Crying and Laughing

Quite a day of emotions. There's so much to relate about our newest daughter, too much to communicate in a blog posting. So, some highlights.

At breakfast, she fed me (Kent) quite a bit of my breakfast. I had her in my lap, and she grabbed a piece of bacon and held it up to my mouth with a serious expression. I took it, and she proceeded to add another piece and another, and then French toast, and then a forkful of scrambled eggs (though the fork was empty by the time it got to my mouth). She had a big appetite, too.

Later, while we were eating lunch in our room, an empty McDonald's cup fell to the floor, and she started laughing; so we set it up and knocked it down. Outright hysterical laughing on her part. She gestured for the cup, threw it down herself, and laughed and laughed. We kept this up for a while.

But there were times of real tears, too; sometimes she was quite inconsolable. She apparently is somewhat potty trained, and our failure to understand this probably led to great discomfort on her part. If you think of us, pray that we will understand her better.

Overall, a good day, and great improvement over yesterday. She lets me hold her sometimes, loves the comfort that Sara gives her, and she enjoys Anna as both a playmate and a servant of sorts.

She is fascinated with a picture album of her siblings. She kept pointing at each one, waiting for us to name them--over and over and over again. (Point) "Andrew." (Point) "Caty." (Point) "Anna." (Point) "Caty." Etc. It's like she's trying to learn our language through endless repeating.

She explored our room today, constantly opening drawers and closing them; also putting things where she thought they should be (which is not necessarily our preference).

Anna and I walked around the small lake/large pond in front of our hotel to the park on the other side. A beautiful park! (Cheryl and some of you other ladies would love it.) Hundreds and hundreds of potted flowers, 4, 5, 6, 7 rows deep lining all the walks. Chinese artwork along the way. Bonzai (?) trees carefully sculpted. And many people, too. Walking, sitting, taking pictures, sitting at tables playing cards, spectators gathered around them. Of course, we were the center of attention, too. (Not exactly my favorite thing, but it was worth the trip to the park.)

Our adoption of Callie was made official today with visits to the Civic Affairs Office and the Notary; also to the police station, where we applied for Callie's passport.

A final anecdote: Walking back to the hotel from the restaurant this evening, a girl younger than Anna shouted, "Hello, how are you?" Sara responded with a Chinese greeting, to the great delight of the girl and the adults around her. As we continued on our way, we heard the girl repeat her English greeting twice more with obvious enthusiasm and delight that she could use her lingual skills.

If you think of us, continue to pray for Callie's adjustment. "Callie" means something like "beautiful girl." She certainly is.