Today was a great day. Joy woke up sad, but some time during breakfast, she moved to my lap, snuggled up to me and then decided she would eat – for the first time since we got her. She ate and ate and ate. It was amazing. Then we went up to the room and she gave us kisses and laughed and just had such a fun time. We still had some times of crying and sadness but afterward she would then be so loving. She decided today that the only real way to travel about was in her mama’s arms. I’m really feeling it tonight. I think I might need to go have one of those Chinese massages – but then again I would be sore for days, because they give you a real workover.
Joy is taking her first bath – another great stride. She refused to get into the bathtub before, no matter how much we tried to coax her. We didn’t want to force her since it seemed to be more out of fear. Even Anna couldn’t get her to join her in the tub and she will usually follow what Anna does. Now the three girls are in there together and dad is probably getting a bath just sitting in there supervising.
The newness of a new big sister wore off for Hope today. She decided that she didn’t much care for her new sister and didn’t like that she was getting so much attention from the rest of the family. Joy has been good with Hope and is good at sharing most of the time.
Today was both a difficult day and wonderful day for Joy. We stared the day by going to the same place we got her, the civil affairs office. I had the guide explain to her on the way what we were doing so she wouldn’t think we were taking her back or something. She immediately shut down and would not look at him or acknowledge that she heard what he was saying. When we got there her body went totally limp and she refused to get out of the van or move for that matter. I had to carry her like a baby, which she doesn’t mind, and she was totally unresponsive while we were there. It was very, very sad. Our guide explained to her over and over what we were doing and that her mommy and daddy were not going to leave her and would always be with her. Just too hard for a 4 year old to understand. Once we got back in the car she perked up and was her happy self.
After naps, we went to this area by our hotel and played bubbles (her fav), badminton (the older kids and David), and took a million pictures. It was really a lot of fun for all of us and good to get out of the hotel for a while. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a shop and Joy saw an umbrella. We got it for her and she was then strutting down the street like top dog, all the way to the hotel. It was so adorable.
This has really been an easy trip and very relaxing. The area we are staying in is very comfortable and its just fun to walk around the area and watch the locals - actually they watch us more so its kind of like a staring contest - they usually win.
We are going to venture to the zoo tomorrow and then we are planning on going to Joy’s orphanage on Thursday. We are still debating on taking her or not. Pray that we will know what is best for her. Other than that, we are coloring, making beaded necklaces, playing babies, play dough, and blowing lots and lots of bubbles.
