getting to know Lili

It is such fun getting to know this precious little person!  Every time I look at her little feet or hold her little hand, I am struck by the fact that they are unfamiliar to me.  Do you know what I mean?  How you've seen and touched your children's feet and hands and held their little bodies in your arms so many times that it is a very familiar feeling?  I am looking forward to getting to know Lili, to be familiar with the way her hand feels in mine, with the way she moves and responds in various situations.  It will take a while, but I am going to enjoy the process!

Here are a few things we've observed about her so far:

•  She likes for me to touch her hair and face.  She will grab my hand and move it up to her hair to tell me to stroke it.  
•  She is very good about telling us when she needs to to the bathroom.  And she gets very chatty while she goes.  Tracy (our escort) warned us that she might be afraid to use a full-sized Western toilet, that a lot of the kids she's seen are afraid they'll fall in.  But Lili doesn't seem to have any such fear.  She starts to look like she's falling and I try to help her, but she just laughs and laughs. . .
• She finds joy in the simplest things.  Like peekaboo - she never gets tired of peekaboo.  She'll play over and over and over again, and she just giggles harder and harder each time!  And popping your cheeks - you know, when you fill your cheeks with air and she pushes on your cheeks to pop the air out.  And trying to fill her mouth with as many noodles as possible. . .and opening the little flaps in her animal book and hearing me name the animals and make their sounds over and over again. . .and throwing her ball as hard as she possibly can across the room. . .
• She sucks her thumb to get to sleep.  Her paperwork said that she didn't, but it has definitely been the key to getting herself to sleep the 4 times I've observed her going to sleep so far. . .
• She doesn't necessarily willingly interact with every adult she sees.  I think this is a very good sign - many children who have lived in orphanages are used to having a lot of different caregivers and can tend to try to charm any adult that crosses their paths.  But while we were exploring the hotel last night, we ran into a very friendly lady from the hotel staff in the lobby.  She was very sweet to Lili, taking time to talk to her and try to shake her hand.  But Lili would have none of it.  She refused to look the lady in the eye or to touch her hand. 
• I don't think she's been carried very much - something I intend to remedy right away.  When I pick her up she tends to keep her legs straight unless I show her how to sit on my hip.  That may have just been the way she's used to being carried, but it's very awkward and difficult to sustain for very long. . .

Tomorrow we will be going to visit Lili's orphanage.  Please pray that we can effectively communicate to her that it is just a visit, that she will stay with us the whole time and come back with us afterwards.  Our escort will be with us, so she will be able to tell Lili this, we just want to pray that she understand and not feel any anxiety about being there.  We want to go because we feel like it will be important in the future to be able to tell her as much as possible about the first four years of her life, but we also don't want to cause her any undo stress now.  Ed is feeling much better today - thank you for your prayers for him!!