China Day 6: Free Day

I didn't post anything last night, so I'll post about yesterday before we head out this morning.  It was a hard day for Hannah.  She didn't want anything to do with Mommy for most of the morning, which was really hard on me.  I am really missing the boys too, and being rejected by Hannah makes it harder.  She did warm up to me in the afternoon, and she even fed me the goldfish she was eating! I thought that was huge!  She's funny because there are certain things that only Baba can do (mainly hold her) and that Mama can do (such as put on her shoes).  She's just very particular about who is allowed to do what with her.  But she will definitely let her will be known!

We didn't have anything scheduled for the day, so we slept in (until after 9!) and then Hannah took an hour long bath.  She loves playing in the water!  After we got ready, we went to Toys R Us.  The toys and prices were very similar to back home.  Hannah loved the riding toy that was there.  It was fun hearing the Toys R Us song in Chinese while we were there!  After Toys R Us we went to lunch in the mall that the store was in.  It turned out to be a disaster.  We realized later that it was nap time, so we're sure Hannah was just tired and hungry.  She threw several screaming fits while we were there, and so Jason and I left early to head back to the hotel.  She fell asleep instantly when we returned.  After her nap, we went and walked to the West Lake.  We saw a crowd gathering, so we figured out that there was a fountain show about to begin.  While we waited for the show, they were selling bubble machines.  We bought one for Hannah and were just playing with her.  Pretty soon we noticed a crowd gathering around-they were watching us!  I haven't seen hardly any Caucasians in Hangzhou, so everywhere we go, we are stared at.  But we hadn't experienced anything quite like this!  A young girl wanted my picture with her, and then the same family gave Hannah some crackers.  People are very friendly here!  It was fun to watch the show over the lake, but partway through Hannah wanted to get down, and walked several feet away and laid down on the cement.  She was done!  We stopped by a small convenience store to buy some milk and food for dinner.  I made the mistake of putting her down in the store, and she grabbed a bag of chips.  They were now her chips, so she ended up eating almost the whole bag.  Once she has something, we can't take it away from her, so we're still learning to avoid situations where she will get something we don't want her to have.  We're used to the boys, who will take a few crackers, etc. and give the bag back to us.  Once she has a bag of anything, there is no getting it back! 

One thing that is going really well is her sleeping.  She sleeps all through the night, without any fussing.  Right now she is sleeping with us, as that's what she was used to in the foster home.  It's been working out really well, but we have a king sized bed here, so that makes it much easier. 

We just got back from brunch, and it was another disaster.  We're reluctant to go anywhere in public because it seems to always end in a huge scene.  If she doesn't get her way, she screams.  We get stared at anyway because we're two blonds with a Chinese child.  But when that child is screaming, it's even worse.  We're trying to not let it get to us, but we're definitely the center of attention wherever we go (and have always avoided such back home).  We definitely don't have a "shy" and "quiet" girl that the orphanage described.  I wonder if they ever saw her real personality. 

Thanks for your continued prayers. Please pray for us as we often feel like we're not sure how to handle her behavior. She's definitely keeping us on our toes!

Pictures:

• Skyping with brothers and Grandma
• Riding the train toy at Toys R Us
• In front of West Lake
• In front of an ornate boat on West Lake
• Watching the fountain performance