Life with our Little Monster

It has been a day or two since we blogged, mostly because Larry wanted to write the next one but then didn't get around to it. Also, since the Little Monster is no longer sick, she naps only about half as much!

She sleeps through the night most nights, and wakes up giggling and ready to play! In the mornings, she likes to start the day by playing all of the games she has learned from us so far: the tongue game, the Indian noise game, the popping game, etc. and she giggles the whole time. She doesn't wake up from naps quite so easily, however, and likes to be held for awhile after she wakes up from naps.

She also will still breathe through her blanket and hold a toothbrush when she is stressed, but those times are few and far between lately. Additionally, it has been 4 days since stray tears of sadness ran silently down her cheeks.

Usually for breakfast, she sits in her high chair and eats a three course breakfast: scrambled eggs, followed by either bread or oatmeal, and then for dessert she has a banana. We cannot even let her see a banana before the first 2 courses are completed or she will refuse all food and go straight to banana.

She enjoys playing in the hotel play room, which is all carpeted and padded and full of toys and is sponsored by Matel. We like to take her there to tire her out before a nap. She goes down for naps easily, but she hates bedtime. Surprisingly to both of us, Larry is a better disciplinarian to her particularly regarding bedtime. She wrestles and fights and screams and wants to play her games and Larry will tell her no and keep rocking her. I can't help laughing. Last night I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt and Larry had to take her and get her to sleep. She was just so silly- squirming and yelling and trying to get me to play with her I couldn't help but laugh.

Despite our initial perception of Guangzhou as a tropical paradise, it has rained for the last 3 days and been cold (not Beijing-cold, but cooler that we would have planned for ourselves) so we have been stuck in-doors. Thank Matel for that playroom!

We have also done some shopping for Abigail and have selected some very nice gifts to give her throughout the coming years. We are quite pleased with ourselves and hope she will like the gifts. It was recommended that we get her some "special" Chinese things, and not because we can't find "made in China" things in the US, but to get her some precious things actually purchased on the adoption trip.

We could not be happier with this child in our lives. Adoption was our first choice for building a family because it just felt "right" to us and we were absolutely correct with this decision!!! She is such a bundle of joy and fun and love. She is intellectually curious. It is amazing that someone who can't even speak can be so funny. Every time I look at her, I feel like I am looking at her for the first and last time so I just want to soak her up.