From Princess To Queen

I think Ellie has officially moved up in the ranks from Princess to Queen in the last day or so.  She has quickly figured out in just over a week that she has a mom and a day that will hold her, come to her when she cries, give her kisses, cuddle with her and dote on her.  It is amazing how fast you can start to see her move out of her institutional behaviors and into desiring to be touched, loved, kissed and held.  In the days to come this little queen may have a rude awakening when reality sets in and she realizes she isn't the only queen in the house but for now we will give 110% of our attention. Although with 4 siblings she may just move the Empress status! 

Our little queen has decided she wants nothing to do with her crib.  She will fall asleep by us, on the floor, on our bed but lay her in the crib and she screams.  I don't blame her, if I had been in a crib for 11 months I would scream too when I knew there was something better.  Sunday night Ellie ended up between Eric and I.  As Eric was crawling into bed our little princess pooped through our entire bed, all the way through to the mattress pad.  Needless to say we decided with the language barrier and the time it wasn't worth having someone come and change it all out.  We figured we would just be up another hour or more.  We stripped everything off, threw the top sheet down and Eric got dethroned by the princess and quickly became queen as she cuddled up next to mom on the dry side of the bed and dad ended up on the small, not so comfy couch for the night. 

Ellie woke up with smiles until it was time to take off her clothes, change her diaper and take a bath.  Our little girl still screams at the top of her lungs when we attempt any of those three things.  We are hoping she comes around for being changed on the plane or everyone who is asleep will quickly be woken. 

We headed out with our group to the Safari Park for the day.  We loved the Safari park when we were here with Max and were anxious to spend the day there again. 

The park is amazing.  We began making our way through the park and one of our first stops was at the Macaw Parrot.  I had to get a picture for Alexa because while we were gone she did a big animal project and wrote a report on the Macaw parrot and created a 2 1/2 foot parrot out of paper mache.  

The elephants and giraffes were our favorite last time.  We made our way through the park with our friends Eric, Shelly, Elijah and Kai.  

When we were adopting Max we met Kurt and Lauren who have become life long friends.  We kept saying Kurt and Eric were twins separated at birth.  It seem crazy that we come to China and find their triplet, Eric.  It has been too funny as we discovered how alike Eric and Eric are.  

They both were having way too much fun trying to get bananas in the elephants mouth.  Kai thought it was pretty entertaining. 

I think there was only one successful attempt out of 4 bunches of bananas between the two of them.  

Elijah is six and was very excited about the new dinosaur exhibit.  We know our boys would have loved it.  It was fun to see the zoo through the eyes of a six year old this time.  

Miss Ellie wasn't quite sure what to think of the rather loud dinosaurs. 

We loved seeing all the pandas again.  This guy was just lounging and snacking on some bamboo. 

At one point we looked up and this is what we saw above us. 

Could little Tai be any cuter in those shades? 

The giraffes were a favorite this time around again.  

Man look at that guy's tongue! 

Elijah thought it was pretty cool too. 

We then made our way to the train to ride through the Safari. The elephant was trying his best to spray us.  

The bear was a bit intimidating when he stood on his back legs. 

Eric and Ellie were having a little stare down on the train. 

It was amazing to ride through the Safari and see all the animals so close. 

These two guys were standing right nest to my little trolly car.  Those long necks could have bent right down to lick me. 

Ellie was a little angel through the day and then she sprawled out and crashed.  This is when we discussed that her ranks should surely change to queen.  Just look at her all sprawled out, loving life! 

In no time her daddy was right there with her ... sound asleep! 

When we got back we jumped in a cab and headed back to Shamian Island.  We went to meet our friends Ted, Betsy and little Ryn at Lucy's.  Lucy's is kind of like a right of passage restaurant on the island that many adoptive families rave about.  Many love to get a grilled burger there feeling like they are getting a little piece of home after all that Chinese food.  It was fun to meet at Lucy's and hear about their last couple days in Guangzhou.  We have missed seeing them every day. 

Little Ryn is just a doll and it was so fun to see her blossom even more over the last couple days.  Is she a cutie or what? Love those cheeks! We can't wait to keep in touch and see how everyone settles in at home.  

We said goodbye to our friends and headed back to our hotel in hopes for a better night sleep!