Last Day in Henan Province: A few steps forward, a step or two back

Our bags are packed for our flight tomorrow to Guangzhou, the final leg of our adoption trip. We received Lillys Chinese passport today, and now need to get her visa allowing her to enter the US. We are all eager for a change of scenery and are excited we are inside a week from actually being home!

Today we did a group trip to the local zoo, then spent the afternoon at the hotel playing. roaming the hallways, Anna and Daddy swimming, and eating dinner at our bfavorite local restaurant at the Holiday Inn Express next door. I also ventured out with a few others to retrieve the photos developed from the disposable cameras I had sent in care packages to Lilly's orphanage. There are some wonderful photos on it withLilly and friends at her orphanage as well as with her foster mama. when llly saw the photo of herself, she said "Mei Mei" (little sister), and when she saw her foster mother, she said "Mama." Itbroke my heart. I know Lilly misses her because after that she seemed sad. And I'm sure that sweet CHinese mama is missing this little meimei too.

It seems as if progress with Lilly is not continual, but involves a step or two backward after a few steps forward. Lilly had a fabulous night last night--she went to sleep quietly with a few toys in her bed, and did not have any diarrhea through the night. This morning, however, it seemed as if we had gone a few steps backwards in terms of Lilly being emotionally shut down and --as we call it--not wanting anyone to get near her "bubble." She was happy to let Tom carry her around at the zoo, but once he handed her off to me, forget it. She was screaming and writhing andI'm sure the locals thought I had either abducted her or was beating her.

This afternoon, even though she did not fall asleep for a nap (played quiety in her crib), she finally smiled for mama as she and I roamed the hallways and I made a game of carrying her up the stairs. So good to see her smile and feel as if maybe she liked being with me a little. I SO cannot wait to gt her home and feel like we can regain some sense of normalcy in our lives again!

*********THE RED BOOTS********

I have been meaning to share a sweet story about a comment I got on my blog posting the day after we got Lilly, when I posted photos with her little red boots. Someone whom I have not met posted a comment to let me know she was thrilled to see the red boots on Lilly. She adopted from Anyang--the same orphanage as Lilly--6 months go, and had sent a care package just 6 weeks ago to the orphanage for the babies. Lilly's little red boots were one of the items in the care package How cool is that? She has since deleted the comment (not sure why?) but I wanted to share this sweet story. If the original poster is still reading, thanks so much for sharing!

Here are a few photos-the real reason you all are here, right?