Say What?!?

Today we were supposed to do some more sightseeing, but the other couple had to do a bit more with their adoption at civil affairs.  I was actually grateful for the down time.

We slept late, or at least everyone else did.  I was awoken from a dead sleep by one little girl having a dream/nightmare around 4 a.m.  She never really woke up, but I sure was awake.  It was equivalent to the smoke detector going off in the middle of the night..... just enough to get your heart to stop for a second, and then spending the rest of the night getting it to slow down.

Once everyone else woke up we went for breakfast and then went to the store.... again.  This time not Wal Mart thankfully, but this place had just as many live turtles and frogs you'd care to buy and eat.

Eating a little snack.  Brannen was her waiter :)

We came 'home' in time for Harper's nap, but she was having a hard time falling asleep even though she was completely exhausted.  I'm pretty sure she stopped traffic down below on the street with her piercing screams.  Rocking and patting her back were not soothing her whatsoever.  I then spotted her pajamas she wore the day we got her.  It was the closest layer to her skin under the mound of clothes she had on that day.  The moment I laid it next to her, she stopped screaming.  A-mazing.  I had always heard to keep something that smelled familiar, but never thought it would work like magic.  The elephant she came with (who we've since named Hefei... after the city we are in) is actually a Scentsy stuffed animal, so instead of loading it with a Scensty scent, we're cramming her pajama bottoms in it.

Hefei the Elephant

When she woke up from her nap, we headed out to the park across the street from our hotel.  We can see it from our hotel room, but didn't realize how big it really was.  It has a big lake in the center of it, and we were making our way there when we were stopped by an older lady who had her granddaughter with her.  The granddaughter was about the age of Harper.  The grandmother spoke pretty good English, and because it's rare to come across someone who can carry on a conversation with you in English, we stopped to talk for a bit.  What we didn't realize was that we would soon become the center of attention.   Mostly older ladies flocked over to stare at us and then at Harper.  The English speaking woman would translate a little for us, and then she and the other ladies would rattle back and forth to each other.  One of the ladies who didn't speak English was talking to the grandmother, and then she started to whisper a little.  Obviously she was saying something about us that she didn't want us to hear.  I found it hilarious because even if we could hear her, we had absolutely no clue what she was saying!

We moved a little trying to get on with our park visit, but when we did, the whole groups of geriatrics would move with us.  We almost made our get away when a guy, who was walking something on a leash, walked up.  I thought he had a dog at the end of the leash, but when I looked again, its was a monkey!  Crazy.  He made it do a couple of tricks and then gave us the universal sign for money by rubbing his thumb across his fingers.  It was definitely time to go.

We walked not ten steps and noticed a bunch of college age girls taking our picture.  It was like the paparazzi!  Good grief.  We made another get away and was able to have a somewhat decent time at the park, with an occasional picture being taken here and there of us.  It was pretty chilly, but it was still so nice just to get out of our hotel room... even with all the pictures.

These horses cracked me up..... it looked like they were screaming

They made the boys laugh for a different reason..... :)

Our hotel across the lake

more pictures

It was getting close to dinner time, so we decided to go to Pizza Hut really close to the park.  We are already so sick of noodles and dumplings, so Pizza Hut was like a beacon shining in the night.  Not to mention they were playing music we knew! Harper was really animated while we were eating, making faces and laughing along with us.  Then..... out of nowhere she says "Papa" and stretches out her arms to Scott for him to pick her up.

Y'all!!!

I'm not even kidding when I say it was like the record scratched and all went silent.... at least at our table anyway.  Everyone else in the place had no clue what bit of awesomeness they were missing!  It was pretty soft, so I wasn't quite sure if I'd heard it right, but then Scott said, "What did she say??" and I  knew I wasn't the only one who had heard it.

C.R.A.Z.Y!!!

I'm pretty sure her foster mom - or someone - had been working with her to say papa and mama by pointing to our picture in the photo album we had sent her a while back.  It was THE highlight of the whole day.

Everyone went to bed early tonight, and like nap time, Harper had a bit of a rough time going to sleep.  When she started up, everyone yelled, "Grab Hefei!!!"  And just like at nap time, Hefei saved the day.

We are up early tomorrow to make our way to Harper's orphanage.  It's 2 1/2 hours away but its a trip we are wanting to make.  Tingting gave us a copy of the notice that ran in the paper of Harper being abandoned two days after birth.  When a baby is abandoned in China, a notice is placed in the paper with pictures and info where the baby was found, in case someone wants to claim them.  Anyway, the spot - or at least the road- where she was found is not too far away from the orphanage.  I'm wanting to see that, but the thing I'm wanting more information on, is a note that was attached to Harper when they found her.  I know for sure it had her real birthday written on the note.  Usually, they will guess when they think a baby was born, or just make up a birthday for them.  I'm hoping it has a little more information written on it, but I'm not holding my breath.

We will see!!