New Day

I thought we might wake up to tears this morning, but we had a pretty good start to the day. I will back up a little and tell you that she did not appreciate a shower last night. The shower turned quickly to a bath. :) She pointed and clearly told me in Chinese (not that I understood a word) that she did not like the water coming from the wall onto her face. Her body language I understood clearly. So, we resorted to cup rinsing. This was all after we pulled off her four or five sweaters and three pairs of pants. She did brush her teeth, although she didn't seem sure of what the toothbrush was for. She enjoyed brushing my teeth as well and of course, the spitting was fun. She slept with Sydney and slept well.

We all woke up around 5:30am this morning. Everyone was happy! We had a good time playing with the dolls and the beads in bed and posing for photos. The morning routine went pretty well and we were able to get her dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed, etc. The visit to Civil Affairs for the official adoption paperwork was scheduled for 8:30am. It was as I had expected. She had a mini-meltdown when we returned to the office. It was the same place we picked her up yesterday and I think she thought she might get a chance to go home when we returned. She cried and begged for her foster parents. However, it subsided fairly quickly and we were able to refocus her on some of the activities we had done with her last night. We brought the beads, leap pad, dolls, etc. Once again, the beads saved the day!

Afterwards, we returned to the hotel for a couple of hours to kill some time before lunch. We found that she enjoys the roadrunner and coyote! Who doesn't? She also likes Cheerios. This was an important discovery because aside from the Chinese biscuits we bought yesterday and some McDonald's french fries, we hadn't found much she would eat. The Kimberlin's had brought Cheerios for Avery and found that she absolutely didn't like them so they thought Piper might like them. Sure thing.

We went to lunch at the same Japanese restaurant that Sydney and Grace had eaten at the day before. It was great and even better Piper ate, and ate, and ate. I don't know where such a little body put all of that food. And she is fantastic with chopsticks! She also enjoyed her desert entirely.

We stopped by the fish pond at the hotel on the way back from lunch. Right now we're in the room and Piper has not stopped talking. I thought Sydney might be the biggest talker I know, but I'm not convinced anymore. This little sweetie never stops. I think she might teach us Chinese as we teach her English! She is busy right now organizing her "stuff" and making sure Hayden doesn't touch it!