July 18

We tried a new sleep strategy last night. Julie and I slept in Grandma's room while Larry and Melody stayed in our room. We decided to split up based on Julie's need for some good rest. We're all getting sick as it is, coughing, sneezing and sore throats. Julie and I did just fine sharing a bed and Larry and Melody seem to have made some progress. Melody woke up yelling around 10:30 and kept it up until 11. Larry held her and rocked her and eventually she fell asleep on his shoulder. Then he put her in bed near him and she slept the rest of the night! Now we are wondering if she needs to see people nearby in the night. I wish so much that we could have visited the orphanage to find out more about Melody's life up to this point. Sadly, I don't think our guide tried very hard to make that happen for us. She told us once that it was "too hot" for a visit and later told us that the "CCAA won't allow orphanage visits anymore." I know for a fact that other families have been to Melody's orphanage recently, so I'm not sure what to make of our guide's statements. On the orphanage yahoo group I read that there was a family there last weekend. They said there were no babies to be seen! They were told that all the children were in foster care. We were told nothing about Melody being in foster care, so now I'm even more confused and saddened by not being able to visit the SWI and fill in some of the information gaps. Foster care would make sense to me in light of Melody's sleeping issues, but not in light of her apparent lack of attachment to anybody or anything. I wish there were a way to know for sure. The SWI did give Melody a beautiful silver bracelet as a gift, as they do for all their children. It has her name and birth date inscribed on the inside. What a treasure!

Today Melody showed us how much she has achieved in the last week. She can now roll over from front to back as well as back to front. It is no longer safe to put her on the bed! She started up by the pillows and quickly rolled her way all the way down to the foot this morning! We also had a day of tag-team napping, as I like to call it. Melody went down in the morning and woke up just before lunch. Julie went down right after lunch and woke up just as Melody was going down for the afternoon. It looks like I may not be leaving the house much for a while, or finding much time to myself. Maybe once we're home I can work on scheduling one of their naps for the same time slot.

Today was also our official Consulate Appointment. We stayed in the hotel room while our guides went to the Consulate on our behalf. Everything went fine and we're all set to take our oath tomorrow and get Melody's US visa. My friend Jennifer ran into a little paperwork problem, but it's all taken care of now. Note to Illinois families with only one parent traveling: bring a copy of your foster care license card with you! It was not listed anywhere as a document to bring, but the consulate wanted to see it.

Larry also worked on exchanging our baby airline ticket for a lap pass today. He had to take a taxi to the Garden Hotel to speak with a United rep in person. It seems like it was worth the trip just to look around the amazing hotel! As for the ticket, we'd certainly like the extra space on the plane, but we need the money more, so we'll make do.

Melody continues to do well overall, except for sleeping. She has everyone fooled with her mellow cuteness during the day. Larry claims that around 10 PM her eyes start to glow and little horns pop out of her head. Seriously, she's like a different baby at night. During the day she never fusses, except when you'd expect her to. As Grandma says, "her timer is going off again," meaning it is time to eat or sleep. Hopefully we'll figure something out soon. But now, it's time for pictures!

Sleeping beauty:


Some exotic looking flowers in the hotel garden:






Julie and Larry on the stone walkway in the garden:


Melody showing her pucker:


We couldn't resist this photo op:


Do you like my flowers? I carried them around all afternoon and even took them to McDonald's with me!


Horsing around on the bed:






Even Daddy's eyebrows are fun to pull!


Am I cute or what?