Day 10

 

Morning:

WOW! Hard to believe she’s survived with me for 10 days now. 4 more days to go! We had a pretty relaxing morning. We got up, ate breakfast, and hung out in the hotel room so we could Skype with Mommy. Camellia learned to say "I Love You" today. Nicki would say it to her, and she would repeat it back. This means that in 10 days, I taught my daughter to eat chicken feet and to say "Thank You." While in 10 minutes on Skype, Nicki has taught her to say, “Hi,” “Bye Bye,” blow kisses, and say, “I Love You.” I guess we know why she’s the teacher and I’m not.

Afternoon:

I’ve been doing quite well on my goal of not eating completely American food while in China. I’ve been avoiding McD’s, Subway, and Burger King. I’m not a big fan of these places back home in the states, so why would I want to go there when I’m in China? However, McD’s has ice cream cones at a remarkable price (.50 cents US). So for lunch today, we picked up some chicken wings and ice cream. Since it is so hot, we ate the ice cream first and then returned to the koi pond at the hotel to enjoy our chicken wings. Camellia loved them and actually ate something other than noodles! 

She seemed really tired today, so much so Nicki even noticed while on Skype. So I laid her down for a nap at 1:30 and she slept until 4:00.  Uncle Jack came over, and we verified we had all the paperwork in order for the consulate visit tomorrow morning.

Evening:

Tonight was Jillian Muntz’s birthday!  Jillian and her sister Melody looked adorable in their dresses tonight. We went out for dinner with Jillian for her birthday and also with another couple, Dean and Janice, who are rounding out their quaint little family of 9 with the adoption of two little boys this week.  

 

We went back to the infamous Mexican restaurant today where I first learned that Camellia loved noodles, or caramelized onions that look like noodles. This time I came prepared. I brought a cup of noodles with me. So she got to enjoy noodles and I got to enjoy fajitas. While at dinner, Camellia gave Jillian a copy of the Pleasant Goat and the Big Bad Wolf cartoon. Jillian’s smile is adorable, and she was pleased with the gift.

After dinner we headed back to the room and relaxed some more. Camellia was acting different all day today. At bedtime, we did our normal routine, and she laid down fine, but after about 5 minutes she just started sobbing and I couldn’t help her. I think she is grieving, and I suspect that seeing the orphanage yesterday brought back some memories. She cried on and off for about an hour before finally falling asleep. The more I’m with her, the more I notice things about her that will take both of us some time to adjust to. For instance, she doesn’t seem to like other people to touch her, and she won’t speak when out with a group of people, even other children. However, she will chat with me all night long if we are alone. She also won’t get down and play unless we are alone. She seems very insecure and always wants to know where I’m at.