Hope: One Less: Day 20

Chris and I both needed to catch up on work so we split our day. I went to work this morning while Chris went to work this afternoon. After last night's trauma, he was hoping she would sleep in. Everything was going pretty well until Bessie went into her room about 7:30 and then she was up. After I left for work, she cried for about 30 minutes, but it got better.

Chris:
Today the little one was all about using the iPad to take pictures of herself. I actually should say record herself. Some of recordings were of her videoing herself screaming into the iPad and laughing hysterically. This was definitely an activity for the two of us as I am not sure Kelsey would approve. She also took a video or two of her eating (her second favorite activity to baths). Overall we had a good morning. Most of it I was the cleaning crew making sure her areas weren't left a total disaster. To be honest, I don't think I did a very good job cleaning, but I did try to keep the house somewhat picked up. My major objective for this morning was to keep her from thinking about the fact that Kelsey was at work and going into cry mode. Kelsey asked why I put up with her screaming and I told her I would rather listen to screams of joy over screams of terror any day. :)

I got home a little before lunch. She wanted me to put her lotion on, and then we repainted her fingernails and toenails. She tried some of my peanut butter sandwich and seemed to like it. She also had meatloaf (which she tolerated) and green beans (which is a favorite). She was exhausted after her busy morning of playing and wanted to take a nap. She slept for over 2 hours so she must have needed to catch up. Even then, I had to wake her up. This worked out great for me as I was able to continue getting some work done remotely. She had some vanilla yogurt for snack. We worked on some art projects while we waited for Chris to get home from work. I painted her hands and feet so we could stamp them on the paper. She also finished using markers to color a piece she started her first week here. I asked her to practice writing her numbers which she is always so eager to do (NOT). I filled up her cup with water and accidentally threw it at her (literally) while trying to sit in on the table. A real stellar moment for me. She was soaking from head to toe, as well as her workbook, the floor, and the wall. She thought it was hysterical. She was laughing, not crying. I wish I had captured her reaction on camera. She kept scolding me with her finger, while saying "no, no, no" and saying "sorry." Poor thing had to change her clothes and then worked on her numbers as asked.

For dinner, I made beef and broccoli in the crockpot. She seems to love anything in the crockpot. She ate the broccoli first until it was gone. I was shocked because she wanted nothing to do with it at the Chinese restaurant. Then she ate the beef, and finally the rice. I was glad to see her eat so well. Chris was late getting home from work so we also played Candy Land.

Chris:
After dinner, Kelsey headed back to work for a little bit so I was back on duty. The first 15 minutes she was gone, it went fine. She was being kind of ornery and threw my Carmex in the trash. I wasn't amused (actually I was laughing hysterically inside and mad on the outside) but I did want my chapstick back. Unfortunately, it didn't have the top on as she was using it prior to throwing it. I fished it out and it came out with a grain of rice in it. How fitting since my little Chinese girl threw it away. We then talked to Nana via Facetime. When we finished talking to Nana, it was time to start the bath process. Unfortunately, that was when the tears began to flow. I think it was over the fact she is out of pullups but it transitioned into being about Mama and her not being here to give her a bath. I did eventually convince her to take a bath but she wasn't happy about it. Kelsey came in about 1/3 of the way through the bath process and she was still crying. Tears dried up and the bath ended smoothly. We had to throw in a late night snack. Her snack consisted of raisins and Mandarin oranges, not by her choice of course, as well as a bit of my popcorn. I think she actually liked the popcorn though she didn't seem entirely convinced of the texture. Thats all folks. Good night!