Gone to the Zoo

  Yesterday Selah Grace Ruihe legally became ours.  It began with tears as she realized that her foster mom wasn't in the building like she had been yesterday when she was dropped off.  At that moment she got a look in her eyes that said "you aren't my mom" which is true but I'm as good as it's going to get for her.  She just doesn't know that yet and probably won't for months/years.  She's a little foot-stomping-firecracker with a big attitude and a I-can-do-it-myself-thank-you-very-much kind of girl.  In the afternoon Andrew took Shane and Branson on a walk to get away for a while.  Shane kind of rolls his eyes at all her girl drama and nonstop talking.  She did very well while everyone was gone.  We painted nails twice, did puzzles, blew bubbles, painted with water, and watched TV.  She has been sleeping well with little tears.  Praise the Lord!  Yesterday we went to a local museum where Shane enjoyed reading and seeing a lot of stuff after he got over the fact that he was missing his favorite TV show.  He is doing good just not communicating anything that he wants or needs yet.  Today we all slept in and Shane was able to FaceTime some Chinese boys in America and ask questions and get advice from them.  We was able to Skype our kids again which was wonderful to hear from home.  This morning I would have paid good money to have a fresh salad with fresh fruit that I knew was safe to eat.  Kind of hard to get excited about KFC when it's been your main food in province everyday.  This afternoon we opened a chocolate bar and now all is better.  We visited the zoo today where we was able to see a panda bear eating bamboo.  Makes you appreciate American zoos.  Nice place but the animals pens weren't good at all in comparison.  Selah had one melt down at the zoo with some foot stomping.  After that she wanted nothing to do with Andrew or I so she decided to walk alone and chart her own course which resulted in falling over a tree stump.  After that she had all her spunk removed and was workable.  Tonight we are going to the top of our hotel to eat western at the revolving restaurant.  Tomorrow morning is the orphanage visit for Selah.  We know we don't want to leave here without seeing her orphanage but kind of dreading what kind of melt down she might have.  We will then drive to the place she was abandoned and then possibly go for a cab drive out to see the countryside.  Andrew doesn't want to leave China without seeing some rural countryside.  Friday is packing and then flying back to Guangzhou which we are looking forward to getting back to.  There isn't a lot to do here, so we find ourselves getting rather crazy with these four walls.  Thanks for all your prayers as we continue to blend together as a family.

 

Panda at the zoo.