Out of Her Shell

Dong En's personality is coming out more and more. It is pretty much exactly as described in her referral. She is outgoing and playful. She is not afraid of strangers, and usually, but not always, responds to them. Although she doesn't fear strangers, she does seem to understand we are her parents. She has started to be affectionate with us, and is not with strangers. She listens to us when we ask her to do something and she makes good eye contact with us.



We gave her a bath last night and I'm pretty sure it was the first western style bath she's had. She got in willingly, but just stood. Jay asked her in Cantonese to sit down and she squatted, but didn't sit. After she squatted, though, she started to play and splash in the water. Within a few moments, she sat down. From that point on, she just loved it. She splashed and laughed and played and giggled. We gave her a toy tea set and she had a great time serving us tea from the tub.



After her bath, I dried her off and put lotion on her arms, legs and torso. She also seemed to really like that. When I was done, she gestured that she wanted lotion on her hands. I gave her some, and she used it to put lotion on my arms. She is very sweet.



Next, we brushed her teeth. The previous night we offered her a toothbrush, but she didn't seem to know what to do with it. She watched us brush our teeth though. When I offered again after her bath, the look of amazement on her face was priceless, as if to say "I get to do it, too?" She took it and started brushing with a huge grin on her face. Then I showed her how to spit and rinse her mouth. This morning when she woke up, she found her toothbrush herself and started to brush her teeth again.

She is completely potty-trained, and lets us know when she needs to go potty. She likes to flush the toilet She washes her hands after going potty. She also throws away garbage.

We have given her traditional Chinese food at each meal, but also offered her Western options. She's tasted a few Western style foods, but mostly likes noodle and rice based dishes. She also likes fruit. We think she probably helped her foster mom cook. At each meal, she has used a spoon and cups to pretend to cook. She is also very dexterous with silverware and can cut up food herself.

Ben hasn't displayed any jealousy at all. He thinks Hannah Dong En is hilarious, especially when she uses or does something in a non-traditional way. This morning at breakfast she spooned apple juice into Baba's tea and Ben doubled over in laughter.

She seems less thrilled with him, but Ben hasn't noticed. She is not very good at sharing her toys. Yesterday, Jay asked her in Cantonese to share the play-doh with her big brother. She responded with a very dubious and resigned "okay" in Cantonese.

We haven't noticed any developmental delays at all. She seems very bright. When we got off of the elevator, she ran ahead to our room and stopped outside our door, even though our room is in a long hallway and all the room doors look alike.

All in all, things are going better than we'd even hoped. The other families in our group are also doing well with their new children.