Today was quite the day and much happened. This morning we went to Baiyun Mountain, which is basically this mountain in the middle of the city that you can walk up to see vistas of the city. I'll leave commentary on that for Phillip. I will say that there is a Police station at the top of the mountain. We got a golf cart ride part of the way and walked the rest. Julianna was in her stroller and fell asleep while we walked. When we got to the top, she woke up, disoriented and started screaming and kicking and screaming. Loud, crowd-attracting screams. People actually stood around and watched us try to console her. It was absolutely horrible. We finally got her to stop kicking enough to go back in the stroller and start the walk down. She fell back asleep. I was not the most fun I've had.

For lunch, we went to a busy, loud, crowded Brazilian restaurant with most of the group. There was a long table with several high chairs set up. Julianna went into her high chair without difficulty, but we could tell she was scared. She got very quiet and clung to her water bottle and rattle more tightly and just looked around. It struck me that she does not realize that she can turn to us for comfort when she is afraid. I took her out of the high chair and put her in my lap and she felt better in a while. I guess we are sometimes that way with God. We put on our brave face and endure the world rather than turn to Him for help.

Dinner, however, was the highlight of our trip so far. We went to Lucy's, which is becoming our favorite place simply because you can order a hamburger or grilled cheese. Nothing like a hamburger to remind you of home. We sat outside, partly because it is absolutely beautiful today, and partly because the patio of the restaurant opens to a large park and you can walk a fussy baby around. We were waiting for our food and Julianna played with us. We started by rolling her sippy cup to her and she would push it back. Then the cup got sat up and she pushed it over. This started a new game—you set up the cup, I knock it over. We started saying "oops" every time she knocked it over and before long, she was saying something very close to "oops" with us. Made our whole trip to hear her interact with us on such a level. The day ended with us actually getting smiles out of her.

We still dread the airplane trip home because she will be waking up in a strange place, so you can add that to your prayer list.

Despite today's progress, she still does not go to Phillip, so don't expect much interaction at the airport.