Hanna has been having a rough time sleeping all night.  It almost seems like she is having a series of nightmares and they wake her up.  We don't know what is causing them and we can only speculate if it is related to her life in the orphanage.  But just in case we decided to sit down on Sunday and let her see the video of our first night when we first got her.  She watched as the elevator doors opened and there she was in her little pink outfit holding her bear and looking very bewildered.  Hanna sat very still and watched the screen as Debbie approached her with Cheerios and a stuffed animal.  She saw herself burst into tears and hit Debbie and push her away.  And she watched intently as I picked her up screaming and crying after I turned over the video camera to another member of our group.

 

She was very quiet and seemed glued to the screen as the scene changed and she was in our hotel room just starting to eat the Cheerios and singing along with a Chinese music CD that we had playing.  And throughout she made little comments and seemed to understand what was happening.

 

So now each night during the bedtime ritual when Debbie reads books and rocks her Hanna listens to Debbie tell the following story:

 

"Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in China in a place where she had lots of other babies and nice people who took good care of her.  But she had no momma and daddy.  Far away in America there was a momma and daddy who did not have a little girl.  So the nice people who took care of Hanna sent a picture of her to the people in America and they came to China to get Hanna and be her mommy and daddy.  And now she has a mommy and daddy who love her and will be with her forever and ever."

 

Now we do not know if she understands a word of this story but we do know that she has stopped having nightmares and sleeps more peacefully.  Before she would throw everything out of her crib....bear, blanket, dolls, everything. Now she stays covered up with the blanket and sleeps with her bear and dolls in the crib.

 

This story just keeps getting better as we discover more and more about this little girl from China.  She is adjusting very well and seems to be learning English at a very rapid rate.  She can say about 10-15 different words and understands a lot of what we say to her.

 

So far, so good...

 

Tomorrow is Halloween and we are going Trick or Treating at our church where they have a Fall Festival with all the parents giving out candy from the trunks of cars, trucks and SUVs all decorated for Halloween.  Last year we had over 2000 kids come by and everyone had a great time.