What Is Esther Marie HaiMei Like?

(My first bath given by my new mommy. I love the water!)

It's Thursday evening here in Guangzhou and I am sitting here with Esther Marie at the computer. I had a picture of her with me opened up large on the computer and she was looking at it with that "wonder" that she seems to have about so many things. We said...who's that?...and she touched herself on the head and smiled. So sweet! She seems to be a very smart little girl and she loves to laugh and do silly stuff. Her favorite "game" right now is to run over to me so I can pick her up...and then she arches back and wants down so she can run over to her daddy to be picked up. This game could go on forever! She does love to be picked up. She also loves to try to "dive" and it can be scarey for us because she can do it without warning when you are holding her. She loves to be upside down too.

What is she like? She has a very sweet spirit and can laugh and play and jabber, but then at times she can be so quiet and still. We wonder what she is thinking when she is quiet. When you lay her down, she gets so quiet and kinda sad. Then if you show her you want to pick her up, her little face lights up with the happiest look. We wonder if she has been laid down alot or left alone alot at the orphanage and that is why she gets so quiet and compliant when she is laid down.

She is a good imitator also...she likes to dance and clap and acts like she is singing along with you if you sing to her. She loves peek-a-boo and blowing kisses. She likes waving and she learned to clap yesterday. She also said "mama" yesterday...two or three times...so I know it wasn't an accident. Right now she is pulling her little dress over her face and squealing when she lowers it. She has one of the cutest giggles that I think I have ever heard, so we love to get her giggling. How? With tickling and playing. She has been snuggling her little baby doll we brought and her favorite thing is the little books that squeak. She seems to like things that make noise. This morning was bubble bath time...and the girls enjoyed that with lots of bubbles and stacking cups and even a little rubber duck!

Sometimes she gets very pensive and quiet, and we think that is how she is coping with being away from her caregivers at the orphanage. At night, her breathing gets quick when she is settling in to sleep and she acts upset also. She has hardly cried and the thing that upsets her the most at this point is when she feels competition from her sister, MaryAlyce. That should get better with time, of course.

She is a good eater and loves congee with scrambled egg in it. Congee is watery rice...like a rice porridge. She also enjoys mashed up banana and yogurt. The yogurt here is very thin and you can drink it with a straw but it tastes very nice. She takes two formula bottles each day...one in the morning and one at night. I bought some baby food at the Chinese grocery store here and she likes that also.....mixed with baby rice cereal. Well, enough about her eating habits!

Just thought you might like to know a little more about the personality of our precious Esther Marie HaiMei. We look forward to having you meet her!