You won't believe what she got this morning.

Chopsticks. A kid-sized set of chopsticks.

Charissa's first sentence

"I will NOT go to sleep...I will NOT go to sleep...I will NOT go to sleep..."

OK. Sounds more like, "Waahhhhh...waahhhhh... waahhhh," but we can interpret.

Stop the press!

FOUR teeth on top. I missed one!

Quality time for Dad and Charissa

A hot and lazy Sunday afternoon.

I keep telling you we're in trouble

1. The munchkin won't eat from a spoon or a fork most of the time we offer it to her, but last night she ate white rice from chopsticks. No. I'm not joking.
2. She spent time in the nursery this morning. In the past couple of weeks, Charissa has gotten brutal with nails. She'll grab your face and pull. I forgot to warn the wonderful family who had nursery this morning, so they mentioned it when I went to check on her. I said, "I remembered to warn you once the service started. We grab her hand and tell her 'no' pretty firmly, but she still does it." Paul said, "Oh. So THAT'S why she would do it, then shake her head 'no.'

We're outranked here...

Cool!

We have another tooth!

Hmmm...

Does "yay" count as a word? If it does, we have our first! It isn't the clearest, but that's what she's trying to say!

YAY!

Tough day

Charissa spent most of the day fussing about nothing in particular. She acted too good for the shots that she received yesterday to be a problem, but something was amiss. Now, after fighting nearly two hours to get her to bed, we've figured that she may be having bad dreams. She's cried out every night for the past four, in spite of the fact she's slept through all of those nights except for that moment. Because we're so close to the date of her abandonment, we think that she's dreaming of that and that she's thinking it's happened to her again.

I remember that giggle I got when I walked into the room to get her this morning at 4:00 AM and the grin I got when she woke up next to me at 8:15 AM--after a two-hour struggle to get her back to sleep. Something is in that little head.

7:23 PM, July 18 China

One year ago today, someone found our little girl in a box along Hongqi Road. I wish I could thank that person for giving us all a new opportunity.

I was right

The little socialite DID have a ball.

Uh...sorry, Dalton, buddy, about the hair thing.

8:19, July 15 China time

I have to wonder about a couple (a family??) in China. I wish I could tell them it's OK.

>=D

Brennan had to babysit his sister for about an hour and a half this morning. During that time, she gave him a gift.

And he thought he'd never change a diaper.

We're trying

Charissa has decided that she's going to test the waters. She's into grabbing, scratching, and smacking. Why, I don't know, but when I tell her "no," she does it again, like, "You don't mean that." Then she gets all sappy when I make it clear that I do mean it.

She'll be a year old Friday. Lord, help us all.

Speaking of disasters...

Charissa + lasagna.

And we'd run out of bibs. Her dumb mom forgot about the Bibsters.

Life Lessons from Charissa, Vol. 1

Charissa says:

As good as the idea may seem at the time, never try to eat ice cream with your fingers.

Ready for the next step?

We're going to try the nursery at church next week. I have a feeling the little socialite will have a ball.

My current reading wish list...

has been reduced to Lift the Lid, Use the Potty.

Meeting the great great aunt and great uncle

And no, that first great has nothing to do with the ancestral line.

My aunt and uncle and Charissa met for the first time today. Charissa seemed to fall in love with them immediately--even went to Aunt Patty as soon as she saw her without being prompted.

I think the feeling is mutual.

Charissa likes the 4th of July

Didn't put "Independence Day" just to irk my brother.

Anyway, our young'n made the turn yesterday. Uncle Patrick apparently has the touch. He got her to eat cantaloupe! She ate a green bean for him, too, but she spit that one out. Later, she ate one by herself. She also had tea and...oh, goodness...Mt. Dew. Then last night, after we got home, she had ice cream. I believe that was her favorite.

Now she even takes her medicine willingly.

Kodak moment and no Kodak!

Grandma and Charissa have sealed a special Grandmother-Granddaughter bond this weekend and now they are together in the big chair, sound asleep. I wish I had my digital with me...

Road trip!

Here we are, in Glasgow, KY. The 3-1/2 hour trip wasn't nearly as bad as I'd planned. Charissa did great in spite of my feelings that this is too soon. (Yes, I still feel this is too early to take her away from home, but it was either that or let her brother suffer for another week. Which is worse?) She's enjoyed the trip and the attention (here goes another three days getting her back from "Entertain Me 24/7 Central) and she slept all night, to boot!

Cute: Bart wasn't here when we got here, so I called him and he came running. She was on the floor playing when he came in. (Of course, no one existed in his mind except for her.) He said, "Hi, Charissa!" She looked at him for a second like, "I know you...oh, yeah...OH, YEAH!!!" and she smiled all over the house. They have been nearly inseparable ever since.

Another cute/interesting story: the minister's wife let me borrow her Pack-n-Play for Charissa. When I put her in it last night--asleep, mind you--her eyes popped open and she looked around to see where she was. (All parents know that feeling and it happens especially when you're struggling to hold your eyes open yourself.) I thought, "Oh great," but she just looked for a moment and realized there were no rails, but there was this great netty stuff. She lay there scratching the net all around her for about 15 minutes or so before she finally drifted off. New texture, new experience. Again, she took it all in.

We're headed home this afternoon. I'm wondering what her reaction will be considering she has never returned anywhere after sleeping in a new spot. I'm thinking she's thinking that this is going to be life--to be shuffled from one place to another, with no real spot to be. She seems to be understanding, though, that we're here, regardless. That's good.