Miss Rylee

3am again...Guess who is awake and who is sleeping...Thank goodness for the internet. It is quiet and I do not need to turn on a light. Thought I would fill everyone in a bit on our little Rylee. She is doing great (comparatively) with the transition. She likes for me to hold her and touch her. I am doing all of the feeding, bathing, diapering, putting her to bed, etc and she does not make a fuss. Have you noticed that Mike is not in any of the pictures recently? Well, there is a reason...She is not taking to him much right now. That is completely normal at this stage of the game and many families are experiencing that - Mike is fine with that and is just thankful that she has bonded with one of us. Her attachment to him will come with time. Rylee adores Morgan and looks to him for entertainment. He is the one that gets her laughing and smiling. Mike and I aren't quite as successful. As far as her development, we anticipate a walker pretty soon. She is crawling, standing up on the side of the bed, moving along the side of the bed, stands without support (we have to get her into position), will take a couple of steps from the bed to a table. Her fine motor skills are growing more and more. The first day, we gave her Cheerios at the restaurant and she would just hold them in her fingers. If they were left in a pile on the table in front of her, she would dip for them like a duck going underwater. Now, we spread them out and she is feeding herself. She loves to eat. So far, we have fed her steamed eggs (local restaurant thing), white rice, banana, banana bread, french fries, and a few other little items. I think I may have constipated her, however...She has opened her mouth wide enough to count teeth and there are 8. She has a great personality and is fairly easy going. Sorry, to all those that were wishing a little "cracker jack", "spit fire", and whatever other names you all used, on us. ;o) I am sure she has yet to show all of her true colors though. She will play by herself and with Morgan/I. She is a great sleeper. You just put her in bed and she will go to sleep or move around until she falls to sleep. When she wakes up, she stands in her crib and looks at you until you wake up or will do her gymnastic routines. She prefers to fall asleep with her face smashed into the pillow or comforter - scares me to death. She is a joy and we feel so blessed!

Side notes (Things I have meant to post and not gotten to, questions you all have asked in emails, etc)

The orphanage director gave us pictures of Rylee in the orphanage (can't see much of the environment, however), a picture of the place where she was abandoned (bookstore), and a map showing the locations of both the orphanage and location of the bookstore. They also gave us a little keepsake (pillow thing) with soil and coins from her province.

The tags we have been wearing around our neck state the name of our agency and why we are here (both in english and chinese). They also have a few bible verses on them.

Mike is unable to access any of his bible study websites (for Sunday School prep) as they are blocked.

We will post again tonight...Gonna try and go get a few more minutes of sleep.