Day 2: Learning

We were all exhausted and woke up at around 10:30! She sat right up, smiled and wrinkled up her nose with a silly grin, and then crawled right up onto my lap. No tears or confusion about where we were at all. When we changed her clothes, she took her pajamas and folded them neatly and laid them at the head of the bed. She even held her shirt with her chin to fold in the two sleeves. It was unbelievable. We gave her oatmeal which we thought might be similar to what she is used to eating..."Ne, ne." So we gave her a few bites of our granola cereal..."Ne, ne." So we tried toast and scrambled eggs, yes, that was perfect. She also likes orange juice and milk.

Everything was great as we were playing until I decided to take a shower. Daddy was giving her airplane rides and distracting her, but she needed Mommy. When she started to cry, we knew that she just needed to stand by the bathtub and she did and was fine. She also sat with me in the bathroom and followed me everywhere all day.

We played with pattern blocks, legos, crayons, danced and sang, and batted around a beach ball. She also decided we should understand Bulgarian, so anytime we didn't understand she started talking louder, repeating herself, and showing us what she wanted. We pretty much did whatever she told us to do all day long. She wanted me to carry her all the time, and it is pretty easy to understand the universal signal of a child holding up their hands. She also wanted to turn all of the lights on and off, and consequently, by the end of the day she was saying "on" and "off" in English. She also decided she loves to use the potty chair and that going "aka" gets squeals of delight from both Mommy and Daddy, so she decided to go aka 3 times!

For lunch we had grilled cheese sandwiches, baked potatoes and she loved them. The only eating problem she has is that she tries to put four bites into her mouth at once without swallowing (and with very little chewing) and then she washes the whole thing down with milk or juice.

We all took a two hour nap (a part of this journey that we could really get used to) and then got her all dressed in double pants, coat, hat, gloves, scarf, etc. and told her we were going to the store. We told her "otivame" which means "we are going" and she got really excited. Suddenly we started wondering if she thought we were going to take her back to the orphanage, but she was fine for the entire 5 block walk.  In fact, she said "hello" to people in the store, on the street, and even yelled at people across the street. She told one man that she had new shoes and she told the lady that she was five (pet). Well, not for a few weeks, but obviously she thinks it is true. We got supplies and food for the rest of our stay which Mark carried home. On the way she saw some pigeons and got really excited and started talking to them. Basically, she was a walking radio commentary all day. We don't know what she was saying but she talks even when nobody is listening or can understand her. Poor Mark. He has a hard time getting a word in at home now...

She decided she likes Mark more today. She let him feed her a few bites of food, gave him kisses, and called "Tate, ella" any time that he left the room. They had fun hiding and finding each other for tickle time. He had to be there or she would order him back. She told us what to do and expected that we would do it now. She discovered her new snow boots in my suitcase and wanted to put them on. She stomped around for hours and wanted to wear them to bed. She really doesn't like not wearing shoes even to bed.

For supper we had sausage, potato, corn soup; bread and butter, and slices of apple which she ate with or without the skin. After supper she wanted to help with washing the dishes, so we pulled a chair over to the sink. She washed and rinsed and handed them to us to be put away. She also got wet from head to toe because she loves to play in running water. After she washed the dishes, she cleaned the entire apartment. She took a small blue towel and wiped off the table, all of the chairs, the coffee table, the front of the washing machine...and then she played with the damp towel. She folded it and refolded it. She flipped it out by two corners to lay it flat on the coffee table and smoothed out the wrinkles. She had more fun with the towel than any toys we brought. Then we got a phone call from Rosi telling us about our appointments for Wednesday and Petko who told us that there had been a mix up and that we had to move to a new apartment. Hmmm...it sure would have been nice to know this before we filled the refrigerator.

Well, we started packing everything back into our suitcases and she wanted to help. Grace picked up all of the dirty clothes that we had put in a pile and folded them, too. Then she walked around picking up everything. She even put a shirt, a pair of pants and a sweater onto one hangar and buttoned the sweater buttons by herself. Finally we got her into her slipper socks after her bath, but she put her boots on over the top of them. She still cried in the tub and did not want to sit in the two inches of water. I think the sound of the water running scares her.

She won't sleep with covers or a pillow, so we have to dress her in layers at bedtime. She really rocked again last night and kept flipping over all night long. Maybe she is worried about her US Embassy physical tomorrow... We took some photos of her with her legs drapped over Mark and I and sprawled out on the bed. She is going to have to sleep in the toddler bed at home if we are going to get any rest. She sleeps like a rotisserie. (Mark says that is just like Mommy.) I say, "Ne, ne."

Ready for the day!

I love my boots and the towel.

I'm a good helper.

Daddy found me! Tickle, tickle.

No room for Mommy...