Enjoy the Needle Ballet

While it's been amazing finally getting Zoe and starting to bond with her, we miss sweet Arella something awful.  To top it off, we lost our internet connection this morning and didn't get to Skype with her.  We've been fortunate to see her sweet face and talk with her everyday until today.  But my parents being awesome, sent us a daily update and some pictures of her.  It seems like she's grown and changed already since we've been gone. Slow down my baby!  But she is a super happy camper and having a great time, not missing us a bit.  *sigh*  Although she was pointing out Mama and Dada in pictures at breakfast, so at least she hasn't forgotten us!

Oh, how I need to kiss those sweet cheeks!  I'm so used to kissing Arella's sweet face all over, all the time, that I had to really hold myself back with Zoe.  She is so scared of strangers, bless her heart, so strangers that don't look like anyone she's ever seen would be terrifying.  No wonder she passed out in my arms that first day.  At the beginning she wouldn't let us get our face anywhere near hers.  She would push us away if crossed the invisible line.

But she has come SO far in just a few days!  Not only does she smile and giggle, she does it freely now, just when she's happy or looks at me.  She loves it when I kiss her now and she even smiles after I kiss her lips!  And when she starts laughing and squealing, sometimes she can't stop herself!  And she makes a funny, sweet little purring, cooing type noise that sounds like Gizmo.  Oh, how we turn to mush at this sound!

You can tell she's been craving affection and needs to so desperately make up for missing it for a year her whole life.  She CLINGS to me.  The hardest time is nap and bedtime.  She does not want to be put down. At first we thought maybe she was sad because it wasn't her routine and that's when she would miss what she knew the most.  But after her reactions yesterday and especially at nap time today, I think she's scared to let go of me.  Maybe she's scared I won't be there when she wakes up.  Maybe she just loves being close to someone and doesn't want it to end.  Yesterday I was able to put her down as long as I sang or talked to her while rubbing her back and letting her fall asleep holding my hand.  Today, I tried three times to lay her down and she was the most upset I've ever seen her, so I picked her back up and she held on so desperately as if life would end if she let go. Her hands holding my hair and shoulders so tight. Her cheek was squished so hard against mine.  The tighter I held her, the more relaxed she became.  Finally after holding her till she was snoring, I could ever so slowly lay her down.

We like comparing these pictures from the first day and from today to see how far we've come.  But I know there is still a long way to go from here, deep inside.

Today was a fun day visiting the Embroidery Museum.  It is spectacular the artwork that is produced here!  Some of the pieces take 20 people working together years to finish.  Here's a glimpse at some of our favorite pieces. Remember, these are not paintings, color drawings or pictures, these are each hand sewn with silk.

Some of the pictures have two sides which blows us away!

I still can hardly tell that this is not a photograph, especially his hands and face.

Zoe loved it!  Well, mostly she loved being dipped back and upside down, but she was a happy camper!

And we had the opportunity to see these amazing artists at work.  And I love the sign, it translates perfect (for once).

These ladies told us they had been working on this piece since April and they were hoping to finish by February.

Just amazing.

Here the ladies were super sweet on Zoe!  They all kept giving her stuff, not always stuff I wanted her playing with, but they seemed to love playing with her and seeing her.  That always makes Mommy feel proud!

Here's a few more that we thought had some wow factor.

We would have loved to have bought something cool to take home but they were WAY out of our price range.  Perhaps we'll find a nice knock off in Guangzhou.  At least we have pictures of the real deal.  Apparently for a hefty price tag, you can send in a picture and have one made for you.  We heard of some people who had family portraits done.  But it could take up to a year and many thousands of dollars. 

Our giggly girl made it through the morning without falling asleep on me, which was a first.  We made a quick pitstop at McDonald's, where I have not eaten in about 15 years, and headed back to the hotel.  Zoe is having hard time sitting in a restaurant for the amount of time it takes and making her do that three times a day is too much.  There's not much around our hotel, so this was pretty much our only other option if we wanted a meal.  So, when in China...