In China
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Friday, March 1, 2013  A smile has emerged . . . but not because of us. Lillian slept well again last night. We are so thankful that she sleeps like a rock. She really needs that now since she has so much to process during the day. So many new sights, smells, people, etc she is seeing for the very first time in her life. Breakfast was ok. She actually picked up a few pieces of egg from her tray. That was the first. She has eaten everything we've given her so far and doesn't seem to be very picky. The orphanage always gave her everything very hot so I'm surprised that she hasn't had an aversion to cold foods. You can tell they are different for her but she doesn't seem to mind. We've almost got her weaned off the hot bottles and onto room temperature ones. By the way, her nanny on Gotcha Day shook her head like I was crazy when I tried to give her room temperature bottle and a snack. She told our guide that she would never eat it. Wonder if they had ever even tried. We boarded the bus around 9am for Guangzhou Zoo. She cried the whole way there...she still hates the bus. The zoo was nice. The animals were so active...way more than ours. I think it's because we went during feeding time and the weather was perfect. We also had the zoo pretty much to ourselves. Wensi said it was because the children are in school. The kids don't do field trips here. We asked and they go to school year round. They have a 2-3 week break in winter and a 1 month break in the summer. We got to see a panda bear...so cute! It looked like someone was sitting there in a costume. The best part of the zoo...she smiled!!!! But not for us. There is a little boy in our group (around 4 or so) that has been so protective of her. Yesterday on the bus when she was crying he had his little arm in between the seats trying to rub her arm. He even tried to give her his apples. I find the sharing so miraculous since most kids raised in an orphanage tend to hoard their food since they aren't used to getting very much. Food is very important to them so that was a very tender moment to me. Today, as we were looking at the llama's, he pushed her stroller out of the way, got in front of it, pointed his finger at the llama, and said something very forceful to it in Chinese. It was so stinking cute. He was trying to protect her (even though I promise the llama didn't get anywhere near her). Then he kept rubbing her head and saying something to her. Then it came...a smile!! One might have missed it if you didn't know her. We caught it on camera...see photo. We were so excited! The rest of the day was spent just hanging around the hotel. She really wasn't into playing or walking today. Her poor little heels are bright red from all the walking she's done. She probably has done more in the past couple of days then she has in a lifetime (and the shoes don't fit). She did a lot of grieving today. A child grieving is just heartbreaking. I've seen my children sad many times but never grieve. It's very different. She just burst into tears all day. We just hold her tight and tell her that we are in this together. I know it takes time but as a mom and dad that is the strongest parental mode you have...sheltering you children from hurt and fear. She hated the bath once again but we had some great bonding time afterwards. Tim and I thought we heard a giggle when I was tickling her but were not going to call it one of her firsts just yet. A couple of things I've forgotten to mentioned: She is very nervous to pick up food. If you put it in front of her she won't reach down to grab it unless you let her know its ok many times. It's obvious that she wasn't allowed to grab food at the orphanage. We think everything was fed to her (if she has ever eaten anything other than a bottle). When you spoon feed her she looks so nervous like she doesn't know if she's allowed to have it. She has mongolian spots all over her butt and some on her back. At first we thought they were bruises but since they are still there we know they aren't. Her bottom eyelashes are behind her eyelids. They lay flat against her eyes. Pretty common in asians, just crazy to see. I freak out when I get an eyelash in my eye! She hates the elevator and going into our room. It doesn't seem like she likes enclosed spaces. I'm sure I'll think of more...I always forget things this late at night! Love reading your comments and hearing about the kiddos. We miss them terribly! Grady, Hayden, Declan: We LOVE you and hope you are having a good time at Aunt Vicki's! One more house to go then we are HOME!! XOXO MOM & DAD

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