Arrayah

Today we are starting day 4 of having little Arrayah. She is starting to open up and we are seeing lots more amazing smiles. She is also much more playful and teasing us. In the mornings, she is pretty attached to me and won't let Mark or Beth do much with her, but she opens up as the day goes along and does a lot more with them. We are learning lots of things about Arrayah. First, she is obsessed with having clean hands. She likes to have a little folded napkin with her to wipe her hands. She will take a napkin or a kleenex and fold it multiple times until it is just the way she wants it. I guess it shouldn't be surprising, that she also is amazing at washing her hands! Wow...she is thorough. She could go perform a surgery with her clean hands! We are impressed! Another thing we have learned is Arrayah LOVES STICKERS! She went through all the stickers I brought, so when we went to Walmart yesterday afternoon, we stocked up. We had to cut her off after she went through 2 more pages. She is very determined about how she wants her stickers arranged on the page. Ah, we have another girl who wants things just so. We have also discovered how she enjoys shopping. Just like Anna did, Arrayah grabbed items she wanted at Walmart and just held onto them with all intent on getting them. Also like Anna, Arrayah LOVES chocolate and scrambled eggs, not necessarily together :) After shopping, we took her down to the pool and she immediately backed up and shook her head "no!" She wanted nothing to do with the idea of getting into the water, although she is enjoying her baths. We brought a rubber ducky and some other bath toys and she will sit and play as long as we let her.

We have been calling her Arrayah more and she is responding to us. The past couple of days, we mainly called her Er Lian. Yesterday afternoon she was speaking a lot more to us, of course it is all in Mandarin, but she is talking and I act like I know everything she is saying! She does NOT speak English, but she is pointing at things and wanting to know what it is and we tell her in English and she repeats it. I showed her pictures of New Hope and her nannies and she was thrilled and was saying all kinds of things. Bethany painted Arrayah's toe nails and finger nails and she excitedly showed them to all of us. She is a girly girl! If we hold up a couple of outfits, shoes, or pajamas, she will point to which she wants to wear. She enjoys having her hair done as well. She still continues to run a low grade fever, but she is eating well and is up and about, so we are giving her some Tylenol, to try and help. Today I put a cold wash clothe on her forehead to hopefully break the temp. Vivian our guide said she would give some different medicine if the Tylenol doesn't help. I feel frustrated as we got a prescription for antibiotics, but forgot it in the fridge at home.

Today was another free day and we walked to a nearby park. It was hot and humid and there were so many people. There is a lake where you can rent boats and paddle. I asked Arrayah if she wanted to go on a boat and she again shook her head no. So we just took in the sights....babies with no pants, toddlers with split pants, so they can just squat and take care of business, and many, many people staring at us. Everywhere we go, we are looked at. Some smile, some are looking at us trying to figure out what we are doing, and some seem suspicious of us. Yesterday when we went to Walmart, the clerk held up all of our money, asked the man behind us if it looked real (I am guessing) and then refused to take some of our money. If you want to know what it feels to be a minority, go to another country, where Whites are NOT the majority and then you will have much more appreciation of what minorities in our country go through. Also, if you want to tell them to "go back to their country" go to their country and actually see what it is like to live there, and maybe, just maybe people would be a bit kinder and more understanding. Enough of my social work lecture...on to pictures!