July 21, 2011

We knew times were not always going to be easy but today was a tough one. I think we all hit the wall today.  Kristi has thrown a tantrum about every limit we have set today - from taking away the remote, to not having the snack when she wanted it or the specific snack that she wanted, to not having as much tooth paste as she wanted on her tooth brush.  We are begining to think they told her at the orphanage that when she was adopted she would be able to have whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it!  Anyway, these were all-out foot stomping, leg kicking, screaming tantrums.  We aren't sure if the situation is due to her being over tired (she was given a two hour nap each day in the orphanage), frustration over not being able to communicate with us, emotional stress or if she is just a very strong willed child.  (Or probably a combination of everything)

And mom and dad hit a wall today as well (okay, maybe more mom than dad).  We have been gone from home for over a week and we really miss our kids!  We miss having home cooked meals - we are tired of going into a restaurant, pointing at a picture that we hope is something we will like, having everyone stare at us, and figuring out the currency to pay.  (Lee isn't with us when we go out to eat, only when we go to appointments or site-seeing).  We are tired of not having a good night's sleep (the beds and pillows are like rocks and the taxi's honk all night long.)  And we are tired of the hotel room.  There is nowhere to take Kristi here - it is a downtown area with no grass or park - and nowhere to go in the hotel.  Thankfully we leave tomorrow to go to Guangzhou.

This afternoon we went to the Natural Museum - a museum for dead things.  We saw dinosaurs and dead animals, fish and insects.  At one point Kristi was playing with a computer game putting a dinosaur puzzle together.  Lee asked her what she thought, and she said she would rather watch cartoons.  I think this is a reflection of how they spent a lot of time at the orphanage.  It seems like frustration over communicating has caused Kristi to digress some.  When we first got her, she would speak fluently to Lee and would try to talk a lot to us.  Now we just get a lot of grunts and she doesn't speak as much to Lee.  You would be amazed at the variety of grunts that can be expressed!

Pray that tomorrow goes better as we will be traveling - and could be very challenging if Kristi decides to throw tantrums.