Hope: One Less: Day 13

We woke up this morning with no plans, but knowing she would get bored easily if we stayed home all day, we decided to venture out after breakfast. As soon as she woke up, she was asking to go for a ride in the car. We find this a little odd since she continues to have motion sickness. Breakfast consisted of white rice and 1/2 a banana. I got a few glares over the banana but she ate it anyway. Before we left, we also learned the results from the echocardiogram that she had last week. The results were good and everything that was repaired when she was a baby is still functioning as it should be. She still has a heart murmur and they recommend she get an echocardiogram annually.

We opted to drive to Champaign and went to The Orpheum Children's Science Museum. We had never been there before but saw online that they had an Animal Encounter exhibit at 11 AM which worked perfectly for us. She did have some car sickness on the way to Champaign but she tolerates it very well. At the Museum, she got to see and pet a turtle, a bearded dragon, and a corn snake. After her reaction to dogs, horses, and fish, we were not sure it would be worth our time to visit a zoo, but this morning may have changed our minds. Obviously, her watching the long line of other children petting the animals may have helped:) There were lots of cool other activities that really kept her interest. She rode a slide (which she was not a fan of), played with bubbles, drove with a steering wheel, and played with a train set among other things. She especially like the colored sand and I think we could have left her there and she would have been perfectly content. She kept waving and saying "bye-bye." I think she thought we were leaving and she was staying. Next, we stopped at Za's for a quick lunch. She ate some pepperoni pizza and garlic bread. We made a quick trip to the mall for the sole purpose of letting her ride the carousel. She got really excited when she saw it, but was too afraid to ride one of the horses so we rode on a bench. She did not want to get off when it stopped. In fact, I think she thought Chris should take her again.

She did not have any car sickness on the way home from Champaign. She even took a short cat nap. We arrived home just in time for a visit with our friend, Sarah. She ate some vanilla yogurt for a snack (which she tried to share with the dog). She crawled around like a dog and also kissed her hand and put it on our dog's back. She was quite ornery and really showing her personality to Sarah. I think she was also avoiding naptime, but if it helps with bedtime, we are all for it. We played with the ball and some of her other toys, showed off her artwork and gingerbread house, showed off her room, and sang "Ring Around the Rosie." She wanted Sarah to hold her and take her potty. At least she is consistent and nondiscriminatory with all our visitors. You can tell she really enjoys having company over.

I needed to do some work but I had a lap helper for most of the time. She worked on tracing numbers and looking at pictures and videos of herself on my phone. She would not stay upstairs with Chris for anything. She ate a pretty good dinner ... fried rice, carrots, chicken, green bean casserole. She was trying to tell us she was finished, but I told her she needed to eat two more bites. She cleaned out the bowl (which was easily 10-15 bites) so I was not about to argue with her. I am not sure how much exposure she has to domestic tasks in the orphanage, but she loves to help me in the kitchen (cook or load/unload the dishwasher), pick up and organize things, help with laundry, and tonight we ran the vacuum. She wanted her hand on the handle and was pushing it back and forth like she was a professional. I did not want vacuuming to take all evening so I had Chris distract her with a car ride. She had her tooth fairy money to spend. [Side note: We gave her $1.50 in quarters so that she could go to the dollar store. She has no concept of money but counted them and knew there were 6 coins. We needed parking meter money when we were in Champaign and Chris "borrowed" some. When we got home, she realized there were only 3 coins left. She was very concerned and kept searching the counter for the missing coins. Such a smart girl!] Of course, by the time they were actually ready to leave, I was almost done vacuuming the house. She and Chris took a quick trip to Dollar Tree. This was her first shopping experience (other than shoe store and groceries). I think she was overwhelmed with choices. Chris said most of the time she had 6 items in her hands. At one point, she ran to the front to get a cart. Chris told her she could only get one item. She picked a hot pink cell phone and has been pushing the buttons not stop since they got in the car and also since getting home. It makes lots of noise. Not sure how long the battery will last at the rate we are going. Tonight for snack she had mandarin oranges and she seemed to enjoy them; not sure why I have not introduced them sooner.