AN EARLY MOTHER'S DAY GIFT

Hanging in hotel room

Up until today, the most contact Fei has accepted is holding my finger as she walks.  She hasn't been remotely interested in me holding her, although she was o.k. with me putting her socks on after bath last night...small, but great, gain!  While it has been a bit challenging, I am just grateful that she has found comfort in Chris, that he is able to calm her and a bond has begun to develop between them. 

It was a day of joy for me as I was able to get little Fei out of her crib after she slept about 12 hours!  She even let me hold her briefly until she got a glimpse of her "baba" and started crying.  I was content with that, but am ending the day with even greater contentment...



She loves the blankie from Ellie!

Last night, bedtime had gone remarkably smooth---literally, no whimpers and after some cuddling, she went right down.  Tonight, however, Chris had been in with her for over 30 min, trying to console and calm her, attempting to put her to bed.  After holding her for most of that time, he tried putting her in her crib and rubbing her back...well, that was certainly not where she wanted to be.  He called me in shortly after and to my surprise, told me that she had said, "mama"; I couldn't see in the dark, but reached down and felt her little arms reaching up to me for the first time!  I picked her up and held her close, saying, "mama's here" and she slowly started to calm down and stopped crying.  I proceeded to hum "Jesus Loves Me" (likely a song she hasn't heard before!) for 10-15 minutes as her breathing slowed down and she became heavier.  She was eventually asleep, and in trying the transfer to the crib, of course, she woke up.  She then reached for "baba" and he held her for awhile.  Shortly, she reached for me and again, I cuddled her for about 5-10 minutes--she was calm and falling asleep on me.  At one point she sat up, so I leaned toward the crib and she went diving down toward it, having been clutching Ellie's blanket tight the whole time.  She laid down without a peep-- I tried rubbing her back and she pushed my hand away, but just continued to lay on her tummy, snuggled with her little blanket.  I got to hold her, calm her and experience our first sweet moments together as a mom comforting her daughter...and her daughter accepting it.  The day ended even sweeter than it started...or than I had even imagined! What a precious early Mother's Day present from Fei Isabella!