She's a Spicy One!!!

It's 2:30 am here and I'm awake.  My mind is racing, so I might as well be blogging!  We were having to connect down in the lobby, but they finally got the internet working in our room!!!!!  On the way to the Civil Affairs office this morning our guide told us something I had heard before.   Wuhan is known for it's spicy cuisine, so children with strong and spunky personalities are often called "Spicy."  Well, we have  a SPICY GIRL!!  Her strong personality is very similar to Camden's.  I know many of you from home are probably groaning . . . loudly.  LOL, she quickly learned her first word in English "no no."  Not only does she know what it means but she repeats in often.  If I walk away from her she'll run after me and yell "mama".  I'm fairly certain her foster mother showed her our pictures often.  She called Cam and Bryce "Ge Ge" (big brother) when we showed her a picture of them.  Aaron pointed to a picture of Cam and said "Cam-O", to our surprise she repeated it back immediately.  We'll be working on "Bryce" tomorrow.  We're excited to Skype with the boys tomorrow as they've been waiting for this day for a long time!  The nannies had told us she's a very quick learner and she remembers things and people easily.  She's constantly moving and exploring and is also very charming.  She easily engages people in games and has a ready smile.  She even had the lobby assistant downstairs on the floor playing with her. Aaron and I ended the day completely exhausted!  We slowly got her layers of clothing off by distracting her with food (she LOVES food).  She was really reluctant to let the last three sweaters come off, but finally relented when she saw me fill the bath tub.  I didn't even know if we'd be able to get her in.  But, she was very excited to climb in and I'm fairly certain she would have played in there for hours and hours if we had let her.  The whole day went so smoothly I was actually beginning to worry.  She tests boundaries, but she never did have a melt down.  I even was able to put her down for a nap fairly easily.  After her bath when we got her pajamas on her and made a bottle I could tell she was starting to analyze the situation.  I tried to lay down with her and then the sobbing began.  It sounds crazy, but I was actually relieved.  I know she has to grieve and we've been preparing ourselves for it so we were ready to let it happen.  Our guide had also told us that in her experience girls often will bond and attach to daddy first.  All day she was very tolerant of both of us, but I would say she initiates contact with Aaron much more than she does with me.  She likes to wrestle and rough-house with him and when she was crying she would allow both of us to hold her, but she kept her eyes on him the whole time and didn't want him to leave her sight.  After about 20 minutes she settled down and wanted to lay on top of Aaron to fall asleep.  So far she's sleeping very well in our bed with us.  I'm excited to see what tomorrow is going to bring.  I'm still thinking we're going to have a flood gate open soon.  We finalize the adoption tomorrow morning and some of the nannies she's familiar with from the orphanage will be there.  So, we'll see what that brings.  She may part from them fine like she did today, or she may realize exactly what's happening.  Please keep praying for us.  So many are being answered I am truly in awe.  We've had an amazing first day and I can only hope that we continue down the great path we've started on.  Hugs to you all!

So far so good on the sleep issue.

Wearing split pants on her head!  Daddy got to wear them too!  (Yes, she did come with two pairs of split pants on :0)

Daddy's pretty fun!  But, she knows Mama has the food :0)

She must have a love of water so after her nap tomorrow we might try the pool.  She's fearless and was constantly trying to blow bubbles into the water.  But, I only had to remind her a few times not to drink the water.