Comments on Olivia's life as a Munn

Olivia is doing much better! I know that all of your prayers have made a big difference. She went to bed last night without fussing and also this afternoon for her nap!!! This is a MAJOR improvement! She also very happily took a bath without fussing. We went to eat last night with Mandy and Arnaud and another family from Dillon who are here now and we had such a great time. Mike would tickle Olivia and she would laugh and laugh! It was so funny. She smiles a lot more now even when it's not coaxed out of her! She's quite a character. I think she'll fit in just fine with us! She and Jake together are going to be a riot. I can't wait to see it!

We called to talk to Jake this morning but he was already asleep for the night. I hate it when we miss him, but we can call him this evening when it's his morning. It's already 1:27 p.m. on Saturday here and all of you back home are fast asleep. It's 12:37 a.m. there. Mike looked for Saturday morning cartoons this morning for Olivia but couldn't find any on the tv. We did see Bob the Builder speaking Vietnamese last week! That was quite a treat. Jake would have loved it. Daddy Don said that he's doing just great. They have been hunting together and Daddy Don and JuJu have become quite attached to our sugarbear. It's not hard to do! I'm really thankful that he's going to have had this time with them. Most children won't ever have the opportunity to form such a strong bond with their grandparents. I wish my Mom were still here. She would absolutely adore Jake and Olivia, too. Just in case my Dad happens to read this by some technological miracle, we love you, too!

I was fitted yesterday for a traditional Vietnamese outfit that's called something that I can't spell. It's pronounced ow-yie. The yie would rhyme with dye. Ow is like when someone smacks you and you say ow! Anyway, they are just gorgeous. Olivia and I will have matching ones. She also has a little pink on and I put her in it yesterday and put her hair up in pigtails and she looked so so so precious! I can't wait to see all of your faces when you meet her. She is absolutely darling.

As much as I love her, it's a chore to carry that child around all day! She refuses to let Mike carry her and it's not always appropriate for her to walk holding our hands, especially on the streets. It's kind of wild here. Scooters are zooming everywhere! I can't really explain what I mean by that. They are EVERYWHERE. They even ride on the sidewalks! Crossing the street is absolute insanity! Also, the Vietnamese people on the sidewalks sometimes try to pick her up or touch her and that's not ok with us. It's very important for attachement that we be the only ones who hold her for quite some time. I suspect this will be difficult for a couple of sets of grandparents I know! Regardless, she doesn't want to get more than an inch away from me anyway. She follows me all around the hotel room. It's really cute.

Let's see - things Olivia likes to do. She loves to color and she loves to pour food like Cheerios from one thing into another and stir it around and eat it with a spoon. We bought her a Barbie purse that has a cell phone, keys with clicker, compact and sunglasses in it. Whenever we go somewhere she finds her purse, puts on her sunglasses and prepares to leave. This is completely unprompted and untaught. Isn't that bizarre? She just knows that little girls get their purses and their sunglasses. She looks so cute in them too because her nose is SO tiny that her sunglasses can't even sit on them. Her head is fairly wide though so they stay up.

She apparently smashed one of her index fingers recently at the orphanage and last night the entire nail came loose from the nail bed. I have never seen such a thing. Mike trimmed it off this morning so it wouldn't catch on anything, so she has no nail on her right index finger.

She seems to be very healthy except for a cough and cold that we are treating. She is SO smart. She can do just about anything and she mimics everything we do. It's wild. I can't believe how smart she is. She's been going to what they call Kindergarten. It's what we call pre-school and it's obvious. She's very bright and has a gorgeous smile. I can't wait until she's really comfortable with us and smiles and gives kisses all the time.

This has gotten long! I so wish I could send pictures. You'll just have to wait and see her for yourself! (Jake, you're going to love being a big brother to Olivia! She's a very sweet little girl. You two are going to have lots of fun together. We can't wait until we get back so we can take you home and we can finally all be together! We love and miss you sugarbear!)

Thanks for all the prayers! Keep them up. We also love hearing from home so please feel free to leave posts or email us. We can't wait to see you all!