Hope: One Less: Day 6

After she finished eating last night after her crying episode, she climbed in our bed (first time). She slept between us. I think we all slept better. Not the best situation, but at least she was content. She was up around 7:00. This morning she tried pancakes for the first time. She had 1 1/2 pancakes but did not seem overly thrilled. Afterwards, she still wanted chinese noodles so she had some of those too. We rolled out our sugar cookie dough and made our Christmas shapes. We had flour everywhere. After they cooled, she added cream cheese frosting and red and green sprinkles. She even ate about a half of a cookie. She talked (*listened) to her chaperone on the telephone. We had planned to put the ornaments on our tree once she arrived but seems silly at this point and we believe she would not be interested. She did add the candy canes to our tree so at least it is not naked. She colored some more and then it was time to leave for the dentist appointment.

I was most worried about this appointment since she has never had her teeth cleaned or examined. She sat on my lap in the chair so I could hold her head and hands out of the way. She does great with brushing her teeth and have been practicing saying "ahh" so we can help her go over her teeth a second time and also to show her how to brush her tongue. Carole Genta did her cleaning and was super patient with her. They were able to get some of the stains cleaned off and Dr. Hastings examined her twice and appears to be no cavities. Her lower row of teeth are super crowded and at some point, she may need to have some pulled to make space. One of her permanent teeth is actually behind the row. She got lots of cool goodies in her bag (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, bracelet, ball, and jingle bells). We had our friend, Joy, who can translate for us come and that helped a lot. She seemed to listen and understand what Joy was saying to her. Last step was brushing on the flouride treatment. Afterwards, we all went to China Wok for lunch. We got to see our friend Alan (8 years old) from church and talk to him and his mom. Alan's mom and Joy both thought she would like noodles with some pork but she quickly pushed that plate away and took over my General Tso's Chicken - primarily eating the rice. By the end, she was starting to warm up to them and was answering Joy's questions (short answers are better than no answers). We found out she is scared of the dark and could have caused the crying episodes the last two nights (she does have a nightlight). She also told Joy our dog was BIG. She said she is enjoying her visit so far. It turns out she does like coloring and reading books, but does not like to watch TV (which is consistent with the behavior we have seen). Chris left to go to work and we finished eating. Alan's mom asked her if she liked me, and she said yes. I will take it. Joy was very impressed with how much English she is understanding.

We came home and played for a while and then laid down for a nap. I'm not going to lie; I napped too. I am not a nap person but the exhaustion is catching up. After waking up, we had to repaint her fingernails (because they were chipping). She picked out red polish this time. In the spirit of Christmas, we went with it. She then decided she wanted an ice cream cone for a snack. She hates cold things so I knew this was a lost cause. Once she realized it was cold, she wanted me to put it in the microwave. Which I did not. She did eat a little of the ice cream and also ate some of the sugar cone. We ended up throwing the majority of it away, but not before we had melted ice cream all down the front of us and on the floor. She loves to look at the pictures and videos of herself on my phone. She also wanted to do another watercolor painting picture. She wondered to her room and found her bathing suit in her dresser and decided she needed to wear it. She also found the floaties in the closet and put those on too. Dinner was white rice and orange chicken. She has been wound for sound. Laughing and carrying on. So fun to see her in a good mood. Chris came home from work and they have been playing and bonding. She watched some cartoons on the Ipad and then took her bath.

We expect a long day tomorrow so hoping no crying issues tonight!