just keep pointing at them). I picked her up and put her on my lap and laid her down in my arms. She didnt try to leave my lap but she kicked and screamed and then full on cried. I think bed time is when she grieves. Makes me sad but I know it will get better.

Our little angel is sleeping now and has been down for 10 hours without a peep but she sure is a bed.hog! She wants nothing to do with the crib and has been sleeping with us...horizontally across the bed but she seems so content when she sleeps. She is starting to stir a bit and will probably be awake soon. We'll see what today brings!