Saturday, April 07, 2007






Greetings from the Azalea City. Wait. Greetings to the Azalea city? We went to a beautiful garden today and look what we saw!! Julianna loves to be outdoors. She looks at everything and makes vocalizations. She has not said any words. This has been her favorite mode of travel...





Aways with mommy; she still will not go to daddy. This has resulted in very sore arms, wrists, back, legs... We got her a stroller this afternoon and she fortunately took to it. Some of the children in the group are very resistant to anything except being carried.





I honestly cannot decide if things are better or worse. She is definitely more interactive and no longer in shock, but this means that she is also more opinionated and unbelievably vocal. Ear drum rattling screams. It is also difficult to figure out what she wants. Yesterday she could not be without her sippy cup. Today, she was ambivalent about the cup, but had an absolute meltdown over a benedryl bottle. She will not take a bottle. We have tried three different bottles, including one that the orphanage gave us with a pre-cut nipple. It even had the formula mix in it on the day we got her. We also tried a sippy cup, which worked for someone in the group. She will eat most any table food and has been drinking water, apple juice and pedialyte. She likes noodles. We got her a noodle cup from the local 7-11. It was sort of a ramen noodle thing--freeze dried, just add water and enjoy. The label is entirely in chinese and we were picking up different cups, trying to guess the ingredients by the pictures on the top. We tried to find chicken, but ended up getting seafood--squid and octopus. We discovered this when I was stirring the cup and up comes an octopus tendril. Yuck. She ate the noodles. Didn't give her the tendril.

The White Swan has a very beautiful waterfall and Koi pond. Julianna loves to look at the fish. This is probably the most expressive photo we have of her so far.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know that you are enjoying your new baby and joy of being parents. It seem to me that I remember a little girl who was very much as you are saying Julianna is now. Looking forward to seeing all of you. By the way the tempertature went down to 30 last night. Phil's mom said last night that it is cooler now that it was at Christmas last year. Loved the pictures and information as to what you have been doing. Love Dad

Anonymous said...

It sounds like she may be through with the formula. Good that she is eating some solid foods. Pasta noodles are Andi's favorite. That's great that she likes the outdoors. Not sure if you knew this but the reason azaleas came to be is because of the Chinese. They presented Mobile a gift of azaleas in the early 1900's and they spread like wild fire. Great pictures!

Miss you
Steve & Chris

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Sherry and Phil! I'm reading your blog on my dad (Jim)'s computer.
Wonderful photos!
You can make congee in a slow cooker or on the stove, just rice, lots of water, and time. I would not add sugar for Julianna at first, because they NEVER eat it sweet in China. Our little Ahbee was willing to change over to regular rice, to which she often adds water from her own glass at the table. If you don't have a rice cooker, get one--maybe a Mother's Day present?

Happy Easter and blessings to you.
Joy
(Yes, Joy from FAMC, Colorado)

Anonymous said...

Hello again. Mom just reminded me that when we got Ahbee she did not drink much, but ate lots of soup. I think soup and congee (Cantonese word sounds like "joke" or "jook") were her source of fluids, instead of drinks.
Hope this helps. :)
Blessings to you.

Anonymous said...

Congratulation on your new part of your family; she's wonderful and beautiful. Love the photos.

Love,
Jim and Betty Washburn
Fort Worth, TX