Day 9 - Church and Zoo

Isabela almost sat through her first church service. Her new name is squirm-worm. We thanked god for our precious new baby girl and a safe journey home. She is very active and likes to be busy when she's awake. I'm thankful she sleeps through the night and naps regularly because when she is awake Ray and I are hustling. As Ray and Isabela were outside of the church waiting for the service to finish, Ray met a lovely young girl named Charity (see pic below). Charity wants to be Isabela's pen-pal in the U.S. Isabela is quite a charmer, everyone wants to be her friend and hold her. The shop owners give her lots of little free toys. I'm sure they would like us to buy something, but still a sweet gesture.

The little boy in the pic is Isaiah. He has been through a lot in his young life. He has known his adoptive parents for over a year through email and telephone and has kept their pic under his pillow. His English is superb. He has the greatest personality. He also has a great story, but out of respect to his family, we won't post it. Make sure to ask us about it and we will gladly tell you. Warning - It's a tear jerker.

We visited the Guangzhou Zoo today. It was a little smelly but aren't they all for the most part? Isabela had her first ice cream cone and loved it. She has never had anything cold before so it was a new experience for her. In the orphanage, the bottles are prepared with scalding hot water and formula. We were sure it would burn her mouth but somehow it doesn't. In fact, the babies won't drink it unless it's very hot. It took us a while to feel comfortable with giving her the hot formula.

One of our new things today are playing peek-a-boo. The funny thing is, she does the peek-a-boo not us. She puts a towel or shirt over her head then pulls it off and laughs. She also loves when we summersalt her backwards and forward on the bed, she just cracks up laughing and wants more. The first night we gave her a bath, and she did not like it. But now she loves it. She splashes the whole time, and even loves it when we pour water over her head and across her face. She was very active today and really didn't get a good nap in. But even though she was up at 6 AM, she made it all the way to 9 PM.