Hide-and-Seek and other hotel room games.

We are getting to know this little girl just a little better each day. Her personality reveals its little gems a bit at a time. This morning, she was adamant in watching the CNN financial report while Justin changed her diaper. We we're told that she regularly watched Baby Einstein (in English), but they didn't mention she also liked Bloomberg Report. Her granddads will be so proud!

Hanging out in our room she spontaneously started doing some yoga (downward dog), which later turned into a game of hide and seek. We caught her spying on us from her crib (during what was supposed to be nap time), and then when she noticed us noticing her, she immediately headed for the corner of her crib, dropping her head down like an ostrich --while sporting a big grin on her face. We have yet to hear a laugh, but have had plenty of little quiet coos and giggles.

Unfortunately she is not feeling 100%. Her cold has gotten worse over the day and she is really congested, but this doesn't seem to dampen her sweet disposition. She curses us in Mandarin when we bring out the "snot sucker" but this animosity quickly fades. She has also been tugging at her ears, which we fear is a little ear pain. So she is now on occasional ibuprofen and I have a feeling she is going to need a steam-bath. So itspizza night in the hotel room. Sorry, no parties.

We are officially done with the "Chinese side" of her documentation and we are now moving toward her American immigration side of the paper chase. We included a typical scene from one of our many meetings. Funny, we work so hard getting her established with her Chinese identity and passport, just to have her become a US citizen as soon as we clear customs in San Francisco. Our prize is now in this final chase, her visa, so we can bring this little bundle home.

Thanks to all of you sending e-mails and blog comments our way. It's such a nice thing to wake up to in the mornings, so please keep it coming. Although we are surrounded by 15 million people, we are still a bit lonely for family and friends. Your kind words remind us of what blessings we have awaiting us at home.

Thanks to Nana and Granddad, we Skype with Helena about once a day and she has been a little trooper. We miss her so, and she appears to be growing every day. Unbelievable that she was this small when we first met her. We miss her a little more each day and try to block it out so as not to eventually lose it. Ten more days to go Lena! BTW, we weighed Marin this morning with the help of a luggage scale and shopping bag. 18 Lbs of pure sweetness.