blog post 1.30.13

Day 13

Ugh. Last night began another bout of tummy trouble for daddy... and a little bit for me too (though I’m a far cry from where he is!).  He woke around 3:30am with nigh-unto-diarrhea (plus serious nausea) and didn’t slow down until after noon.  I, on the other hand, had just a few trips.  So, yet again Poppy & I had breakfast alone... but this time I smuggled a few bananas and plain rolls for him in a non-descript bag (ok, so maybe it was hot pink, but Laura- you would have been proud :)). 

Since daddy wasn’t able to go out, we all stayed in, snacked and got some more blog posts uploaded (it was the best I’ve had our VPN work yet!).  Finally, Andy crashed... and Poppy was soon to follow :)

After naps, we snacked a little more and then headed downstairs to say good-bye to our group... we got there 1/2 an hour before they all did, so Poppy & I went up and down the escalator a few times and  walked around the lobby a little before everyone showed up.  It was shortly after 4pm when they all got in their vans and left... even dear Shiyan.  We are officially on our own until Saturday.  Andy has never wanted to be home so bad!  China just hasn’t seemed to agree with him this time... poor guy.  Before leaving us, the King family gave Andy some antibiotics and a can of the much-sought-after Watson’s ginger ale... they were showing us some serious love and we knew it :)  Hugs (& fist-bumps) were exchanged and they were off!  We wandered back to our room like lost puppies ... ok, maybe not that bad, but we will miss them all greatly! 

Here they come!  Three families ready to go home to the states!!!

It was time to see more than the 4 walls of our hotel room (nice, though it may be!).  So, we headed to the big park “across the street” :)  They are gearing up for Chinese New Year so there was a lot of work going on with festive displays and what not.  It was fun... though I would love to see what it looks like when things are a little more calm as well :)  Poppy is very much a momma’s girl, but she enjoys her daddy as well... so tonight seemed like a good night to gently push her in his general direction.  She could hold his hand and still walk with me (though she held both of our hands quite a bit :)).  I held her some too, but I think it was good for her to be with daddy a little more... and as a bonus, I got to take some fun pictures too (which hasn’t happened very much!).  Win-win :)

Stopping to smell the "hua" (flowers) with daddy - and thinking of Grandma Mott :)

Here is a perfect Poppy "grumps" face!

Poppy & Daddy enjoyed watching the colorful fish swimming around!

As we were heading back to the hotel, we ran into another adoptive family which we’d met in Poppy’s province.  We talked with them for quite a while and walked back together... it was really nice.  Then, we headed off to "The Coffee Club" for dinner, which truly was just across the street!  However, we still had to cross about 8 lanes of Chinese traffic without a stoplight or a crosswalk... thankfully it was a one-way street and pedestrians have the right of way (ha!) :)  This coffee shop was very quiet and catered to American tastebuds, so Andy was pretty happy.  He ordered some bruschetta and I got a chicken wrap... so, because they (yet again) had to go out and kill the chicken, Andy was completely done eating by the time mine finally arrived!  Little Miss Poppy Sue had gotten some pancakes which apparently weren't as good as the muffins at breakfast, but she ate them up once she saw that I was :)  

After dinner, we again ran across the huge street with crazy drivers to safety and got baby ready for bed.  She was being really sweet and asked for an orange... I told her I would get it ready for her if she would let daddy get her ready for bed.  She wanted it so bad, she was willing to do anything!  Then, it was off to bed for babydoll ... daddy spent some time reading and I fought with the VPN yet again :)  Fun times!

blog post 1.29.13

Day 12

So, our entire trip works towards and builds up to the rather anti-climactic Visa Appointment... and today was the day!!  We ate our breakfast and met up with the group downstairs.  Very shortly after we got there, Vicki came rushing down and told Shiyan their wallet (w/their passports!) was missing.  They had set it down during breakfast and couldn’t find it... it was stomach-churning for all of us.  Shiyan took them back up to the buffet area to look, but it was nowhere.  She told us to go on to the bus and wait... we stood outside rather dumbfounded.  John suggested we pray together and as we stood in a circle, we cried out to God to work miraculously -even while we stood there- to provide for them.  As we said “amen” and lifted our heads, there were Vicki & Scott with passports in hand!!!  We have seen God work many miracles this trip.  We have seen him provide for us in amazing ways... and here is another blessing that we don’t want to forget as He faithfully provides for His children!  And can I just say right now how incredibly thankful we have been to share this trip with brothers & sisters in Christ.  Every couple loves the Lord and sees His hand in bringing us here.  It has been awesome!!

Once we finished rejoicing together, we gathered in the bus (plus a few others with a different agency) and headed to the consulate.  Within a block was an IKEA... one block... a Chinese IKEA... is anyone else getting excited about that prospect?!?!!  Andy had to hold me back... so, all I got was a picture (sigh).  Anyway, we went up to the 5th floor of the consulate building, took an oath with several adoptive families on behalf of our children, had our paperwork checked over, and then.... we were done!  We went downstairs, took a few pictures, and loaded back up on the bus.  We were back at the hotel within 2 hours!  Pretty amazing considering we had some Chinese drive-time in there too :)

We decided to have a snacky-lunch today and just stay in.  We let tootsie take a nice, long bath and she had a great time!  This was the first time she actually got a little pruny from being in the water :)  Then she took a nice long nap (2 hr 45 min!).  She woke up a happy girl (which has been a change too- she used to wake up with some pretty serious “grumps” but has slowly gotten out of that :)).

We are enjoying Poppy so much!!  In Chinese, a word which sounds like “boo” means “no” or “not” ... so we hear it a lot :)  Other Chinese words we hear often are “mama & baba,” “bobo” (hold/hug), “mayo” (where/where is it?), “da-kye” (open), and “tong” (hurt- though she says “boo-tong” more than just “tong” :))... and her most frequent English words are “no” (shocker, huh?!!), “yay & hooray” (especially at the end of songs), “pa-lease,” “all done,” “be nice,” “be gentle,” “where’d it go?” & “there it is” ... Oh, and she’s learning sign too!!  She signs “more,” “all done,” “please,” the Witzig’s version of “don’t touch” or “no-no” & and the Chinese version of “thank you” which is absolutely precious :)  Lemme tell ya, she is one smart cookie!!  We’re going to have our work cut out for us with this one!

Since tonight is the last night the whole group will be here, we asked Shiyan to go to dinner with us again as our “last hurrah” ... and it was so nice.  We walked to a beautiful park several blocks away.  It had a large pond in the middle of it and lush greenery all around.  Tucked away in it was a little restaurant that the rest of them had been to while Andy was sick.  We got ourselves some yummy noodle dishes - WenWen even picked hers out on her own!  She did a great job too- we split it :)  We all stayed quite a while after finishing our meals, just enjoying the fellowship.  It reminded me of our wonderful talks with Don, Linda & Kelly who were with us when we got our Lily-pie.  Good memories :)

We walked back to the hotel and had a little more pop-pops (again, draining the large blister on her hand).  She whined more this time and I’m not sure why.  She had a tiny fall after dinner, but it was soft enough that she didn’t even cry when it happened.  I had checked for anything new and there wasn’t anything... so I don’t know why it was bothering her so much.  We tried to get it done gently and quickly and then just got her ready for bed (it was time).  She has still been taking a while to fall asleep at night so now I’m just patting/rocking her a little while... then I give her more hugs & kisses and tell her good-night... I lay her down on the bed and she generally stares at daddy who is reading (or falling asleep!) until she finally gives in and goes to sleep.  Silly girl :)

blog post 1.28.13

Day 11

Today we took a little day trip to Shamian Island!!!  Oh, how we love that place!  We have such fond memories of staying on the island, strolling around day and night (always in a drizzle at night).  It is picturesque and we just feel comfortable there (for lack of a better word).  It was really fun to be on the island in this gorgeous weather because we got to see soooo many more people out exercising and playing in the park... young and old... often with the older leading the younger.  It was awesome.  Andy even got pulled in for a game of -well, it’s sort of like playing hacky-sack, but with a weighted feather-type thing.  Very fun!

We also had fun just being more relaxed with our group... playing ball, shopping, walking & talking.  The ladies enjoyed the few shops that are still open (sadly, many have closed since the White Swan is under renovations) and everyone enjoyed the park-like atmosphere.  I was just reading about the island a little bit and I found a few sentences that sum it up quite nicely-

On the South side, the river breeze gently blows 

and the water sings lowly. This all adds to the contentment 

people feel while staying in Shamian and they have no desire to return home.

And this is Shamian Island…

*Ok, I know many of these pics could be way better with a little photoshop, but I don’t have time 

for post-processing here in China... SOC (straight out of the camera) will have to suffice!

Ahhh.  Poppy LOVED it too :)  She was a happy little girl!  She had napped so well yesterday, but kept waking in the night with pain from her hand (even though we’d given her a healthy dose of motrin before bed)... so I wasn’t sure how well today would go.  Silly me!  We were going to heaven on earth :)  What’s not to love?!??  She didn’t have any falls either, and that made daddy & mommy very happy!!

Our group met together for a late lunch at Lucy’s.  Andy had decided he’s had enough Chinese food for a while, so this was a great choice for him :)  And I remembered loving their salmon, so we ordered that along with some tasty vegetables and a little bowl of congee for pumpkin.  I think Lucy’s salmon is very possibly the best I've ever had in a  restaurant & it did not disappoint (except for the bones) :)

We made it back to the hotel after 3, so baby got a late nap... especially since we had to do a lot of pop-pops on her big blisters which had filled up again.  But this time they were no big deal to her.  There was no sign of pain at all - which we were thankful for!  So, little bit of pops, and off to sleep :)

After nap, we walked around outside the hotel a while.  There are 2 parks near to the Marriott and we were trying to decide which park to visit - the big one or the little one.  We finally decided the little one would be the wiser choice since we didn’t have a lot of time before getting dark and wanting food.  So, we fired off for it - only to discover that it was an orchid garden that was already closed!  We could see the other park “just across the street” but we would have to go underground to cross and decided to find dinner now and save that adventure for another day :)  We walked around quite awhile, found a Lebanese restaurant that looked questionable... and not much else, so we turned back around and went back to the hotel... entering at Starbucks :)  I got myself a chicken wrap, a scone & some fruit, and then we went back to the Cafe Veranda where Andy ordered a club sandwich & Poppy got some noodles.  I’m sure one of the hostesses was about to snap looking at my contraband, but I enjoyed it anyway :) 

blog post 1.27.13

Day 10

It looks like Andy is truly on the mend!!  Woo-hoo!!!!!  He still didn’t feel up to eating breakfast with us, so he stayed in the room with another “squirter” and some crackers while Poppy & I enjoyed the lavish buffet :)  We met up together in the lobby... however, I had sent Lori ahead of me to ask him to make sure and bring a needle for pop-pops... she had somehow gotten a small blister on her forehead that I thought we should take care of before leaving for the day.  She doesn’t mind a bit though!  We were done and out in just a few minutes... whew!

The Guangzhou Folk Art Museum was lovely.  I remember enjoying it even in the hot temperatures of late July... this was a treat!  The weather could not have been more perfect!!  We walked around slowly (poor Andy was still feeling under the weather) and we just really soaked up being there and enjoying ourselves (and our wonderful group :)).  Well, that is, until tootsie bit it... again... on the same side as 2 nights ago.  That poor little right palm swelled up immediately.  We had been walking together, holding hands and she somehow slipped out of my hand and just fell.  I have no idea how or why (no stairs/bumps)... it just happened so quickly.  She had already been a little grumpy in the morning... and this just sent her over the edge.  She was tired, hurting, and just plain upset.  Throwing fits just for the sake of it weren’t beyond her.  It’s amazing how suddenly I was “done” being at the Museum and was now quite ready to be back in our room!  We had to wait a little while for others to finish shopping, and then we all gathered back on the bus.  We couldn’t get upstairs quick enough!  

I had tried pop-pops at the Museum (after washing up a bit), but she cried very hard whenever I tried and actually pulled away.  This is very unlike her.  Generally, she knows she needs it - is totally fine with it - and might even sing during it... so this was shocking to say the least.  We knew it hurt though, so we decided to wait until we were in our room and not making a spectacle at the Museum!  She did better in the quiet of our room too.  Yes, she still cried, but it was not as bad.  The blister was very difficult to drain and took over 1/2 an hour to do a good job... we were all tired out and she was more than ready for her nap!!  It didn’t take long for her to crash.

For supper, all 3 of us went to the Cafe Veranda.  It was Andy’s first attempt at real food!  He ordered some minestrone and it sat well with him :)  Poppy & I decided to go for the buffet this time - I couldn’t stop eating all the fruit!  And Poppy decided that strawberries are pretty awesome... that’s my girl :)

By the time we got back to our room, it was yet again bedtime for our little girl... and I’m happy to report that she’s excited about her “bottle” & bedtime routine again... as long as she’s with mama :)

blog post 1.26.13

Day 9

Last night Andy was sick all night!  We’re not sure if it was food poisoning or a really nasty flu, but it was BAD.  As in, nearly desperate enough to call in a Chinese doctor kind of bad.  Poor guy!!  He had it coming out both ends and couldn’t stop for hours.

Which meant I got to take Poppy to the medical exam all by myself.  If he had to be sick and miss something, this surely was the day to do it!  He wouldn’t have liked it one bit... though he does wish he could’ve seen me stopping the doctors from examining her... oh, yes I did.  It was a very tough day trying to see what was coming up - figure out what all they couldn’t do to her - and then make sure our wonderful Shiyan could help me with translation and get the doctors to cooperate.  It was no small task, I assure you!  First up, height/weigh/temp - no big deal right?!  Ha!  Everything is a big deal with our little EB baby.  So, first of all they grab her by the armpits to position her on the scale (after I had carefully set her down on it).  Next, they want to stick a thermometer in her ear.  I said a flat no.  They would have to take it under the arm - CAREFULLY.  I showed them with my finger.  They disagreed.  They argued.  And finally they did what I was asking them to do.  Bless sweet little Poppy.  After they finished that arm, she (in Chinese) told me not to do it under the other (more sensitive) arm... I assured her we were done and there would be no more.  She smiled & we moved on.  Oh, how I love this girl!!  Next stop, the ENT.  This would only be a light shining in the eyes & nose, but it would be a wooden stick in her mouth & on her tongue.  Nope.  So, the doctor (who was the same one that checked out Lily!) tried gently pushing it in.  I’ll give it to him- he was trying to cooperate, but he was still going to find a way in there.  So, each time he gently pushed it one way - I would gently push it back from where it came until he decided to be done :)  Third stop, the general screening.  This doctor checked all over (after I removed her clothes and let her see the bandaging) and she was fairly gentle (with Shiyan and I reminding her to be), but she really wanted to see her missing toes... like all at the same time.  This would mean I would have to completely remove the bandaging on that leg, which I really didn’t want to do right then and there so I kept showing her half at a time until I’d had enough of her trying to pull more and I just put her socks back on.  Ugh!  And we saved the worst for last... The TB test.  Thankfully, they have changed from the old “inject you with it and see how it grows” method to a simple blood draw, but I still wasn’t very fond of the idea.  Shiyan tried to get an exception for her and have her just do the chest x-ray instead, but they wouldn’t allow it.  So, anyway, they have also changed their practice of having the child sit on the parent’s lap to grabbing them out of your arms and taking them behind a closed door... no parents allowed.  I told Shiyan I refused to allow that to happen. She tried to say there would be no choice, but I assured her I wouldn't budge on this one.  I starting explaining all the things that would go wrong in there- like pulling up/down her clothing &/or bandages, using a tourniquet, poking the needle in her fragile elbow and putting on a band-aid for starters.  She agreed to help me and after a few ladies came to see our little sweetie for themselves, they graciously opened the door and let me in.  Once in, they were very kind and let me do everything that I could... and they asked or told me before they did anything themselves.  It was an answer to many prayers I had been sending up on Poppy’s behalf!!  And a seriously great way to end the slightly chaotic/disastrous day at the doctor’s office :)

Here's the poor baby's new boo-boo!  It worked to have her head wrapped at night, but not during the day.

On the way home, we stopped at a CarreFour where I bought us some more water!  I also bought some more “squirters” (baby food fruit pouches) so we could continue to give them to Poppy freely :)

Once back at the hotel, I was going to give her a quick bottle and put her down for a nap, but she had other plans in mind... more poo-poo!  I was happy she was going again, and with less pain, but since it’s always a long ordeal, I missed an appointment to finish up our paperwork with Shiyan.  We’ll have to do it tomorrow instead... hopefully Andy will be up and ready to help by then, just in case :)

I got myself some Starbucks for a (very) late lunch - a large black currant tea, Chinese new year style chicken salad, and a raisin scone.  Yum!  I ate it quietly in the room while my 2 loved ones slept.  Andy finally woke and we talked a good bit... I think he’s starting to feel better!!  However, he still isn’t ready for real food (or smells), so he had a “squirter” and some more baby mum-mum crackers (they are seriously the perfect sick-man’s cracker!)... and Poppy & I went to the hotel’s restaurant (the Cafe Veranda) for dinner together.  She doesn’t really want daddy holding her, but she does want him nearby so today was a bit of a stretch for her.  She was a stinker during supper and had a hard time going to sleep at bedtime (even though she’d had her eyes rolling in the back of her head since midway through dinner!)... she was quiet, but she just wouldn’t sleep!  Little twerp!!  I was too tired myself, so I just got ready for bed and lied down next to her... I’m pretty sure I fell asleep first!

blog post 1.25.13

Day 8

Today we had to say goodbye to the Maynard family.  We are so thankful that God brought our paths together for this short time of encouragement! Our time was short, but sweet :)

We had a quick breakfast and jumped in the van shortly after 10:30 to drive to the airport.  Our flight wasn’t supposed to leave until ~1pm so we had plenty of time to kill walking around, looking in stores, and snacking... with a few kisses too :)  Once we boarded, our plane was delayed by 1/2 and hour so we sat tight, played games and snacked more!  We arrived in Guangzhou around 3:30 and were met by Shiyan at the airport... it was so nice to see her again!!  She is an invaluable asset to BCS and we appreciate her so much!

Off to the Marriott- our home for the next week!  In the lobby, we met the King family from Georgia.  They brought there 4 older children with them to pick up their little Luke... and they are awesome!  We unpacked a little and then met back in the lobby to go out to eat as a group.  Shiyan took us to a nice Chinese restaurant several blocks away.  We ordered a few primarily veggie meals (mushroom with peppers, a green-bean-like-veggie with minced beef, and a noodle dish for Poppy)... we were being “safe”... and yet, after we walked back to the hotel Andy starting feeling very nauseated and sick.

We still went ahead with bath time and bandage changing... so, Andy started filling the tub with water while I prepared the counter with supplies... and next thing we knew Poppy had missed a little step into the shower area where baba was and had fallen (as in face-planted) on the rough, tile floor.  Oh my!!  The poor baby!!!!  She immediately had a large blister on her head and a small one on her right hand.  We pop-popped and got her all taken care of, but it was so sad.  Her first “trauma” wound in our care.

When it was bedtime, I told her “mama bobo” and asked her if she wanted her bottle and bed... she shook her head “yes” and was a sweetie.  I enjoyed it very much, but was saddened that she had been not wanting daddy to do it the 2 nights prior.  Poor daddy!

Poor daddy, indeed!  It was probably within 1/2 an hour of babydoll falling asleep that he vomited... not much sleep is in our future!!  Please pray for all of us and our health while we’re here!!!

blog post 1.24.13

Day 7

Today we were supposed to go the Henan Provincial Museum.  It is all indoors and has many breakable artifacts which are not to be touched.  We’re looking at our 2-yr-old and the Edwards 7-yr-old (who has Downs)... and we said, “I don’t think so!”  I had looked it up ahead of time, and to be perfectly frank, it looked rather dull.  Maybe it would’ve rocked my world -IF we were all adults- but with 2 little people, it looked like a really not good idea!  So, we thanked our guide and gave her the day off!!

We met up with the Maynards (the awesome family from Pizza Hut :)) and the Edwards (our traveling buddies) to go walking around town together.  We went back to the Zijin park and enjoyed some beautiful weather and great fellowship.  Poppy was full of surprises!  Whatever she saw the other children doing, she wanted to try too!  She wanted to climb and slide and be a big girl!!  However, she didn’t care for us talking to the other kids too much and would tell us “no” if we were starting to carry on.  Daddy got a bye on a lot of the reprimanding, however, and so he had a great time playing with their boys... and missing our kids back home.  After we had walked for quite a while (and gotten chilly in the wind!), we decided to start finding some lunch... apparently we started a touch too late.  We couldn’t find anything that didn’t look “overly fresh” quickly and ended up heading back the Holiday Inn complex.  By the time we were within a block of the HI Express, all of the Maynard children had officially melted down.  Zi doesn’t like crying, so he was also upset - and Poppy just kept looking at them all with bid, wide eyes, and talking to me about it (in Chinese, of course).

Lunch was great, but the restaurant was incredibly hot!  And to add insult to injury, they brought us the standard boiling water to drink... not too satisfying right about then.  After lunch, all 5 kids were ready for a good nap and I think they all crashed!  When Poppy woke up, we opened our door to let others know we were up and available.  Pretty soon we had the whole crew in there and we had a great time visiting together until we were ready to find some dinner. 

Since lunch went so well, we decided to hit up the same HI Express restaurant for supper too!  This time we asked for “ice water” - which ended up being boiling water with a bucket of ice and some incredibly useless tongs... we all decided it would be easier to pick up ice with a pair of chopsticks!!  Again, we enjoyed the fellowhip and food until Poppy had an urgent need to use the restroom and took her turn melting down :)  I grabbed her up and ran like the wind back to our room.  Andy took care of the bill and was hot on our heels.  Sadly, the poor thing ended up going in her diaper.  We cleaned her up and things really looked good, but we still decided it would be best to bathe her... so here we were with yet another late night bath/bandage session.  This little girl keeps us hopping!

At bed time, she yet again shook her head “no” as I was preparing the bottle, and even whimpered a little... we’re starting to think she’s done having daddy help her get to sleep :(  Tomorrow night I will give it a shot and then we’ll know for sure... I hope that will help her be a happy sleeper again.

blog post 1.23.13

Day 6

So, today we finally were able to let baby sleep in!  Then, we went to breakfast and met with the Edwards family to walk around Zhengzhou a little bit.  We headed to Wal-Mart and I LOVED it!!  

I had really enjoyed the little super market we stopped at in Beijing with Lily, and this was sooo much bigger, with a greater variety.  I could’ve spent hours there!!!  They had some fun Chinese music in the store which was fun & peppy and so I was bopping to it... but Katie was kinda on China-overload... throwing me in the mix probably didn’t help much!  The poor thing misses home a lot... and Josh was in the mood for pizza (we had lot of fun joking about that) - so we went to a local Pizza Hut :)  I’m sure our family members are cracking up reading that right now.  The health nuts who don’t eat dairy hit up a pizza joint!  But it was absolutely God-appointed that we eat there...  

We walked in and this tiny lobby was jam-crammed with Chinese people and on the bench sat an American mother with her 3 children.  She asked if we needed help getting a table and we gladly accepted!  However, right then her name was called to be seated.  The hostess didn’t understand what we wanted and insisted we go up and sit with this family!  The funny part is that both sides were thankful that it happened!!  It turns out she and her husband had moved to China last September and were seeking some Christian fellowship... and we were thrilled with the fellowship (and a translator :)) as well!  Her husband joined us a little later and was having a hard time booking a decent room in the city... so we all walked back to our hotel with and they booked 2 nights in the room next to us :)

In the afternoon, we had a trip to the Zijin Hill Park (very near the hotel)... it took a while to get there though because we drove to the City of God Temple first and it was closed for renovations!!  Fun drive, right?!??

We had  a nice visit at the park.  We walked around, fed some pigeons, took some pictures, and practiced a little “inner peace” :)  For those of you who know & love (or hate) Kung Fu Panda you can appreciate this picture.  While I was researching Zhengzhou, I found out we were staying very near to the Shaolin Temple - which is recognized as the birthplace of Kung Fu.  We were super excited and hoped to visit it (it looked beautiful)!  Andy promised the kiddos that he would even get a picture of himself in front of the temple doing “inner peace” if we were able to visit... however, we learned that “very near” was actually 2 hours away and that would’ve been a long trip for our car sick baby ... and it just wasn’t going to work out logistically.  So, we settled for the yin-yang sign at this park instead :)

After the park, we walked back the hotel, had little rest, and ate supper with the Edwards (the other family was busy with friends that evening).  We went to the Crowne Plaza... where the chopstick bandit was born!  There were some very particular people working there that wanted you to have a certain combination of utensils for your specific meal... and if they think they got it wrong they would even walk up and take something away.  Such was the case for me.  They stole my much desired chopsticks before I got my chicken curry... and I wanted them!  So, my hubby “stole” a set from another table :)  We’re sure they stared in wonder as they saw me eating with them later!!  Ha!

After dinner, our little sweetie finally had her first poo with us!  Hooray!!  We did have a little crying and certainly fighting against letting it coming out, but overall she did much better than we had seen or anticipated.  She is such a trooper!

When we got her ready for bed, she began shaking her head “no” as I was preparing the bottle... we’re not sure if it was daddy or the idea of bedtime that she wasn’t happy with... but she was not pleased.  She did still take it from him and go to sleep nicely, so who knows?!?  Hopefully she was just grumpy :)