It's been 48 hours since we met our little Livi and I can honestly say it's gone better than we could have even imagined. I realize this may be a bit of a honeymoon period, but I really think this wonderful disposition of hers is here to stay. She is the sweetest thing ever. She fell asleep last night about 10pm and didn't wake up until 8am. She didn't wake up looking scared this morning like she did yesterday. I can't remember if I mentioned this, but she was shaking so much the first day we got her and yesterday morning that I actually became worried that there may be something wrong with her rather than just being afraid. She was visibly shaking to the point where she could barely hang on to anything. Last night and today though she hasn't done it at all....this makes me relieved and sad at the same time. Relieved because I know it was because she was afraid.....and sad because I know it was because she was afraid. Poor little thing.
Today, she has been so much fun. She has been playful and smiley. She's interacting with us more when we play with her.....like pointing to stuff she wants, copying us when we are doing something, and smiling when we play with her. It's all such great signs that she's starting to trust us.
After breakfast (which she didn't eat much of but did have some.....I was smarter and started her with buns and congee this time) we decided to brave the streets and go do some shopping. We asked a couple at breakfast (there are a lot of other American couples here for adoptions as well) where a good place to go was. We told the bellboy at the front of the hotel where we wanted to go so he could tell our taxi driver. After that, we just get in the cab and hope he takes us to the right place. He did, but it was on the other side of the road and we didn't realize that at first. So, we roamed around the streets and vendors for a while looking for the place the couple at breakfast had described....and after about an hour, we finally found what we were looking for. A huge mall about 5 stories high. What you can't even see in the picture is that there are hallways going deeper between the stores...this place was enormous and you can get lost in a heartbeat. I was thinking though that if I were someone who did bead work or made jewelry, I'd be in heaven. The amount of beads and gems and strings of God-knows-what were ENDLESS. I mean endless. It was utterly amazing how many stores there were that carried, basically, the same thing.....and tons of it.
At the far end of the mall we walked out to what looked like a Times Square of China. It was big and loud and busy, full of huge ads, and it was very cool. We had some lunch at McDonalds....why not....and then headed back to our hotel. We had to show the taxi driver our room key since it had the name of our hotel in Chinese and then, once again, got in and hoped he was taking us to the right place.
At 3pm we met Lucy, our guide, and went to the police station to apply for Livi's passport and get her photo taken for it. She's gonna have her own little passport......am I the only one who thinks that is just stinkin' cute? Since getting back at about 4:30, we've just been hanging out in the room. We aren't walking around outside because it's been raining and cold all day. We decided to order in Papa John's......I know, Helen, we're in China.....haha.......but hey, there's comfort in pizza from home. Jason actually walked over to Lucy's (the restaurant, not the guide.....hehe) and got some chicken congee to-go. What can I say, she has very particular.....and narrow....taste. Hey, it works. He got 2 bowls and she ate 1 1/2. It's almost 8pm now and she's been playing sooooo great all evening. Just checking out all her new toys and learning what they all do. She and Jason had the cutest play time feeding the baby's their bottles. She was adorable and Jay was eating it up.
She's just been a total joy and we've so loved watching her get more relaxed with each passing hour. I can't wait to see how much she continues this way in the week to come.
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