TOP OF THE HILL

Today was a wonderful day! Almost all of the paper work and the financials are over!! We spent most of the morning going from office to office signing papers. We are so excited that although it took some time to complete, it flew by and apparently we passed!

We got to dress Natalie up today! We thought she looked so cute. Hopefully we will be able to post some pictures to go with this.

Natalie started eating today. Steph and I ate lunch at the restaurant here at the hotel and asked the waitress to bring something for Natalie and she brought steamed egg and Nat took to it. Steph and I had eel and fried rice noodle and Natalie like both. Natalie liked using the spoon, but really likes using chop sticks. She isn't very good with either, but manages to hit her mouth most of the time, which is more than I can say. She is 100% more comfortable than yesterday. She still cries when I touch her, but she doesn't scream and kick like a horse like she did yesterday, so there's still hope. Our guide, Ray, took some of us to dinner this evening at a real deal (that isn't the name) Chinese restaurant, no English, no menu. Everything was spicy hot, some more than others, except for the rice cakes. We had rice cakes, bamboo, rice noodles, soup, pork, beef, some kind of eggplant conglomeration, a couple of different salads and a couple of things I have no idea what they were, but we enjoyed almost everyone. There were 10 of us and it cost $40.00. Are you kidding me?! They brought steamed egg again for Natalie. Apparently they know what the little ones like. Anyway Natalie ate well. She actually handled the spicy dinner items better than Steph and we're looking forward to the diaper on this one. The only good thing about Natalie not liking me yet is STEPH GETS ALL THE DIAPER DUTY right now, gotta find that silver lining. Natalie, like at lunch, was giving Stephanie help with the chop sticks.

Another highlight in our day was a trip to WalMart. The big ticket item was the squeaky shoes we got for Natalie. Squeaky shoes squeak when one walks for those of you who care and don't know. I think it's great for my child, although, if it was someone else's child, I could see how it could be annoying, but we think it's great and we're going to buy a dozen pair. Natalie absolutely loves them! The biggest highlight of my day was when Natalie fell asleep and I got to hold her for the first time without her going nuts. I also got to hold her at WalMart while Steph took a trip to the restroom. She was not asleep and I guarantee you that anyone within a mile of WalMart heard her screaming. People rose from the dead! Still, she is better with me than yesterday. I am amazed at the bond that she and Steph have. It is so wonderful to see a child feel so secure and loved in such a short time. I am not sure which one is the luckiest, probably both. We are so proud and at the same time, have a sense of humble urgency, if that makes any sense.

By the way, we are not able to read any of the comments left on the blog, something to do with the internet over hear that we have not been able to unravel, so if you have left a comment, thank you, and unless something changes, we will replay when we get home.

Tomorrow we get a Chinese dress made for Natalie and a day of relaxation.

Be well, God Bless!