Who's That Girl?

The laptop got infected by a worm, so now I'm using the very expensive business center at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou and I'll try to be quick. On the third day, we met a new little girl. After breakfast, Xuan found the rubber ball that Chris uses for his back and we started playing catch. It was the first time she smiled at us, or played with us, without Zheng Hai. After that, things have improved by leaps and bounds, and we are starting to get to know the everyday Xuanxuan.

Xuan likes to play ball and climb things. She is physically adventurous in her play. She loves airplanes, trucks and boats, the bigger and faster the better. She likes waitresses in red silk cheongsam. She likes telephones and cameras. She likes looking at pictures of herself. My daughter's favorite food is a processed meat stick that you squeeze out of a tube like an otter pop. Her second favorite food is sausage. She loves to dance and specializes in ballet and a punk-like bouncing. She squealed with delight when she saw the snowboarders go airborne on TV. Chris was so proud he almost cried.

She does not like being restrained in any way, taking a bath, brushing her teeth or being picked up without her permission. Experienced parents in our group have assured us that she will be a handful. She certainly has a big personality.

Xuan is a big flirt and will smile and show off to anyone who talks to her, especially if they speak Mandarin. Everyone who meets her is charmed. She is a natural actress. When she doesn't like what is going on, she convincingly asks to go to the bathroom. She is very fastidious in her toilet habits and has had only one accident this week. Several times while playing monster she acted so frightened that we stopped, only to have her laugh at us for being such suckers. She is proving true to the comment of the orphanage worker who told us, "Xuan has always cried easy and laughed easy." Fortunately, her tantrums seldom last more than a minute, and half the time I think they are faked. We have called her bluff several times in the last two days and found that she is actually quite compliant if we don't back down after two or three good screams.

Yesterday was the first day since we met that we did not have to spend at least 5 hours waiting in government offices or in transit. We got to spend several hours in the playroom of the hotel and Chris spent half the afternoon with her by himself and they had lots of fun (she had been snubbing him since the day she started calling me mama). We didn't have a single temper tantrum all day. She only cried twice- once when she was scared at the doctor's office and once when she tripped and fell on her face. She didn't do a single embarrassing thing at dinner and impressed everyone in our group with her amazing dexterity using forks and glasses at the table. That was our first good day. Today promises to be similar, as she has begun to be very affectionate towards me. She is still a little standoffish to Chris, but he is her preferred play partner.

Note to grandmas- she is a 3T, but will be a 4T soon. The puffy pants that are made to fit over diapers are too big. Shoe sizes are not standardized here, so I don't know what she wears. She has sandals labeled 25, 26 and 27.