Cause She's Got Personality

So yesterday, Sunday, we wake up and everything is fine. Seems like Emmy is feeling even better than the day before. She's a little grouchy at breakfast but no big deal. She even played in the tub and seemed quite happy. She started getting fussy so we did our old standby (yes, we have an "old standby" after only being parents for 8 days), we put her in the stroller to go for a walk. It always works. Not today. She started the meltdown of all meltdowns. Nothing worked. I even carried her and that didn't help. When we got to the room we changed her, fed her, tried distracting, putting her down for a nap, holding her - nothing. I was getting suspicious that it wasn't illness or an unmet need because when I wasn't looking at her she would play or hum. The minute she saw Dave or I - more meltdown. I have felt strange thinking that a baby from a orphanage could be spoiled, but her behavior is exactly like that. I've thought that maybe in the orphanage she learned to be louder and more demanding because of the competition for attention. But one of the women in our group who has adopted from here before told me not rule out the spoiled-theory. She said that she may have been one of the nanny's favorites and the Chinese really dote on their children.

After hours of her fussing, growling, snarling, screaming I needed a break so I went out shopping. I ran into several other Mom's from our group and everybody was having a bad day. Some of the babies who had finally gotten over their colds now have diarrhea. Some of the babies who were good eaters now are refusing food. Some of the babies that were pleasant and playful are now grouchy. I guess everyone was having a significant adjustment milestone. I felt much better knowing that my child wasn't a freak and didn't "hate me"as I was assuming. When I got back to the room she had fallen asleep. When she woke up later it was as if she knew she had pushed us a little too far. She became the cutest, sweetest, most happy baby I've seen in a long time. The pictures below will attest to this.

Today she has retained her angel-side of her personality. We've had a nice day. She feels good and we all got a good nights rest (except I laid awake for a while thinking about packing for the trip home!). We went over the canal from Shaiman Island today into the market area. It was a very different atmosphere than over here near the hotel. It was a real China. I'm glad we experienced it. There are some photos below.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we go to the US consulate for Emmy's swearing in as a United States citizen. It won't be finalized until our plane lands but we take the oath before we leave.