First Day With Fiona

We had such a wonderful first day with Fiona. She has begun to bond with all of us and seems happy. It's interesting to see how she reacts to her new environment. During the car rides to various meetings, her head turned every which way as she took in all the new sights. She loves every new toy that we give to her and especially loves the T.V. I'm not sure if she's never seen T.V. or if she finds comfort in hearing Chinese spoken on T.V.

Even though she is twenty months she is at the developmental level of a one year old. She has great fine motor skills, but lacks in large motor development. In between meetings, we spent our wait time in the hallways practicing walking. By the end of the day, she was actually taking a few steps. I think she'll catch up quickly.

She loves to eat! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to figure out how to feed her but it has been quite easy. She still takes formula, which I squirt into the back of her throat with a squirt bottle. She loves rice cereal, scrambled eggs, congee (Chinese cream of wheat), mushed fruit, and anything soft. I bought Chinese baby food for her in the hotel gift shop. Her favorite is mashed mackerel fish. We may have a hard time finding that back in the states!

She sleeps great. I'm sure she was on a strict routine in the orphanage. All I do is put her in her crib and turn out the lights. She doesn't make a peep until I get her out the next morning. I'm wondering how she'll adjust to the time change when we return home.

Fiona loves the kids. Every time they walk into the room her whole face lights up. I think having the kids here has helped her feel comfortable with us. Yesterday, we met with her caregivers for an hour. We were able to get information of her childhood including a photo album of her in the orphanage. During the meeting, I could tell that she was happy to see them, but she preferred to stay on our laps. She waved goodbye when they left but didn't cry at all. So far, she seems very content.

Patrick, Nyle, and Echo ventured out yesterday afternoon in search of some deals in electronics. After heading through some back alleyways, and hitting a couple of more "traditional" stores, they ended up at a 6 story electronics market that had every type of electronic gadget imaginable. The 6th floor contained "deals" on software and hardware that may be just a little too good to be true. Fear not, no copyrights were violated.

We are all doing fine. Regan has had some stomach trouble. I think she might have ingested some bacteria. I'm treating her with antibiotics and she seems to be improving. This morning we'll stick close to the hotel to make sure she is better. In the afternoon we might visit a nearby zoo or park. It is so beautiful here-the gardens are amazing.

I can't tell you how much we look forward to your comments. They are the first thing we read every morning! Now that we have Fiona all we want to do is come home and share her with everyone. We'll post more photos this afternoon.