Jan. 6th - Bring on the Noodles!

Yesterday we had a glorious day - we had lunch at the House of Louie in Chinatown, where Kaeli was a major hit with all of the waitresses. We had dim sum from the carts that rolled by, and each cart driver got a big smile and wave from Kaeli. She also waved at all of the other people eating in the restaurant, and at the people walking by on the sidewalk outside the window.

Kaeli loved sampling the various dim sum, and ate a good portion of wonton noodle soup that we ordered especially for her. It is so funny watching her flap her arms in unison and moan with a scrunched up face while waiting for Mama to cut the food into proper size or stir it to cool it a bit, and when the first spoonful goes in the arms stop in mid-flap, the moans cease and there's a sweet little face scrunched up in a beautiful smile looking up at me as the food soothes the savage beast... It is so instant - one minute an unhappy camper and the next minute a satisfied customer!

The waitresses all oohed and aahed over her, asking where she was from, how old she was and if she was normal (?). Several translated for the others who didn't speak English. Again we were told over and over how lucky Kaeli is to be adopted into an American family. I still think we're the lucky ones!

We went book shopping after lunch, and Yei-Yei and Kaeli stayed in the car while Nai-Nai and I went into the bookstore. I commented that the two of them were probably fast asleep, but my mother laughed and said that she had just looked outside and people were waving at our car as they walked by on the sidewalk and that she was pretty sure they weren't waving at my father! Sure enough, Kaeli was busy singing and waving her bare feet in the air when we got back to the car.

Today we had a quiet (!) morning at home, with a brief visit to Auntie Ann's in the afternoon and to the grocery store. Kaeli was on her best behavior at Auntie Ann's, and we didn't have to move too many breakables to higher ground... At the grocery store, Kaeli held the ginger root I need for our Chinese dinner tomorrow night, and kept taking nibbles on it and making horrible faces at the taste. But she kept trying different parts of it to see if anywhere else tasted better. She wailed when the checkout man took the ginger from her to weight, but clammed up as soon as it was returned. A girl and her ginger root.... let no man come between them!