I just lost everything I wrote as our new daughter decided to come play with me on the computer and my post disappeared.  Oh, well, here I go again.  The last 24 hours have been amazing.  Our guide had left us after lunch on saturday and said she would be back on Monday at 2:30 to take us to get Aleah.  We were a little nervous as we boarded the little bus in the rain, took the 15 min ride to the Civil Affairs office and got in the elevator to get Aleah for the "harmonious period" as they call the first night before the adoption is finalized the next day.  They were waiting for us and LeLe, as she is called, was standing there looking smaller and cuter than her pictures and definitely a little scared.  I wasn't sure if we were supposed to approach her as they asked for our passports, but she looked so scared and alone that I asked if we could and they said yes.  A tiny little voice said Ni hao Mama Ni hao Baba and I showed her the gifts we got her.

 She loved the Ling Ling doll.  Alyssa and Alaina let her play with the Leapster and she started to warm up.  They had said she was very excited but she wouldn't look at us.  I decided to give her a coloring book and colors and she asked me for help opening them.

 Every now and then she would sneak a look at me and before we knew it she was running around and laughing with the girls.  It was time to leave and she waved goodbye to the orphanage director and away we went.  At dinner she started getting naughty.  Throwing her napkin, running off, and hitting Nana all while laughing about it.  I was expecting things like this as she has been in an orphanage for the last 2 years and it will take a while to learn what is expected in polite society.  We headed back to the hotel where she continued to amaze us with the things she knows.  We showed her her clothes and she proceeded to change into pjs without us asking but it was a while before she was done exploring and arranging her clothes and shoes.  She would point to everything and say Wo de (mine?) and I would say Ni de or Ta de depending on whose it was.  After a while she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the bed and lay down and fell asleep.  We had to wake her up the next day to get ready for our return to the Civil Affairs office.  All in all, I couldn't ask for a better first night.  She is very smart and is already saying a few English words and has corrected me a couple times on my pronunciation of Chinese. Gotta go.  I'll add more pics later