Part 5--Wednesday Update

Sarah Grace is such a joy. We can't wait for all of you to meet her. She has so much personality and it's showing more as she gets settled with us. She is quick to smile and today had her first out-loud laugh (when I tickled her tummy). We are learning so much about her habits and her likes/dislikes - loves corn, tolerates peas, loves teething biscuits, loves bananas, kicks when she is sleepy, loves her thumb (We'll break that habit later, but right now she can do whatever comforts her during the transition:) ), loves various textures, loves to make sounds with her mouth. She is a big eater. She loves afternoon an evening time the most. She's a good sleeper. She stares intently at everything and her little mind is active.

We are working on teaching her to clap. When she learns new skills successfully she smiles at us. We are trying to give her plenty of tummy time so she can work on crawling, but she just rolls over to her back.

We know that the bonding process will be long, but it is going so smoothly so far. This has been one of our major prayer requests and God is answering it. She reaches out for both of us and follows us with her eyes. She is very cuddly with us. She is really a very flexible baby. With all the changes that she has undergone in the last 48 hours, she is remarkably happy and well-adjusted.

This morning we went to the zoo, but she slept the whole time. This evening, we are going to McDonalds and to explore the city streets around us. Chongqing is a modern, growing city. Our hotel is attached to a 7-story mall with very expensive stores. The city has a lot of growing business that is bringing more prosperity to the area.

We are so grateful that Karen (Angie's aunt) is with us. We don't know how we'd make it without her. She anticipates our every need - photographer, backpack, carrier, etc. At Wal-Mart yesterday, Sarah Grace slept on her shoulder the whole time while we bought supplies. By the way, we bought 1 stroller, 2 cans of formula, 15 jars of baby food, lots of snacks for Andy & I and 54 diapers for $52. I think I should stock up before we come home.

There are 10 families in our group and all the babies are beautiful. The families are nice and it's fun to get to know them. One father in the group is a pediatrician so it is nice to have someone to go to for medical questions. Our in-country guides are wonderful and answer every question we have. Thanks to them, every day goes smoothly.

We have our officcial adoption certificate now and will get Sarah Grace's passport on Friday.

Friday afternoon, we will fly to our last stop - Guangzhou. In Guangzhou, we will have Sarah Grace's medical exam and our U.S. Consulate appointment. In Guangzhou, we will hopefully have access to computers that will allow us to post pictures. Then, in just 9 days, we'll be back home again in Indiana.

Tomorrow, we will take a trip to the orphanage. We are anxious to meet and thank the people who have taken such good care of our daughter. It may be an emotional trip for her and for us, but we know that we want to go so that we will have stories and pictures of her orpahange when she is older. It will be a 2-hour bus ride in the countryside.

In summary, God is good and Sarah Grace is wonderful. We look forward to seeing all of you soon! We love you.

Andy, Angie and Sarah Grace