We returned to our hotel and looked forward to an evening of becoming more acquainted. We decided to try the hotel’s buffet for dinner. We were seated and wondered what we would begin to feed her, knowing her limitations for chewing and swallowing. She sat on my lap while I tore off small pieces of a sweet roll and placed them in her mouth to melt. Todd dished up some pork congee that was there and with a plastic ikea spoon a waitress had given us we tried to give her some. She licked a little from the spoon and we let her hold one of the other plastic utensils that she would dip into the bowl.
We finished our meal and headed up to our room. At this point we had never put her down -- one of us had always held her. We quickly learned that not only being held was her preference but being held while standing. She would always seem to become agitated and upset if we tried to sit down. Since we had kids and nieces and nephews who responded the same way we weren’t too alarmed and eased her into it slowly. Eventually I sat down with her on my lap. She would gesture for something and reach but would never leave my lap. Since she was pretty covered in congee from dinner we decided to brave a bath. We weren’t certain what she was used to so we turned on the water, I put on a swimsuit, we took off her clothes and gently set her on my lap. She gingerly put her feet in the water and began to touch it with her hands. Using a few hollow shape sorter blocks from a toy we had purchased earlier, I poured a little bit of water on her, first on her arms, then her hands and eventually her head. She sniffed and shook her head but never cried or seemed upset which both thrilled and surprised us at the same time. She did just as well when we washed her hair and we sang her praises as we took her from the bath, dried her off and put on her p,j,s.
We finished our meal and headed up to our room. At this point we had never put her down -- one of us had always held her. We quickly learned that not only being held was her preference but being held while standing. She would always seem to become agitated and upset if we tried to sit down. Since we had kids and nieces and nephews who responded the same way we weren’t too alarmed and eased her into it slowly. Eventually I sat down with her on my lap. She would gesture for something and reach but would never leave my lap. Since she was pretty covered in congee from dinner we decided to brave a bath. We weren’t certain what she was used to so we turned on the water, I put on a swimsuit, we took off her clothes and gently set her on my lap. She gingerly put her feet in the water and began to touch it with her hands. Using a few hollow shape sorter blocks from a toy we had purchased earlier, I poured a little bit of water on her, first on her arms, then her hands and eventually her head. She sniffed and shook her head but never cried or seemed upset which both thrilled and surprised us at the same time. She did just as well when we washed her hair and we sang her praises as we took her from the bath, dried her off and put on her p,j,s.
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