Everything's going well...

Last night we went out with Kim and Todd after dinner and on the way back Wenguo had Shuya laughing out loud! She was so beautiful and we were both so happy to know that we could make her laugh.

Last night I held Shuya for a long time until she finally fell sound asleep and then I gently placed her in the crib. She woke up at midnight and I had to get up and hold her for a while. I fell asleep sitting on the couch with her leaning against me and Wenguo woke me up to let me know that she had fallen back asleep and that I could put her in the crib. We slept until about 5 AM when Wenguo got up. I stayed in bed until about 6 and we got Shuya up shortly after that. Wenguo and I were both a little cranky today, but Shuya was fine!

Today we went to the Yellow Crane Tower. A famous landmark with a history of over 1700 years. It was a nice day, warm and hazy with a nice breeze on Snake Hill where the tower stands. We will go to the riverside district tomorrow morning and then to a group lunch. It should be very relaxing. We will have the afternoon to ourselves and will have to decide what to do. I think we will walk around and Wenguo will do some shopping in the local shops. We all took naps this afternoon!

We took a walk to the laundromat down the street, after our naps, with 2 of the other families and dropped off a ton of clothes which they will clean in 24 hours very cheaply. While Wenguo was in the shop I took Shuya for a short walk in her new stroller. I was about 30 feet from the front of the laundromat when a couple of ladies came out from a storefront and started admiring Shuya and asking me questions in Chinese. I was soon surrounded by about 20 people all admiring her and asking me questions, and fixing Shuya's clothes, and pointing to the bruises on her forehead. It was very nice. I think she must be very beautiful to everyone as she certainly has attracted a lot of attention every where we have gone. On the way back from the laundromat we walked around a bit and Wenguo bought some trinkets. Along the way a lot of people took a look at Shuya. She has such beautiful eyes.

The bruises on her forehead are darker now, but the swelling seems to have gone down. The orphange director said that she was walking and fell, but she hasn't tried to walk since she's been with us. She can stand but she doesn't seem to want to - she always hangs on to us when whe is standing. The scratches on her check have almost healed. They healed quickly. Wenguo is giving her amoxicillin that the orphanage gave us. Our friends Kim and Todd gave us something for the congestion, but Wenguo is afraid to give her much of that. She gave her one dose. Shuya has a lot of phlegm - you can hear it sometimes when she breathes and when she coughs. All in all she seems to be healthy and I just worry about her cold and hope she recovers quickly.

She lets me kiss her but she pushes me away alot. I tell her she doesn't know how much that hurts me! I'm sure she'll warm up to me someday! She always lets me pick her up and comfort her though. She loves to ride in the stroller.

We will try to post some more pictures soon.