Hope: One Less: Day 3

Today we saw something new - she woke up on her own and did not have to be awakened. This was not part of our divide and conquer plan to get everyone ready for church. She wanted her usual congee for breakfast. She was so excited about wearing a dress, tights, new shoes, necklace, bracelet, and headband. She kept pointing to her finger, which I can only assume means she wanted a ring. Her nickname "Miss Dress-Up" is turning out to be extremely accurate! She looked beautiful. Upon arriving at church, she was greeted by many who were anxious to meet her. She sat on my lap for the entire service and was absolutely perfect. She seemed to enjoy the worship band and tried to sing-a-long to the songs. She wrote on her program and her flap with the ink pen. She colored and had teddy grahams. We were pretty proud of her behavior and grateful for many friends that came up to her to tell her hi and ask how things were going. One gentleman described it perfectly; he said we hit the motherlode. We were told not to have any expectations. They prepared us for the worst. But she has been an absolute joy and has adjusted better than we could have dreamed. We arrived home in time for lunch. We tried to have pigs in a blanket but she just wanted plain hot dogs so we went with that. Nana and Smitty brought our dog, Bessie, home for an introduction. They recommended we have a few days without pets because these kids have never had this exposure. Obviously, because she was terrified, screamed bloody murder, and cried. It was difficult to see her so upset and this is the first time she has shown this emotion or cried in reaction to something. I was able to get her calmed down and she went down for a nap. This reaction is very similar to other host families we have been in contact with. They say it can take days to see improvement. So Chris and I are tag-teaming. One of us is upstairs with her while the other is in the basement with the dog. They say it will get better. As long as she is not in the same room with the dog, she is fine. She loves to go for car rides. She keeps asking to go by pretending to put her hands on an imaginary steering wheel. Brooke, Dale and Kinsley came over and we went to Ashmore to go on a horse drawn sleigh ride (on wheels, so no snow necessary). The horse even had bells so we jingled as we went. All the girls rode together and we bundled up with coats, hats, mittens, and blankets because of the wind. The girls had a great time and it was a really neat experience. Afterwards, we came home so the girls could play. We were hoping seeing Kinsley interact with the dog might help her being scared. Nana and Papa Gene came over too to meet her for the first time. The girls really seem to be hitting it off. After they left, we had orange chicken and white rice for dinner. As usual, she wanted a second serving. We worked on a gingerbread house this evening. She was funny about having the icing on her hands and kept wanting to wash and clean them off. She did taste the icing multiple times and seemed to like it. She liked to put the same color of candy in a row. She tried all of the candy but did not like any of it. You can see her finished masterpiece below. We had another meltdown over the dog but worked through it. After bathtime, I read her three books: Thank You God, Chica Chica Boom Boom, and Here Comes Peter Cottontail. All her choices. Much like singing in church, she tries to talk/makes sounds above my reading. We also went through the whole alphabet and she did pretty well repeating each letter.