Good Morning!!

Well, it's 4:00 in the morning in Nanchang and I'm wide awake.  I was so tired last night that I went to bed early, without updating the blog...sorry.  I'm paying for it now!!!  Sophie had a pretty good day yesterday.  It was her fourth day with us and it really does seem like she's attaching herself to us a little bit.  We haven't seen a whole lot of personality out of her yet, which is probably typical of a baby who spent her first 18 months in an orphange.  The only noise she really makes is when she cries.  Blake can occasionally get a "peep" of laughter out of her when he does something funny, but that's about it.  We long for the day when she can begin to talk a little and express herself more.

 

The first few days with Sophie, she would tend to attach herself to one person...if I had her, she didn't want to go to Beth...if Beth had her, she didn't want to go to me.  Now, she's great about letting us pass her back and forth, which is good.  Even better, she wants nothing to do with anyone besides the 3 of us!! 

 

Sophie still cries A LOT at night when we put her to bed.  The first night we had her, she didn't make a sound...but since then, she cries really hard when we put her in her crib.  Don't know if it's memories from the orphanage or what, but it's heartbreaking...

 

So far, I've mostly shared about Sophie's emotional side and her bonding with us...haven't really talked a lot about her physically.  She's not able to walk at all, or even stand up on her own.  Again, pretty typical of a baby that has spent most of her existence in a crib, but we do pray that her progression in this area is fast.  She can stand if she's holding onto the bed or something, so that's good, but she's very wobbly!!  I thought she couldn't really crawl until yesterday.  Blake had some chocolate chip cookies and she made a bee-line across the floor for those!!!  It probably wasn't really crawling as much as scooting, but at least it's something! 

 

Yesterday, we went to a park here in Nanchang...and this wasn't just any park.  It was the largest park in this province and it was amazing.  The park was built with adults in mind much more than children...we found that so interesting because it seems like all the parks in the U.S. are built around kids' play areas.  When we walked in, we saw older people taking a dance class at the front of the park.  As we walked through, we saw exercise classes and badminton games taking place.  They even had workout equipment set up in some areas...it was like going to an outdoor YMCA!!  Right before exiting the park, there were amusement park type rides...I'm telling you, this was no ordinary park!!  Blake and I rode one ride and then he rode the big swings (think Opryland) with Beth. 

 

After leaving the park, we went shopping for porcelain (WOOHOO!!!).  Actually, I'll admit, their handiwork is pretty incredible.  Nanchang is known for their porcelain, and we thought it'd be neat to get Sophie a tea set for when she grows up.  It was pretty cool.

 

We only have two more nights in Nanchang and then it's off to Guangzhou.  That's good...I think we're all ready to go.  Not that we don't love the people here, there's just not a whole lot to do.  Since our visit to the Civil Affairs office on Monday, we really haven't had anything we had to do...just waiting for Friday to be able to pick up Sophie's passport.  I understand there's a lot more to do in Guangzhou, so we should keep fairly busy next week.  Also, there's a Starbucks right outside our hotel, which I'm looking forward to!!  I'm really enjoying our time in China, but I hope the time flies because I'm really missing Gabe and Hallie.

 

Until next time...