Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Today was a down day, actually it's the middle of the day here,
but I
wanted to get this written and sent in time to send pictures
along so
it's going to be short and sweet :)
Sophie woke up less worried
and
confused than she did yesterday. She slept all night, and woke
up about
6:45. I had been up for an hour so I was ready to go to
breakfast! I got
her dressed and off we went. Her appetite has improved so much,
she ate
almost nothing on gotcha day, the next day we much better and
last night
and this morning she packed it away! She has started to point to
the
things she wants at the buffet (must have been that shopping
trip
yesterday!) and she REALLY knows what she likes. In fact, if she
picks it,
she's sure to eat it. Most things she won't even try but I did
manage to
get a tiny bite of strawberry ice cream in her last night. She
had no
idea what it was, I think she's never had anything cold in her
life. The
guide told me not to give her anything cold because the Chinese
believe
it might make the baby sick.
This morning she ate sesame balls,
processed ham (looks like bologna), and noodles. She is really
striving to
feed herself independently so she'll pick up a piece of food and
put in on
her spoon and feed herself. It's really endearing to watch her
go at
it. And she's in no hurry when it comes to meal times. I thought
she
was done several times this morning, but she kept getting a
'second wind'
and pointing to more food. I guess that tummy on her is hard
earned :)
After breakfast we went to the local park. It was so beautiful
there,
many local people were spending the afternoon there. I pushed
Sophie in
the stroller a while and then let her walk, I am sure it felt
good to
stretch her legs a bit. What I noticed most during our time
there is how
unresponsive she is to other people now. She is opening up more
and
more with me, talking and even singing to herself earlier in the
room
today, but she only stares in the other direction when another
person comes
up to her. There was a very nice older gentleman who tried to
engage
her in a conversation and she wouldn't even look at him. Between
that and
the black eyes, I think I might be giving adoptive families a bad
name
here in Nanning ;)
I took many pictures of her in the park, the
scenery
is just magnificent and the subject is absolutely adorable, too!
From
her reports, she sounds like a very outgoing and adventurous
sort, but
when I tried to put her on some rocks to climb around she just
stood
there, not really sure what to do. I was reminded that this is
all so new
for her and my heart ached for all the things she has missed by
being
in an institution for her short life. Well she's got adventures
galore
in store for her when she gets home, our family will be sure to
see to
that!
Tomorrow is a travel day, we leave for Guilin by train in the
morning
and should get to our hotel by mid afternoon. We will possibly
do a
local tour in the afternoon and then we visit the orphanage on
Friday
morning. I am excited to see Sophie's first home, but very
anxious about her
seeing her nanny again. She has a picture of her and she will
often
look at it and rub her nanny's face with her finger and say
"mama". It's
really brutal to watch, but because of her nanny's love for her,
she has
the capacity to love another the same way. For that I will
always be
grateful. I hope to be able to post from Guilin, but I don't
think the
internet is great there so I might just have to wait until we
get to
Guangzhou early Friday evening.
Please continue to keep us in
your prayers,
for our safety and health, but especially for Sophie during this
crucial visit to the orphanage. I know it will be difficult for
her. This
trip has gone so amazingly well, I just KNOW God is answering
those
prayers lifted up to Him on our behalf. Thank you so much!
|
Sophie and I
enjoying the scenery
Sophie at the
park
"What's that?"
Laughing at my
silly sounds
Sophie loves
noodles! |
