Today was a free day. Meili ate her first food from a spoon. It wasn’t much, but it’s a start. It’s hard to believe that at 19 months she has never had any nourishment other than bottles of formula thickened with rice cereal. Brian & Josh commented that her hair looks thicker. That doesn’t seem possible, but who knows how quickly improved nutrition can impact a child’s appearance. I really don’t think that she was eating much at the orphanage. Her cleft caused her to be a rather slow eater, and perhaps the nannies just didn’t have the time to wait for her to eat her fill. This afternoon we returned to beautiful Shamain Island. Most of our travel group went along, and we met at Lucy’s again for lunch.
Just a few things about Meili:
• She is very thin but unusually long.
• She comforts herself by holding onto her shirt and sucking her 1st and 2nd fingers.
• Her fingers may be double-jointed. She can do some crazy things with her fingers.
• She amuses herself by playing with her fingers.
• She LOVES to be kissed,
• She loves to lie backwards over our arm and look at the world upside-down.
• When she wants to eat she looks at me with a scowl and flaps her arms.
• She seems to like all of us.
• She likes to say, “Rah, Rah, Rah”
• When we cheer for her, she tries to clap her hands and then leans her head towards us for a kiss.
• She cannot crawl or stand, but she is getting stronger every day.
