Fearless

It is 8:27 p.m. Wednesday and I wish you could hear the chatter in our darkened hotel room right now.  One person is asleep.  He goes by the name Max.  His little sister is chattering away and picking things up off the floor and delivering them to either Nina or me.  Then her mother starts to tickle her.  And on and on it goes.

Our day began with a walk through Ming Tomb Park, where we followed a path line by centuries old rock carvings of lions, dragons, camels, elephants and scary looking mythological creatures leading to pavillions celebrating the Ming Dynasty.  We walked, but our little princess rode in her chariot - the stroller that the hotel lent us.  Yesterday, when we tried to put her in a stroller, she refused but today, she was amenable.  The park was really beautiful.  In addition to the statues, there were extensive gardens, particularly plum trees.  The park is home to the national plum tree nursery and they have thousands of species.  Also, centuries old Ginkgo and Cypress trees.

Rain began to fall as we were near the end of our tour and the rain kept us in our hotel room most of the afternoon.  There was some music and dancing, as well as general mayhem.  She became attached to a bottle of lotion and she and Nina would squeeze a little out in each others hands and rub each others faces.  Very sweet.  The lotion tube became her most important accessory for the remainder of the day.

A trip to the pool was attempted.  Nina was going to swim with Max, but Lillian was not going to be left alone with me - at least not at the pool, which is an unfriendly place for her.

(Note - more tickling is going on right now.  Both mother and daughter are giggling)

One interesting side note.  On our way back from the pool, Lillian led the way out of the elevator and she stopped at the correct door on the corridor.  Nina and I looked at each other in shock.  She knew where to go.  On a subsequent trip, we watched to see if she would do it again.  She didn't, but on a third trip she did stop at the correct door again without any other cue.  Smart.

Finally, the rain let up and we needed to get out of the room.  We spent a half hour while she marched around the hotel lobby with Mommy in tow.  Max and I chatted with a Swedish couple staying in the hotel who had signed their adoption papers immediately after us for a little boy.

(Nina is blowing raspberries on her belly.  I think bedtime may still be far off.  It is 8:53.  In fairness, bedtime at the orphanage was reportedly 9:30, impossible as that seems.)

We had skipped lunch and the kids were hungry and we feared more rain.  I offer these excuses before sharing where we ate in hopes of blunting your judgment...

Pizza Hut.  It is next door to our hotel.  It is open all afternoon and evening (most "real" restaurants don't open for dinner until 5:30).  So I won't share the list of what we enjoyed - but we were satisfied when we walked out.

The weather cleared while we ate and we walked down to the waterfront and decided to take a boat ride on the canal.  It was actually a very nice ride and because we started just before sunset, over the course of our ride, all of the neon lights came on.

(The giggling and tickling continues)

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that Lillian walks everywhere herself.  She is less than three feet tall, but is totally unafraid.  In fact, she seems energized by people.  It seems like she knew there was a world outside the walls of the orphanage and she is excited to finally get to start to see it.