Friday, Dec 22nd.

Today we are going to the Chongqing zoo to see some Panda bears, and tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou. Leah is smilling more and has even giggled a few times. She likes to be held facing us and clings on with her fists. We call her a little chimpanzee baby. She hates highchairs or anything that prevents her from being able to reach over and grab on to us. In the hotel room she will crawl away from us and play as long as she can see us. It's as if she has decided to bond with us but wants to really make sure we are not going to leave her. This seems like a very natural instinct to us, so we are happy to comply and let her cling. The biggest challenge right now is food. In the orphanage they make the formula thick with rice cereal and cut a large hole in the bottle nipple. Leah has never been offered finger food or spoon feeding. She has also never had anything cold or even room temperature. She is so tiny and needs more food but she shudders and spits when given banana or watermelon. She did eat some egg custard at dinner last night from a spoon. We will try again today. We can't wait to get her home! Love, Lara