It is hard to believe but it has been two months already. What an amazing two months. The quiet scared little girl that was placed in my arms has been replaced by a toddler that does not stop. She just goes and goes and goes. She loves to laugh. And her laughter is wonderful to hear. She has started to grab a book and come over and sit on my lap and open the pages for me to read. She won't sit still for very long but she wants me to read. Her favorite right now is Toddler Two. I can recite it from memory. It is not difficult. "Toddler, toddler, toddler two, Two is the number just for you. Two hands, one, two. Two feet, one, two. Two eyes, one, two...." you get the idea. She also likes one about farm animals. She doesn't stop at each page long enough for me to read it - just long enough to tell her the animal and what sound they make. Once she tried to say "cock-a-doodle-do" I think. She will make the sign for "more". I think she thinks it means she wants a snack but she is communicating.

She is eating more and more. This weekend she discovered cinnamon bread and she loved it. She will eat yogurt now too. I just wish I could get some meat and vegetables into her but considering that it was only two months ago that she wouldn't eat anything she is doing great.

I am a very lucky woman to be the mother of such an amazing little girl.

Today is my day off so we have been running errands and as soon as Alexa gets to sleep I can start to clean. I have tried cleaning while she is awake and she wants to help. She likes to dust as you can see in the picture but she does not consistantly get all the dust. She also likes to dust her face with the dirty swiffer!

The baby gate at the top of the stairs has worked very well until the day after I took this picture. Twinkle and Boo were both sitting on the stairs and Alexa and I were upstairs. When Alexa saw them she decided she wanted to get to them so she started to climb up the gate. I got her when she was about half way up! I haven't used the gate since.

Yesterday I introduced her to a new food. M&M's. I had a couple and she wanted one so I handed one to her and she popped it in her mouth and chewed. She gave me a strange look and I handed her another. She decided to carry the second one around with her for a minute then it went into her mouth too. This morning I offered her another and she didn't hesitate to take it and stick it in her mouth.

We are working on showing two fingers so she can tell people how old she will be in a week and a half. She thinks it is hilarious when I do it but she hasn't grasped how to put up just two fingers yet. We still have a little time to work on it.

Twinkle and Boo have settled into being home. They still run when Alexa tries to get close to them and that is best for now. They stay out of her way for the most part. When they know she is occupied with a toy or eating they will come and watch her. They are still trying to figure out what kind of creature has invaded their home!

Well we made it through the first week of work. This picture was taken on our first day of daycare/back to work. Alexa is doing great at daycare. She isn't mad at me anymore when I pick her up. In fact she smiles and starts to laugh and runs into my arms. It is a wonderful feeling! She is gradually trying some of the foods the other kids eat and she is using her sippy cup. In fact she only uses a sippy cup at daycare. (On Friday when I picked her up she still had some milk in her sippy cup so we brought it home. Once we were here she wanted a drink so she turned her back to me and took a few steps away before she started to drink! I don't think she wanted me to know that she could use the sippy cup!) At home she still prefers a bottle and that is ok. When I get her home the first thing I have to do is make her a bottle. After that is done I can make a little supper and we both sit down to eat. (Or I eat and she throws her food on the floor!)

It has been very hot here (upper 90's and very humid) - much like Guangzhou - so Saturday evening we went to the mall so Alexa could run around. I stopped in the food court and bought some French fries and she ate about five or six of them! I may be the only mother in the world that is thrilled when her child eats junk food but I am so happy with every different food she tries. After the french fries we looked for invitations for her birthday party. We found some frog ones that she loved. Tonight I tried to teach her how to put up two fingers and say " I'm two!". I would put up her two fingers and she would laugh and laugh. Over and over. I don't think I will get her to say it but maybe I can get her to show people in two weeks.

Several times tonight she was saying something that sounded like "tickle, tickle". So I tickled her under her chin -where she is the most ticklish - and she giggled and giggled. She is making a couple signs also. At least I think she is. We watched a video on signs for baby over the weekend and I have been showing her a few. She has made the sign for "milk" and "more". Tonight I think she made the sign for "mommy". I am not sure if she really knows what they mean yet but she is learning.

Ok - I think you were all right. Alexa handled this morning better than I did. I didn't actually cry but I was really close. Alexa was so busy checking things out she didn't even know I left. I think she was a little upset with me tonight though. She did not want to look me in the eyes for a while but after she checked out her toys to make sure they were still here she wanted to be held. After I gave her a bottle and played with her for a while I got a few big smiles and everything was ok.

And I can add a new food to the list. She likes Colorado peaches (but only if they are mashed up and mixed with pudding). So we are up to four fruits now. I talked to the dietitian at work today and she was really impressed at how well Alexa is eating considering that seven weeks ago she had only had a bottle. Yes it has been seven weeks since I held her for the first time. Time is flying by. I need to start planning a birthday party too!

Tomorrow I go back to work. I am getting very nervous about it. I dread the thought of dropping her off at daycare. I know she will be fine but ..... This weekend I am trying to get everything done that I wanted to get done during the last month at home. I might be able to check one thing off the list by the time I go to bed tonight! The important thing is that I have had some quality time with Alexa. We have had a good month.

I had to take this picture. She loves to play with the phone and in this case it is the TV remote - doesn't matter - it is a phone to her. Other things that work as a phone include the mouse for my computer! I wish you could hear her "talk". It is so funny. It is not real words but she has a conversation. She talks then waits then talks some more.

She has been a little clingy the last few days and had a runny nose but yesterday when she openned her mouth wide I saw part of a new molar so I believe she is teething. The dentist said she had one more set of molars to come in. I haven't been able to see if it is more than one. She won't open her mouth for me very often. I think she is afraid I will put some food in it! She did eat part of a french fry the other day so we are still making progress and she also took a few sips from a sippy cup. Well I think I hear her waking up so I had better go check on her. Wish me luck tomorrow. Who do you think will cry more when I drop her off?

This weekend Alexa and I attended our family reunion. Alexa received a lot of attention. She had so many relatives to play with. We both had a great time.

We shared a cabin with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a fun time. The cabin only had a shower though so Alexa and I took a shower together. The first time she was happy standing next to me but the next day she wanted me to hold her. Any one know how challenging it is to wash one's hair while holding a toddler?




Once home she was up to her same old tricks. Only this time with larger things. She has discovered the cat door in the basement door. It is a great hole to throw things through or if they are too big - just try to shove them in.


We had a few more successes while we were at the reunion. When I asked "Where is Alexa's nose?" she pointed to her nose. She doesn't do it all the time but if she is in the mood she will point to her nose. She is now eating mashed banana without any pudding. This morning I tricked her and added a couple small pieces of pear in the banana. She made a strange face but she ate it. Pasta - even if mashed up - still gets spit out. But we are making progress.

This morning Alexa grabbed my hand and led me into the kitchen and made the sign for milk. She was thirsty and let me know it. That was so much better than throwing her head back and screaming and leaving me guessing.

I decided it was time for an update on Alexa. She is doing great. We had a good checkup with the dentist - all well and Tuesday we went back to the doctor. Alexa didn't cry for the doctor at all - she waited until the nurses came in to draw blood and give her shots. Then she screamed. And I mean screamed. And I can't blame her. The poor thing had to have about three vials of blood drawn for blood tests and a TB test in her left arm then four shots to get caught up in her immunizations. Two in each leg. No wonder she screamed. I wanted to too just thinking about it. The nurses - and there were three- all kept telling me she was doing great and they were suprised by how strong she is. I keep telling people she is tiny but all muscle!

Today we went to my store to say hello and have some photos developed. She showed me around the produce department. She thought it was great fun to lead me around - now if we could just get her to eat some of the

fruits and vegetables she showed me!

She is loving her Cherrios, little graham crackers, and hard cookies. I am working on adding things to her pudding which is the only other thing she will eat. Right now we can do 2/3 applesauce, 1/3 pudding and yesterday we added a little chopped up banana and that worked too. She refuses plain applesauce and chopped up banana though, and if a Cherrio is contaminated by touching a banana slice it is immediately thrown on the floor! She prefers to feed herself and when she is tired of the spoon she has found that fingers work well. Of couse she still must do the gesture while she eats so she ends up with pudding all over her face. Isn't she cute?

At the silk factory we saw this woman working with the double cocoons of the silk worms. Single cocoons are used for making cloth and the double cocoons are stretched out and made into quilts. She soaks them then stretches them out over the smaller frame. Then they are stretched out over the larger frame. Finally four people stretch it out to the size of a quilt. Layers and layers are added until there are about 150 layers (I think that is what they said. Then a cover is put on. These silk quilts are supposed to be wonderful. They should never be washed - just air them out outside.

The Li River Cruise was beautiful. The landscape is amazing. Three hundred million years ago the area was under the sea. Two hundred million years ago it re-emerged and the exposed limestone was sculpted by rain and wind. Over the last two million years the karst peaks were sliced apart and the result is scenery that looks like it was taken directly off a Chinese scroll painting. That is the scientific explanation.

The myth is a little different. Long ago when the South China Sea threatened to engulf Guilin the gods decided to act. They would move the northern hills as a floodgate. The gods transformed the hills into goats in order to herd them south, but a fierce wind scattered the goats willy-nilly down the river where they were changed back into the unruly peaks we now see along the river.

The local people still paddle up and down the river on bamboo rafts. The rafts don't look like very much but we saw several loaded down. Some even

had three people on them - some sitting on chairs.

There are groves of bamboo along the river banks. These trees in the lower right photo are bamboo. They are beautiful trees. I don't know how many photos I took of them. I was amazed that I was seeing real bamboo trees. They just look so different.

The river cruise alone was worth the trip to China. We had taken photo after photo and ooohhed and aahhed over the scenery when our guide Lily came up to us and told us to get our cameras ready because the beautiful part was coming up!

I am finally getting around to posting some more pictures from our trip. Of course the best part of the trip was getting Alexa but China is an amazing country. I wanted to share some pictures from our experiences there. These are Budda carvings in a cave wall at Fubo Hill in Guilin.

Here are some rice paddies in Guilin. We saw some people out working in some of them. Besides rice paddies we saw lotus fields, corn fields and other crops - some I didn't recognize and I have forgotten others already. Fields are much smaller than we are used to here and they use every available space for crops. Later I will post some pictures of fields up on hillsides. Here in the states we would never try to plant on those hills. They are very steep.

This is a photo from Reed Flute Cave. Pictures cannot really convey the beauty of the place. I liked this photo because of the reflection on the water. We also liked the cave because it was cool. Guilin was hot and humid - Guangzhou would be worse - but the cave provided a litte relief for an hour.

These are the gold and silver pavillions that we could see right across the street from our hotel in Guilin. They were beautiful lit up at night. They were impressive during the day also. Jane and I did not get out to explore as much as I would have liked. We kept busy though and I rested as much as possible. I was exhausted after the flight over and I was trying to get rested before I got Alexa. Beds in China are hard - and I mean hard. I slept on top of the comforter just to have that little bit extra of cushioning.

I have many more photos I would like to share. I will try to add some once in a while.

Some of you who have followed my journey since I started this may remember that quite some time ago I found this little Noah's Ark and extra animals to go into it. (It all started when I found the pandas that were an extra for the set - after I saw the pandas I knew Alexa had to have one!) I finally got it out for her today and she checked it out. I think she likes it.

I realized today that I don't have any pictures of Alexa in her crib so I went in while she was taking her nap this afternoon. She is so cute when she is sleeping.

I have been putting off using the vacuum cleaner because I thought it might scare Alexa. I shouldn't have worried. I finally couldn't stand it any longer and got it out this afternoon. My problem is not that she is scared of it - my problem is that she tries to check it out. She wants to inspect the wheels as I vacuum! I think she wants to ride on the thing. I finally had to pick her up and hold her as I vacuum. After I was done I let her inspect the thing. She pushed it up and down the hallway after taking off all the attachments. And I know - by the time she is a teenager I will not be able to get her anywhere near the thing!

Yesterday we tried out the little tricycle that we got from Deb's family. It was a great success! She absolutely loves it. Her feet don't quit reach the pedals so the pole comes in very handy for mom to push. Sometimes she will steer but she spends more time looking around. She is not very happy when I say it is time to quit.

Mmmmm! Cherrios and milk for breakfast. Can you believe this is the girl that would not put a Cherrio any where near her mouth two weeks ago? Other food she will still throw to the floor but Cherrios go directly into the mouth - sometimes one from each hand at the same time.

Naptime is not going well today. I had hoped to organize my China photos and post some more but she has other ideas. I have so many that I would love to share. Hopefully soon!

For those of you still wondering what ever happened to Jane's luggage we have an update. Since we had our guides in China call China Southern every single day we were there to check on our luggage and they finally told our guide at the end of the trip that they had never had possession of the bag I called United after we got home. United of course said that it was up to China Southern to take care of the problem but after explaining to the gentleman that China Southern was saying they never had the bag he looked it up on their computer system. It can trace every bag - and he told me it had been in lost luggage in Guangzhou China since June 20th! He gave me a tracer number and told me to call China Southern. I finally got through to them - no easy task with the time change and explained my problem to them. They gave me another number where I had to leave a message - again the time change and the hours they work caused some delay. Finally I was talking to a baggage claim worker for China Southern in LosAngeles. He checked the computer and said it looks like it could be our bag but he would have to email the baggage claim people in Guangzhou. Finally I got a call back and they had found the bag! On Friday the 13th - exactly one month after we checked in our bags at O'Hare - Jane had her suitcase delivered to her house. The last nine days we were in China her bag was sitting at the airport.

This afternoon before Alexa's nap we tried out the little pool I have for her on the deck. She loves it. She loved splashing mom and playing with a little turtle toy. She hasn't really wanted to sit down in the pool yet but she loves splashing around and climbing in and out. She will squat down and put her face in the water too. We tried out the shades outside too. They stayed on for a while before they were thrown in the water.

Other Alexa news - she will now sometimes walk across grass if someone is holding her hand and this morning she ate a Ritz cracker. It came in a pack with some cheese you can spread on. She stuck her finger in the cheese, examined her finger, then wiped it off on mom's leg. This morning I made some rice cereal for her and added a few tiny, tiny pieces of banana. She ate a few bites and the banana pieces stayed in her mouth but she didn't eat very much. It is all progress though. At least I got some fruit into her.

We have a dentist appointment coming up next Thursday so I decided we should introduce the toothbrush! She actually did pretty good. The second night she put the brush end in her mouth instead of the handle end. The brush even made contact with a tooth several times!

I was suprised that she liked the sunglasses. Of course she only wore them in the house but maybe she will let me put them on her when we are out side. She doesn't like the sun in her eyes.

A girl can never have too many shoes - no matter what her age! After I took the picture I realized that three pair were missing - actually the three pair that fit right now! These are all in assorted sizes that I got for later while we were in China. Some are the famous squeeky shoes. Alexa tried out a pair and they are cool. You can really hear her coming! I had to take them off after a few minutes. She was enjoying it but it got a little loud for me. I think they will be better as outside shoes!

I guess I can say she really likes pudding now. She loved feeding it to herself. A little even made it in the mouth! Actually she did very well. It was just a little hard for me to watch. I have enjoyed having a clean little girl and now I have to contend with the messy part of a toddler! She is so cute though. I admit I did try to trick her by putting a tiny piece of watermelon in the pudding. It went in the mouth very well - and came straight back out - minus the pudding. She is a smart little one!

Well hope you enjoyed the pictures for today. We will see what we can come up with for tomorrow!

No new pictures to show off today but I had to give you an update. Alexa is doing great!!! Today we walked (with the help of the stroller) to the park since it is a beautiful day. She insisted on staying in the swing for over half an hour! I finally told her we had to take a break. I had taken a treat of vanilla pudding and some Cherrios and Alexa ate about 3/4 the container of pudding and then ate a Cherrio! Now I have to tell you about how she ate the Cherrio. She took more nibbles out of that thing than I thought possible for a little Cherrio. Finally she popped the rest in her mouth and it stayed. I put some on her tray on the stroller for the walk home and I had to keep replenishing them as we walked home. Some ended up on the ground but I am sure more ended up in her mouth. She ate another one for me when we got home. Yesterday she tried a couple bites of a bisquit and seemed to enjoy that but the chicken, rice, and cooked carrotts ended up on the floor last night during supper. That is ok though. At least she is touching the food to throw it to the floor! In China she refused to even touch anything edible. And I am finding out it is much easier to keep a child clean when they don't eat! I was not aware that Cherrios could be so sticky.

Yesterday we made it over to the Gift of Love office and met the people there and Alexa checked out all the rooms! Then it was on to Hy-Vee. She has found the basket of suckers and actually tried one (or two). She preferred the orange one over the blue one but she didn't come close to finishing either before they made their way to the floor.

Nap time is about over and this afternoon we have an appointment with a daycare provider. I guess I must start thinking about going back to work ( I paid bills this afternoon too).

I will try to add some pictures next time.

Yes we are home. I will go into the details of the trip home over the weekend hopefully but I wanted to post something now. It is midnight and I need to get to sleep. I will have a very active toddler waking up in the morning. Today she tried some vanilla pudding with some success.

This evening I took her to the park for the first time. She loved the swing. It was at least twenty to twenty-five minutes before she let me take her out. We then tried a frog thing which really was not all that great and then the slide. She loved it but it was hard to manage her all by myself. She wants to be all over and doesn't think that mommy needs to hold her hand all the time.

Alexa is very scared of grass. If you try to set her down in it she will pull up her legs so her feet never hit it. It was the same with the sand at the playground. I am sure that will change as she sees more children playing. Tonight we went later after it cooled down so there were not too many there.

Well I need to go to bed. I will need my strength tomorrow.

Well this is our last post from China. We start the long trip home tonight. I am not looking forward to this next part at all. My sinuses are very congested - my allergy medication cannot keep up with all the mold spores here. Anyway the good part is that in 44 hours we will be meeting Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Deb and the cousins.

Yesterday we took some pictures at the hotel and then went to the consolate in the afternoon to pick up Alexa's visa. It is now official - I can take her home. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures to be taken there. We drove through a very nice area of Guangzhou to get to the consolate. It was very different than the areas we have seen before. I don't know if I have mentioned the traffic here. It is very different. I can't quite figure out how they make it work but somehow all these cars, bikes, and pedestrians seem to make it work. We have found that the best way for us to handle the traffic is not to look. It seems we are always in a near accident. I have great respect for our driver -Zhang.

Yesterday morning we went exploring on our own. We found the pharmacy and got Alexa some more vitamins. Yes I am giving my daughter Chinese medicine. I am not totally sure what she is getting but Nelson recommended it. The women in the pharmacy were surprised when I asked to take a picture. They did not speak any English - I would have loved to ask questions.

We finally found something other than formula and rice cereal that Alexa will eat - the whipped cream off a frappacino - Alexa is truly my daughter!

Today we pack up and head to the airport. I am not sure how we are going to get everything packed but somehow it will work out. The next update will be from home. I am ready for a good old American meal!

Alexa called me mama today!!!!! There were a couple times when I was not sure but today she definately said it. She came up to me and put up her arms to be picked up and looked in my face and said ma ma ma ma. It was a wonderful moment. In the picture on the right you can see her having her bottle. She prefers to have her head hanging upside down while she drinks. It looks uncomfortable to me but that is how she likes it so we do it her way.

She also had a little meltdown today. I was changing her diaper and she just started to cry. She did not want to eat. Nothing could make her happy. She was looking around like she wanted to see something or someone. I could not comfort her. I am sure she was missing her nannies and the orphanage. We will have more times like that I am sure but hopefully they will become less and less frequent. Later she checked out the newspaper. That is the English edition of the China Daily.

This afternoon we went swimming. She loved it. Absolutely loved it. She even tries to put her face in the water. I was scared to set her down after we got out of the pool because I was afraid she might run back in. I will need to see if I can sign her up for some swimming classes when we get home.

Tonight we had a wonderful dinner at the Cow and Bridge - a Thai restaurant. We had Beef Satay, Sweet Green Beans with Garlic, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken Wings in Pinapple Sauce, and Bean Curd. I passed on the bean curd but everything else was delicious. I am going to miss the food we have had here - or at least some of it! - but I am ready for a big helping of mashed potatoes and gravy! And is the sweet corn going to be ready by the time we get home? That is sounding better and better!

Tomorrow we have our consolate appointment to pick up the visas for the girls. Then we need to pack up so we can leave on Friday. I need to buy a suitcase tomorrow. By the way my little girl loves shoes!

Well today started out well. Alexa put a cracker in her mouth and took a bite out of it. Of course she spit it out but she did lick some crumbs off her fingers and I think she liked it. I think we are making progress. She even touched the noodles I put in front of her.

After breakfast we headed to the porcelain factory. It was very interesting and Alexa was very good and patient as long as we stopped looking around and did a couple laps around the shop once in a while. She loves to walk around and laughs and laughs if I pick her up and spin her around. Mommy should have invested in some weights before I came to China! On the way home she fell asleep on my lap but woke when we returned to the hotel.

Of course no more nap so the rest of the day she was a little tired. She did pretty good though. We played for a while and then I explained that Aunt Jane and Mommy need to have a Frappacinno so she agreed to go to Starbucks and then a little bit of shopping. Tonight at dinner she was a little cranky but she finally settled down and Mommy was able to eat. We had some different food tonight. Just when we thought we were getting tired of Chinese food Nelson came up with some new dishes for us to try. They were wonderful. We had slices of goose and pineapple with steamed bread, a very tasty smoked pork with a honey sauce, Chinese cabbage in a broth, and fried rice with shrimp and pork (and the heads had been removed from the shrimp) and a pork pattie with lotus root. Other things we have tried include ostrich (which tastes more like beef than the Chinese beef we have had), Peking duck, squid, lychee fruit, sweet potato pancakes, sweet bean curd, dragonfruit and many more that I can't remember right now.

After dinner there was no way were were going to get any more shopping in - we headed back to the hotel and straight to the tub. Bath time is her favorite. Then some more play time and then our traumatic moment when she fell and bumped her head. She has a lump on her forehead - hopefully it will go away soon. Here she is modeling her new pajamas. The picture was taken before the fall. Now she is sound asleep. And soon I will be too.

Good night.

Yesterday we went to a beautiful garden. We could have stayed for hours looking around and taking pictures but it was very hot. We were happy to head back to the air-conditioned van after our hour was up. There were many picture taking oportunities but Alexa HauFu has not learned yet how to pose and smile for pictures. That will come soon.

I set her down on the sidewalk to take her picture with this lovely background and she just immediately starts to walk back to me with a big smile on her face. I guess that is a better picture anyway! Not to mention the fact that she wants to come to me. We are learning more about each other every day. She still will not eat any solid food but we are making some small progress. This morning at breakfast she put a cornflake in her mouth and rubbed it against her tongue. We call the picture on the right Dance of the Cornflakes.

This morning we went to a department store and Jane was finally able to purchase some underwear and a pair of shorts. She looks like a new person. We also found a couple little Chinese children's games. I bought a few and when we get home we will check to see if the directions are in English also. If they are only in Chinese then we will make up our own rules!

After a little shopping we went to McDonalds for lunch and Alexa had her first french fry. She actually held it for a minute before it went to the floor. At least it was food and she touched it. I may be the first mother who would be thrilled if her child ate a french fry! I just want her to try some solid food. She is not even drinking water unless we are in the tub. Then she will put her head down in the water and try to drink some if I don't stop her in time. She is drinking her bottle with rice cereal every couple hours so she is not going to starve.

All in all things are going well. She is a very happy girl who love to play. Mommy is getting plenty of exercise keeping up.