Sisters

We've had such an incredible first day as a family of four. We saw Terra's first smile today and it was so wonderful. She laughed and smiled at Jorie as they were playing together, I can't explain how great it felt to see her smile. The other girls that arrived yesterday have been smiling since they got here, but Terra has been very serious. I told Jeff that it was even better that we had to wait to see a smile, because we know that it means she's starting to feel more comfortable around us.
Last night went pretty well. Both girls slept through the night and at one point were even cuddling together, it was so adorable. The girls have had a wonderful time playing together and at one point, I'm sure Terra was attempting to say jie jie (big sister). The orphanage staff did tell us yesterday that she could talk, they said she could say "Mama", but we haven't heard that yet.
We have noticed some sibling rivalry already, so that's something we'll have to work on, once we get everyone settled. Terra is still stuck to me like glue, not willing to ever be out of my lap, and Jorie is having a bit of a tough time with that. They're both battling for my affection and attention. Thank goodness I have two arms and can hold and hug them both at the same time!
We did a little bit of sightseeing today. Not too much, since we were on foot and it's at least 95 degrees here with crazy humidity. We walked around a beautiful lake for a little while and we went to see a pond that was covered in lotus flowers. We also saw a fishing pond where many people were fishing. Our guide was telling us that the pond is stocked with fish and the people have to pay for the fish they catch!
After sightseeing, we took a shopping expedition to Walmart, which was quite an adventure. Our group really was somewhat of a spectacle. The store was two floors with an escalator in the middle that was really more of a moving ramp - we put our entire cart right on and went down!
After the morning adventure, we came back to our room and spent time getting to know each other. We brought a Chinese lullaby CD with us and we noticed that every time one particular song starts playing, Terra's eyes light up and she starts pointing at the computer (that's what we use to play the CD) with a big smile and saying something. She obviously knows the song from somewhere.
Jorie continues to dazzle our guide with her mandarin skills. She has answered several of the guide's questions in mandarin (any question requiring a simple one or two word answer that she happens to know in mandarin), which really impresses everyone. :) She attracts so much attention when we're out - everyone wants to talk to her and touch her curls. Today, as she was looking at Terra, she said, "She has beautiful eyes, I love them. I love her hair too. She really is a lovely little sister." Too cute!!
Well, it's time to get ready to go for dinner - it takes us so much longer to get out the door now!
I'll try to add some more pictures tomorrow!