The Details You Want – No Travelogue, Just MJ

MelodyJoy is doing very well overall. She’s still reserved but smiles and giggles are coming more frequently. She plays with her toys (we should have brought more) and often clutches onto things for long periods of time. This morning she carried a sugar packet for at least an hour and a half. For awhile, we could trust her not to throw or drop things but we’ve moved past that now and she’s getting more active in banging things around. However, she never puts anything into her mouth other than her thumb or the bottle. (Well, she did chew on my finger yesterday. I thought she was going to draw blood after awhile.)

She loves to scratch things and to sense different textures. Jeannette thinks she does this instead of putting things in her mouth; it’s her way of exploring and experimenting. I suspect she did not have a great variety of different textures to experience in the orphanage and so it’s of great interest to her to feel the various fabrics around her.

When she’s unhappy, she has a little cry that sounds a little like the mewing of a cat . . . but when she’s mad (i.e., bath time or diaper changes), she can wail with the best of ‘em. (She’s taking a nap at the moment but it was pretty loud and tense around here for ten or fifteen minutes while Jeannette got her geared down for sleep.) A doctor here in Guangzhou told another couple that she suspects these babies scream bloody murder when they're having their diapers changed because in the past they have been laid down on their backs and simply left alone for long periods of time and they don't want that to happen again.

Health-wise, she has some congestion in her chest and head but it doesn’t seem like anything more than just a cold. Most of the babies are in good shape but there are a few fevers and one child apparently had had an ear infection for several weeks that eventually led to a ruptured eardrum, so her parents have had a few rough days. MelodyJoy has a funny bump on the back of her head that we can’t quite see so it’ll be interesting to hear what Dr. Cherry has to say about that.

Scabies can be a common problem for the MaoNon girls but I think that only MelodyJoy and one other girl in our group have them, and Melody’s are very slight and don’t seem to bother her.

Unless I’ve missed something, all the adults in our group are doing fine, too. John Faircloth tweaked his knee playing basketball yesterday but it didn’t seem too bad. I haven’t heard of anyone getting sick from the food, etc. Jeannette had some stomach cramps last night but is not having any trouble today. I’m curious to hear about the other group’s experiences in Hubei, where it is not as westernized, when they get in tonight. We’re anxious to see the Lymans again and to meet their Sophie.

Sorry for the dearth of photos today. For some reason, they just won't upload for me . . . and I have a few good ones I was hoping to share with you.