We decided to put her shoes and jacket on (its chilly here!) and go for a walk. We walked all over the Hilton grounds and she was still pretty somber (I am SO glad I brought the hip carrier!!!). We decided to attempt eating in a restaurant, and it was a blast.

She really came to life, and started talking for the first time (she definitely can hear some…better than I expected). She was playing games with both of us and giggling, and of course eating. She ate a big old breadstick and a good amount of lasagna. We definitely do not have a picky eater here.

She laughed and sang little songs and was just a riot. The waiters would come up to her and talk to her in Amharic. One most have asked her her name, because I heard her whisper “Belane”. He asked again and she whispered again…finally I told him her name and when he said it, she gave him a big smile. SO CUTE. She was definitely hamming it up quite a bit and was really showing her hilarious little personality. She is going to fit in perfectly at home…I can hardly wait to see her with her brothers and sisters.

After dinner she held my hand and walked a little, and started repeating everything I told her. She patted me and said “Mom” about 100 times…pointed to herself and said, “Belane”, pointed to Josh and said “Dad” and quite a few other things.

We wondered if she would be sad to show up back at the hotel room, but we quickly got her engaged in changing into pajamas, brushing teeth and playing a little magnet game and she stayed cheerful (although she did cry and panic a bit at one point when I left the room).

She climbed into my lap and pointed at her sippy cup. Then she handed it to me and pointed at herself…wanting me to “feed” it to her. So I rocked her and gave her her cup, and after a few minutes she took it from me and put it down, and then closed her eyes. I carried her over to the bed and laid down with her. She rolled around for a few minutes, and then rolled towards me, wrapped an arm around my neck and went to sleep. As I laid there with my face just inches from hers, I finally let myself cry.

I can’t believe we’re really here. I can’t believe she’s really with us. I can’t believe how perfect and beautiful and funny and sweet and brave she is.