Lileah walking at the Civil Affairs Office

When we were at the Civil Affairs Office Lileah decided she was going to go for a walk. She loves walking and is almost at the point where she can do it herself. You can tell she loves Adriana as she was so happy when she was with her. This afternoon Alphonse stayed with the two girls while I went for a "short shopping trip" with Stacey and her mom, Debbie. Alphonse said that whenever Adriana would get off the bed Lileah would start to cry and she would only stop when Adriana came back. Adriana is so good with her. Actually, Adriana is so good period. The medicine we have for Lileah has to be given 2 times daily and as we were getting Lileah ready for bed Adriana said, "Hey you guys don't forget Lileah's medicine." She is always thinking and has the best memory. If we have something we need to remember we just have to tell Adriana and she will remind us!

I'll tell you about our "short shopping trip". The three of us left our hotel close to 4 o'clock and went out to find the Walmart which is just down the street. Actually it was about a 15 minute walk. We got there with the help of some young people who were kind enough to walk with us about half way there. We eventually found the store set out to find the kids shoe dept. It was quite interesting as in the food area they had all the fresh meat and fish out. The rest of the store other than the food area was quite similar to our Walmart. They had the Equate brands as well as the other one that I can't think of right now. We decided as soon as we got there that we would take a taxi home so we bought some heavier items knowing that we would be carrying them. We started look for a taxi at 5:00 and didn't get home until after 6:00. We failed to take into consideration that it would be rush hour and most of the taxis would already be taken. We tried one side of the street- then the other side of the street - then up one side of the street and then down one side of the street- then in front of Walmart- then back where we started. We tried asking people to call us a taxi in some of the more upscale shops but no one was able to help us. At least 10 empty taxis drove right by us. Finally one stopped right beside us and as we were telling him where we wanted to go he kept motioning No. Stacey was already in the back seat when we realized that he really wasn't going to take us. We finally did get a cab and got home 1 hour after starting our taxi experience. The trip only was a few minutes.

We had supper at a local restaurant which was interesting. We ordered off the wall and paid for it and then they brought it to your table. We tried to get some steamed eggs for the little ones but they didn't have any but the waiter suggested a picture of some food so we did. Our food was very good even though the dish we thought was noodles was mushrooms or "tree fungus" as they have been labelled at the buffet, and another dish we thought was something else turned out to be apple slices covered in hot honey. The dish that the waiter had suggested the kids would like was a type of dumplings that Lileah and Mason really liked. It was all surprisingly good. Lileah ate a record amount again tonight- half a jar of vegetables and meat, three of the dumplings, 2 apple slices minus the honey and some broccoli. She is definitely a good eater. Today when we were coming back from the Notary I was looking at her and I thought she looks so familiar and not just from her referral picture and then it hit me. She looks like Andy did in his baby pictures. Mom and dad go to the album I made you and check it out. I don't know if it is the hair as she has a bit of a wave in it, or if it is her eyes or what but there is some resemblance. Anyway, after we ate we all came back and the girls went to bed without a hitch. Adriana needed a little bit more cuddle time tonight but she is doing really well. She has had a few moments of jealousy one being when she had to sit on Alphonse's lap at the same time that he was holding Lileah but other than little times like that she is great. Lileah is slowly getting used to us but I think she is missing something or someone at the orphanage. She puts herself to sleep as she sucks her thumb and index finger and didn't cry at all tonight when we put her to bed. She fell asleep almost immediately.

Tomorrow we are going to visit Lileah's orpanage. Adriana wants her and Lileah to wear the pink heart shirts and their pink pants there. I am thinking that Lileah will be swimming in her outfit.