She's Walking Hand In Hand With Mama!

As good as yesterday afternoon was, last night was just the opposite. Simply put, last night was not a good one to say the least. We crave sleep :)
Alyzabeth woke up crying last night and again very early this morning. Nothing was able to calm her, not even walking the halls so all Aly could do was hold her and sing to her without a break from the crying. In fact, last night could have been a case of the night terrors. We fixed her a bottle but it wasn't hunger driving her distress. There are those times when all we can do is be there with her and for her all the while knowing we can't take away all the pain.

And still, there are highlights to share. Happy times. Good times. HUGE strides in gaining Alyzabeth's trust began yesterday afternoon after returning from our visit to the Chongqing zoo.

Where we were:
Alyzabeth would cry anytime she was in our room. (We switched rooms but little help)
She had to be held by Aly at all times. Not just most the time. All the time.
She would not walk.
She would not play.
She would not smile.
She cried if Aly sat down with her.
She cried with a diaper change.
She would let me feed her but nothing else. (I'm cheerio dad and watermelon man)
She would only drink from a bottle.
In short. She cried. A lot. A whole lot. About anything and everything. And was very unhappy.

Where we are now:
Alyzabeth does not cry each time we go back to the room.
She takes her mother's hand and walks with her in the hotel hallways.
She has waved twice when prompted to wave goodbye.
Aly can sit down while holding her without her crying every now and then.
We had our first diaper change without tears. Whimpers. But no tears.
She is drinking from a sippy cup.
She is beginning to play with her toys and baba.
When asked where is baba, she pointed to me. Twice :)
She has smiled at Aly and now me.
She reaches up to touch her mother's face.
She had her first drink of whole milk.
She had her first taste of oatmeal.
In short. She is crying less frequently. Is starting to play and smile. Acknowledges baba and is developing a huge amount of trust in mama. Now if she would just sleep through the night and take naps! :)
She is also catching a cold... Oh well, there's a surprise - Not :)

And how are we?
Thankful for the moments of peace and quiet.
Over the moon happy to see her smile and HOPEFUL that her gains in trusting us will progress today and in the days to follow.

Today's only scheduled morning activity is a shopping trip but we may decide to skip on it. We all could use the down time. Tonight we will be attending a big outdoor stage event next to our hotel.
Yesterday, we gave Anita (one of our CCAI guides) the two cameras from our Care Package to have developed that the orphanage returned to us . We're hoping to get them back this afternoon sometime.

The video clip shows our daughter holding her mom's hand while they take a walk together. I wish you all could have been here to see them walk out of the room hand in hand for the first time. Some things earn the title "Special". That was truly special and will without a doubt, forever be a Special Memory... And I've also added a short clip from our trip to the Zoo.

Life is good. We're doing fine and thank everyone for the prayers and good wishes and WORDS OF WISDOM AND SUPPORT!
(and just to prove it wasn't a fluke - aa gave us another BM!!! man, the things you won't celebrate on this journey :)
peace
ac & fm & aa