Last night Alia did not sleep as well as we hoped. She was quiet, but often laid awake in her crib just looking around or playing with the side of her crib. When awake, we found that if we leave her still she will just sit and stare around. It saddened us to think about how often she might have been left alone without personal interaction and care. Well, she is getting a LOTS of attention now and her little personality is starting to come out :). Here are some fun traits we've noticed...
She loves holding things. Because her hands work differently she holds things between her fingers squeezing her fingers sideways together. She loves holding crackers and small items like lollipops but will not really eat much off of them. She has a favorite princess ball she loves to hold that we sent her two months ago. She is also very clever in how she grips and holds a bottle. We think the bottle has been her main way of eating these past 28 months.
The orphanage workers also told us she loves to hold a towel. We gave her a small hotel towel and she loves it! She crams it beneath her chin and grips it to her chest with her chin in order to free her hands up for other things. Whenever she holds something she is protective of it. It seems as if she had to be to ensure other kids did not take it from her. We are trying to teach her to trust us and to give us things when we ask. She has started giving us her bottle back most times we ask and is not as protective over it.
Eating has been a problem for Alia. She is so tiny and skinny, especially while sick. Her eating mannerisms are kind of cute but also kind of not. She is stubborn. If she does not want food or an item, she pushes or kicks it away. She definitely does not like blankets on her when she is awake and still kicks her doll away. When we try to feed her, if she decides she doesn't want something she locks her lips together, shakes her head no, and pushes it away. Little stinker haha! We have tricked her into eating a bit by pretending we are eating and loving it. We also found that if we put the spoon in between her fingers she loves the independence of trying to feed herself (she can't hold the spoon by herself yet though, but the orphanage workers said she had been working on that). 
We appreciate your ongoing prayers for Alia's health. We are so thankful for a great night's rest, but really need her to eat and hold down her food. She also seems to have a reflux like reaction that makes her spit up quite often. After going through 25+ diapers in the first 12 hours (not an exaggeration) we think her system is getting better, but her bottom is very sore. Please ask that she continues to stay hydrated and that the foods and medicines we are giving her help her to improve quickly.
After breakfast today we went back to the adoption center and finalized our adoption. We really didn't have to do much other than pay the adoption fees. In that process Jonathan had the opportunity to share the story of Moses from the huge mural in the building foyer. All of the government adoption workers were intrigued. Jonathan explained how Moses' adoption was a precursor of how God sent Jesus to deliver us from sin through His sacrifice on the cross, so that we can be adopted as children of God. Jonathan used James 1:27 to show why so many Christians come to adopt, how we are overwhelmed by God's love in such a way that overflows towards widows and orphans. They seemed visibly touched and explained that they have also noticed how many Chinese and Western foster families here in China are also Christians. They said the explanation of Moses and Jesus helped to understand why so many Christians care so much for these precious orphans. I encouraged them to read the story of Moses in a Bible (only a few have a Bible)...when I opened the Bible on my phone they were amazed and all crowded around to see. They really seemed to appreciate my artwork lesson on the mural in their building foyer. Of all the buildings in Guiyang, Guizhou, and of all the paintings that could be made, Moses' adoption story ended up in the one building where a small office is dedicated to adoptions. Father is good!
The workers then presented us with the most touching gifts as we were given her official adoption decree. The town that Alia is from (Anshun) is famous for its waterfall. Because of the distance and our schedules and sick babies we will not get to see the waterfall (largest in China), but they gave us a large batik (dyed cloth artwork) of the waterfall and a small batik of a Miao girl. This was a huge sacrifice for them and overwhelmed us. Lots of tears and hugging. We also received a gift given to all families of a Miao girl doll wearing the traditional silver headdress (used to bring in suitors for marriage). We joked that we need to start saving up to buy Alia a headdress to use when she can start dating at age 30.
After finalizing our adoption we returned to the hotel and Alia took a solid 3 hour nap. She needed it! We got a little rest in and then had a fun afternoon of playing together. We got her to walk with us around the hotel and explored with her friend Yosef. It was good to see her exploring more and being active. We then journeyed as a group to KFC but we had varied experiences about which selections we liked and didn't like. Chicken nuggets was the favorite. Chicken poppers were pretty spicy but Jonathan liked the dragon chicken wrap (chicken wrap Asian style). We forgot about the no ice rule (not supposed to drink local water or ice out of concern for getting sick)...but we have yet to suffer any consequences. Oops!
While we waited in line at KFC, Alia covered Jonathan in vomit. Yummy. After mealtime (yes we forged ahead) Brittney returned to the hotel to care for Alia while a friend took Jonathan to the supermarket. The supermarket was awesome. Two stories of awesome exploration. If he hadn't been rushed or limited on baggage space Jonathan would've done more exploring, but this trip was focused on getting some BRAT diet stuff for Alia (bread, rice, applesauce, and toast) along with some local yogurt for getting some probiotics in her eventually. Good times.
By the way...if you prayed for Alia to cry, we finally figured it out 32 hours later. Bath time. Her first bath time was fine, we eased her into it and she did great. This bath time was shock and awe, we woke her up and put her in when it was still a little cold. Sorry sweetie! It did show us that she can cry though, haha. Daddy became the bad guy and tearful Alia cried for mama repeatedly. Once we had a clean girl in hand we tried to skype/FaceTime but had too many problems that we had to give up trying. Our girls haven't gotten to see Alia by video yet (and we haven't gotten to see them for a few days) so we are hoping technology is more cooperative tomorrow.
Thank you again for all of your prayers. We can tell people are praying! We do ask for continued prayers for God to help our little treasure to get better quick and for us to have a speedy trip home to our other girls, family, and friends! This is how our day ended...momma and Alia falling asleep holding hands! A picture of a growing bond that has only begun!
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