Wednesday, June 8, 2011
SIGHTSEEING DAY!

Piper is doing much better today! She was a lot more lively, but she is still very scared! She has a very sweet personality! We are more in love with her every day!

This morning started early! Piper went to bed last night at 9:00 PM and slept until 4:00 AM. She woke up crying! I held her and put her in bed with us and she fell back to sleep until 5:00 AM. She woke up crying again! I gave her some juice and crackers! I figured she must be hungry since she really didn't eat yesterday! We played on the bed for about 45 minutes. She was laughing and clapping! It was so cute! I gave her some more juice and rocked her back to sleep by 6:00 AM. She slept until around 7:00 AM. I didn't really go back to sleep after waking up with her, but I sure wanted to go back to sleep!!

We talked with the three children on skype again this morning! We love seeing our babies at home each morning!! The connection to skype isn't the greatest here, but it is great to see the children. They were very excited to see Piper this morning! I know they are going to love her too! We headed to breakfast! Piper did a pretty good job eating this morning. She loved the peaches and watermelon! She also ate some of the watery yogurt! We tried so many different things, but she would turn her head away! We were just happy to see her eat something! She seems to do better if she eats small snacks all day long instead of three big meals! She is just so tiny and frail!

We went to the pavilion today near our hotel! Piper did well in the van today! She did not get sick because she fell asleep on the way to the pavilion and on the way back to the hotel! It was so hot! I kept fanning her to keep her cool! The pavilion had six floors! We took the elevator up to the sixth floor and then we walked down and explored each level of the pavilion! We watched a show on the top floor! This is where we discovered that Piper loves to dance! She was so cute dancing to the music! I was glad I brought lots of water to keep cool! We enjoyed learning about the cultural history of Piper's province! We bought Sophia and Piper a necklace! Piper slept the entire way home and I was able to put her down for an afternoon nap. She slept about an hour and a half. While Piper was sleeping, Erik walked with Zach to McDonald's to get some lunch. They also stopped at the RT Market to pick up a few things! Erik found some apple and banana baby food for Piper. She ate about half the jar. She also loved the french fries from McDonald's! I took a nap and Erik spent some quality time with Piper! See Notes from Dad below for detail of Piper and Daddy's afternoon together!! She really loves her Daddy just like her sister and brothers do!!

Erik let me sleep for three hours! I was so tired after not getting a full night of sleep! We all walked to McDonald's for dinner again. We got Piper her first happy meal! She ate about half a chicken nugget and some french fries! We went to the RT Market to get more baby food and a bottle for Piper. We think she still uses a bottle. We will see tonight it having a bottle before bed helps her to sleep through the night! We let her pick out a toy to buy. She picked out a stacking rings toy and absolutely loves it! Erik and her are playing with it now! She is putting the rings on her arms! Erik also put on a music video station and the two of them are dancing around the room!

Piper is such a good little girl! We are so blessed that she was chosen to be our daughter! We are still concerned that she is not eating enough. She only had two wet diapers all day today! We hope tomorrow she will continue to eat more! We are enjoying spending this time with her and getting to know her! We think she is the perfect addition to our family! We love you Piper Olivia!!

Notes from Dad:
We got to know Piper a little bit better today. She was pretty terrified yesterday - I think it was a pretty traumatic day for her. Today I spent some quality time with her while Tricia slept. We played with the iPad, danced to Chinese music videos on TV, kicked a beach ball down the hallway, played with Play Dough and colored with crayons. For the most part, she's pretty quiet - but when she laughs she has a great smile. She is really, really thin - we spend most of the day trying to get her to eat. She did eat - but still not a lot. I'm not sure if she is too scared to eat or if it's something else. I bought her some baby food today (apple and banana). I think she liked it. I also bought her a small cup of mango ice Cream ($8 for a tiny cup!) She really like the ice cream, so I guess it was worth the money. She is so thin - I carried her for 90 minutes this morning and hardly felt it - we've really need to get her to beef up a little! She's a little fragile - Tricia and I are going to have to talk to Sophs, Graham and Parker and make sure they are easy on her. Our kids can play pretty rough at times.

On today's trip to the Pavillion I was really conscious of Piper and Tricia. It was really hot and there was a lot of walking to be done. I had a vision of Tricia going into premature labor in this 1,400 yr old home while Piper toddled down the many stairs we had to descend. Luckily neither happened - I just don't want to land in the 'odd stories' link of Yahoo.

Dear Sophia, Graham, and Parker,
We love and miss you very much! We are glad you liked your paint with water books we left for you today! It was so nice to see you this morning! I know you were so excited to see you little sister on the computer! Sophia~We bought you a special present today! Graham~We took pictures of diggers for you today! Parker~We heard you were the best dancer at Eric and Ethan's concert! We are so proud of you for doing such a great job!! We can't wait to see you tomorrow! We love you!!

Lots of love,
Mommy and Daddy