Turning the corner

8:30 p.m. Guangzhou   First...drum roll...TB test was negative.  Hooray!  All 5 kids in our travel group were negative except 1, sweet Amei, Leiba's daughter.  $30 (U.S. dollars) and 10 minutes later, she got a chest x-ray and it proved negative; so she was a false-positive, which are apparently happening at a rate of 60%.  So, we all marched out of the medical exam building with a skip in our step!  Why can't we get x-ray's done in the U.S. for $30?  Also, the US CDC has now granted waivers to families who are testing positive so that they can bring their child home for treatments.  So, if you're traveling soon, print out the waiver and have it with you just in case.   Second...drum roll...tomorrow is the Consulate Appointment with the Oath Ceremony the following day (Tuesday) and then flying home Wednesday.  Okay, we're in the final stretch!   Third...it's 8:30 p.m. and Meiying is still out here in the living room playing with some of her dolls; building them houses and showing me what she did.  I just blew her a kiss and she giggled.   So, I'll fill in the gaps of the day.  It was a big one.  She woke at 6:20 and snuck out to the living room, picked up the phone and tried dialing.  I stayed in bed and heard the wimpering and a few more attempts from her.  Headed out of the room for an early breakfast; still a bit sulky, she only ate a few pieces of fruit.  Came back into the room and she started calling again.  I went in to shower and she apparently got on my computer and launched all the videos of Eliza again (riding her bike, doing cheerleading with Allie, jumping on the trampoline and a few more).  She left them all open on my computer so that's how I knew she had watched them...6 in total.  Amazing that she can find them.  Hope she's not screwing up something on my computer?   Anyway, after I showered, she came into the bathroom with a package of Oreo's that she got out of the mini-bar and started engaging.  (Ah, yes, feed yourself some Oreo's when you're depressed...Go fot it.)  She must've eaten about 6 Oreo's and was feeling the effects of the sugar.  Getting silly and very animated.  I made her look at her Oreo teeth and we cracked up together.  She began watching me get myself ready.  I avoided eye contact to just let her have her time to watch me, non-threatened, and kept the intimacy out of her interraction with me.   She wanted to hold the blow dryer and help me with my hair.  I thought that was pretty cool.  We then headed off to the White Swan to meet the group for the TB results.   This girl was a firecracker all day.  Could've been the package of Oreo's, 4 lollipops at the Medical Exam, a Sprite, a Coke.  I know, I'm a crazy mom.  I just wanted her to go with it all today.  She was a hoot.  Meiying is already a people magnet because of her curly hair and infectious smile.  She's very comfortable talking to anyone.  Today, however, she was a trip.  In one of the shops, the clerk kept asking her where she was from and where her mommy was.  She told the clerk, "My mommy's right here" and said that I was her mommy.  The clerk asked her where her first mommy was and she said, "This is my first mommy."  Wow.   She was wheeling and dealing with the best of them in those shops on Shamian Island.  She wanted a jade budda necklace and told the shopkeeper that she didn't want to be cheated by getting some short string like a boy would wear.  The shopkeepers were cracking up at her.  Then, I started negotiating prices and said "no" to a few of the items.  Well, Meiying caught on to what I was doing and started dealing with them.  They would translate to her that Mommy said no, too expensive, and she'd drive them down to a better price so she could get what she wanted.  I started thinking, "hmmm, this could work".  So, I just kept shaking my head no and she kept working them and we walked out of the store happy with our price!  It was a hoot.  I got some of it on video.  I'll try to upload it.  They told me she is spicey, I was actually thinking ADHD.  LOL... She was definitely full of herself, full of sugar and over the top today.   Fed her some more sugar at lunch to keep the pleasant and firecracker mood going.  LOL...Then we headed to the pool.  After only 3 times of swimming in her life, she already put her head in the water and started learning to swim backwards.  She told me to take my sunglasses off...???  ...So she could push me in the pool.  Ah, yes, that was funny...'til I pushed her in.  Okay, so not to get her in a bad mood, I fed her some more sugar and let her continue pushing me in.   After a long and exhausting day of fun, we ate dinner at Lucy's (ate there for lunch too) and half way thru dinner, she said she was done and signaled that she wanted to make a call (ugh) and began whimpering and softly crying.  Leiba and I ignored her.  I patted her back for a minute, but then ignored the rest of it.  The chinese people in Lucy's were being all sweet and kind to her and bringing her tissues (she can work people, let me tell you).  I said to Lieba, "I feel like the insensitive American adopting this girl against her will."  LOL    Whether it's Meiying's personality or the fact that she isn't sure I'm understanding her, when she wants something, she is insistent about it over and over again to me until I do or get whatever she wants.  No patience.  A whee bit annoying.  So, when she started crying at dinner, I just didn't want her to think that we were going to get up and leave the restaurant because she was ready to or because she was having a sad moment.  She tugged on my arm indicating, "Let's go" and I looked at her briefly, indicated thru hand gestures that I was still eating.  She nodded and finally stopped crying and began playing with her doll.  When we were walking back to the White Swan to get a taxi, she started whimpering again.  I made her look at me, I pointed to my eyes and said, no crying.  She nodded yes and stopped.  That was it.   She did not try to make a phone call at all when we came back into the room tonight!  Hooray!!  She happily played with me here in the room tonight and then finished the night playing by herself on the floor next to me.  It's 9:00 p.m. and she is asleep.  Success!   I'm still wondering who posted the comment updating me on the Young and the Restless?  I'm still wondering how these people can drive so fast, playing chicken the entire time, and no regard for the lines that are painted on the road.  It's chaos.  It works.  How?  Alright, I'm going to get started uploading some pictures and attempt to upload the video if my connection is good enough.  Loved all the e-mails and comments; keep 'em coming.  They're lifesavers to me!