Things we have learned about our Ellie girl

Hey all!  Today is our last day in Taiyuan.  Tonight, we will be taking a 2.5 hour flight down to Guangzhou (GZ for short).  We are not exactly thrilled that our flight doesn't leave until 8:30 but what can you do?  We are hoping that the transition will go smoothly and are really looking forward to our time in GZ.  We are looking forward to time with friends, being in a more diverse area where they are much more used to seeing Americans and even Americans with Chinese babies and we are looking forward to being halfway through our trip and closer to being home.


I thought it might be fun to post a few odds and ends of things we have learned about our little girl this week.  :)

1) She is super smart.  She is curious and creative and picks up on things quickly.  She has started to learn what some English words mean and is great at mimicking actions.

She found something to stand on to try to help her reach a little closer
to the electronics mommy put out of reach.  :)

2) When she does manage to get ahold of said electronics we have gotten to see her feisty/mad side when we take it away.  She generally does a lot better if we ask for her to give it to us instead of telling her no and taking it away.  And she has already figured out how to swipe to scroll on our iPhones.  :)

3)  When she eats a whole segment of a juicy tangerine, the juice comes out her nose and then makes her sneeze.  It is kinda adorable.  ;)  Helps clear out her sinuses at least.  Haha!  (Because her palate is open, things can go straight from her mouth to her nose and visa versa.  There is just an opening throughout the middle of the roof of her mouth.)

4)  She loves to color and draw.  I packed some crayons and a coloring book but I am keeping those in my back pocket for the LONG trip home in case she doesn't sleep much. For now she is enjoying the pen and paper from the hotel.  

5)  She is a really happy girl and loves waving at people from the safety of mommy's arms.  :)

6)  Her palate doesn't stop her from eating one bit.  This girl can put a grown man to shame.  ;)  We have yet to find something that she doesn't like and you would never know that she has a cleft.  I mean, look at this picture.  She will gnaw a piece of corn down to the cob.  :)  (she does have to tip her head back to drink so that it basically goes right down her throat and not up through her nose.)  We also know when she is done eating because then she starts to try to feed us.  :)

She loves corn on the cob.  :)

7)  Her mommy and daddy are over the moon in love with her and can't believe how blessed they are with this little girl!  :)