Changes

I am now in a new room at the same hotel. Our first room unfortunately felt like our basement, musty and wet. We tried to move over to the White Swan but it wasn't possible, so we moved two stories higher to a warmer, sunnier room. No more moldy smells and my clothes are drying. Jaina is still under the weather, but the drier air can only help.

After dinner last night we went for a walk and someone asked permission to be be photographed with Briana. She graciously accepted and shyly smiled into the camera. We have gotten used to people stopping to stare at us, motioning to us, making comments about us as we pass and so on. It's part of being foreigners and standing out, I guess. Thankfully more adoptive families with our agency are arriving next week and one more tour guide will be added to our group, so we will form a formidable little posse. We will be very happy to share some room in the fish bowl!

Jaina goes back and forth in her moods. She doesn't make very much eye contact yet, but I know that will come with time. She giggles and coos every now and then, particularly at dinnertime. Yep, looks like she'll fit into the our household just fine! Other times she is fussy and irritable and I don't know yet whether that is partly due to her cold or because she continues to grieve the big changes in her life. Perhaps it's a little bit of both. I can tell though that she seems comfortable with us. I am looking forward to bringing her home soon so that we can get her on a schedule. With all the adoption activities to do we have had to be at different places at different times with the baby, so she has been doing most of her napping en route. I never know how long we'll be gone so I take enough formula for the entire day with me.

I had forgotten how much baby paraphenalia goes into a baby bag. I always try to have enough diapers, wipes, bottles, extra changes of clothing, bibs, and so on to be prepared for a day out, but something always winds up left at the hotel. It's been a long time since I had a tiny baby in the house, so the time to switch gears has come. Last night Jaina had us up with her cough and overnight feedings and changings. Yes, we have a baby in the family again!

Today our tour guide took us sightseeing to a Buddhist Temple. Six Banyan Temple has a 1400 year history and houses three giant statues of Buddha, weighing 10 tons a piece. Outside is a beautiful pagoda which from its exterior looks to be about 9 stories high, but from the inside it is 17 stories. (I took my tour guide's word for it. I had no desire to climb to the top in the heat.) It was a magnificent shrine where people come to worship and leave offerings to bless their home and family. A monk blessed our children and I explained to Alina that the monk was blessing Jaina so that she would have a long and happy life with her new family. It had caused some confusion in some of the older siblings in the group and I explained to my kids that even though we were not Buddhists, having her blessed is a way of honoring her culture, which would always be a part of her.