and just like that

everything changes.  Dylan clearly sensed my increasing stress level and decided to lay off the evil plotting for a while.  Yesterday and today her Highnyness was the perfect angel.  we had a tiny bit of a struggle over our morning bottle, but after that she ate fine all day.  in fact this bad (bad as in good) girl drank FOUR yep FOUR entire bottles of formula yesterday.  that is more food than she's probably had over the prior 3 to 4 days!  miracle?  blessing?  who knows, i was just profoundly grateful.  we even managed to successfully pull off our first outdoor feeding.  I was able to take a bunch of short videos of her as she discovered her new dolly.  she was laughing and smiling and even picked it up several times to play with it.  when i set the computer in front of her to send a skype message to Jeff, she RACED over and starting slapping the keyboard. she was hysterical,  lucky Jeff got a couple of videos messages waiting for him when they got up this morning!  Having waited as long as i could, sadly it was bath day.  And as to be expected though, she hated, really hated her bath.  somethings will take a while to get used to.

We decided to go back to Shaiman island today which was really nice since that allowed us to just take the day really slowly.  Dylan, like her mama, is not a morning person.  and i found it works best when i just leave her in her crib for as long as possible.  when i did bring her out i let her just sit on my lap for a good long while.  she kept eyeballing her bottle but i kept it on the table nearby.  after a few minutes, i brought it close but did not try to feed her.  she just looked at it.  after many more minutes i picked it up and just held it close.  when she was ready she grabbed for it and threw her head back.  it's amazing how cooperative she is when she can control when and how she eats.  if i don't press things and let her make the first move she just lays back and gulps away.  Her second bottle was outdoors and she fussed again, but using my trusty finger to pry open those clamped lips she quickly relented and took another whole bottle.  i hope that things continue on this path for as long as possible. i did push the envelope by slowly increasing the amount of formula she's getting.  she's almost at 3 scoops per bottle, with the pureed fruit added in.  Oh and this morning i saw the Holt representative and asked her where i could buy more baby food.  hmmm she pondered (really doesn't EVERY SINGLE parent ask you this?)  and she finally told me at a nearby mall.  I guess no walmarts in Guangzhou.  as i presently loathe the idea of mall shopping I'm hoping to see if i can get by with just finding juice to add to the formula.  I'm sure Dylan will take it without anything added but it was a good way to introduce different tastes into this tiny stubborn package.  if we feel sporting tomorrow, after our Consulate appt, maybe we'll taxi over to the mall and see what they have.   bummer though.

but back on the happy track, little stinkpot decided she was ready to release the poop hounds.  she had a full and nasty surprise for me this morning.  gag alert!  it was truly gross!  Jeff you know that once home you'll be taking over diaper duty (hehehe) for a good long while! Once again Miss Thing must have determined that the alternative avenue for poop dissemination was something she was unwilling to go thru again (and did not want to put us through that ordeal, thoughtful as she is)  so delivered a fine ripe package all on her own.  ahhh the joys of motherhood!

Little Sweetness is chillin out in her crib right now, mouthing all kinds of noises, some which we swear sound like mamamama.  could be!!!   We're in for the rest of the day and tomorrow we have our Consulate appt.  Fortunately for us we have the 9am leave time.  the rest of the group either got 7:40AM or on Thursday, so i count ourselves extremely lucky to get the best of all times.   We're counting down the days until we leave.  Judy and i calculated today that from the time we take off in Hong Kong and land in Orlando it will be 24 hours.  and that does not even include the Thursday train ride to HK and the hotel stayover.  so we'll be traveling for closer to 36 hours in all.  but I'm sure we'll get by.  Really can't wait to be home and start out new life together!!!