Last night, Darci received her first bath-she was not a big fan of the bath!! She is really good at going to sleep, she actually likes her crib more than anything-I think that she sees it as a safe place for her. Today we ventured out to a plaza area. We took our lives in our hands!!! They have torn up all the sidewalks and unlike at home there are no alternative routes so you walk on the uneven dirt and rocks. If that is not hard enough with a buggy you have to try and not get hit by the mopeds or motorized bikes that ride on the torn up side walks. I have been the only one brave enough or maybe stupid enough to do it but it is the only time that Darci is not upset, she loves riding in the buggy!! It is also a humbling experience to be a minority in a country and not be able to speak the language. Me and Darci get many stares but the Chinese people are very nice and I was even asked today by a Chinese man if she was my daughter. I thought that maybe he was going to tell me off but he was just curious, it was the first time that I have been asked about my daughter that I could officially call her my daughter (she officially became my daughter yesterday). Darci’s mood today is not unlike yesterday, mostly crying!! However, there are few tears! She is a strong willed little girl who wants her way. Unfortunately, she has a mom that does not really know what her way is yet. I do feel lucky even though there have been many tears because she is right where she should be for her age. She walks, likes to feed herself, and babbles. I can not say that about some of the other children. Most of them have attached to one or both of their parents (at this point Darci does not really want much to do with me-occasionally she will even turn her head away when I look at her). However, some of them that are older than Darci will not even stand on their own, do not feed themselves, nor do they babble. I have had several parents comment on how normal Darci is. These other children were raised in an orphanage, while Darci was raised in a foster home-I think this has made a world of difference. I do see some rays of hope, today she actually put her head on my shoulder for just a second, until she realized what she had done. We also saw a little split second smile. I have to be grateful for the small steps when they occur,as at this point they do not happen often. I have attached some pictures. The group picture is of some of us at a Pagoda in Nanchang, the rest are of Darci.
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