Terrible night...

Lauren had a terrible night last night (not to mention the rest of us too). Started about 5:00 when we had to go have her passport photo made. She was fine at the photo store and actually made a real cute passport photo. Something happened snapped in her after we left there and she completely disassociated. She wouldn't walk, she wouldn't let anyone touch her, and absolutely no eye contact. OK, what to do? We decided to sit near her to see if it would pass. Well, it didn't. We finally decided we were just going to have to pick her up. The 4 of us couldn't contain her. How can a 7 year old be so strong? We'd make a about a blocks progress before we'd have to put her down and regroup. You'd think the child was possessed. Screaming, crying & thrashing. I guess we should be glad she's not a biter, kicker or hitter. About half a block from the hotel 3 grannies and a security guard from nearby stopped to help. The guard spoke pretty good English too so Mike asked him what they had said to her. They told her you don't have to stop crying or being upset or scared but she does have to stand up and walk into the hotel. Finally got to the room where we let her finish her fit. At least in the room I'm not so scared she hurt herself by falling on concrete or dashing in front of a car. Now Leanne won't go out of the hotel anywhere with Lauren. Whew!

Things seem better today. I took Lauren for her exit physical today and she breezed through it like a champ. She weights 42.9 pounds and is 44.9 inches tall. I took her etch-a-sketch to keep her entertained while we had to wait. She wrote some Chinese characters on it and I was able to ask XiXi what Lauren had written. She wrote the Chinese characters for Baba (dad), Mama, JieJie (big sister), MeiMei (little sister) and toast. Who knows?