Eating.

Gracie still only takes formula from a bottle. We have tried to put things in her mouth and she will have NONE of it. Her report from the orphanage said that she "enjoyed" sweet things. No way. We tried pudding, icing, applesauce. We even tried hot apple juice because she will only take her formula if it is the right degree of hot.
Well, I was enlightened again last nite as I continued to read "Silent Tears": Mrs. Bratt writes of one of their girls who just turned two at the orphanage:

"The staff decided it was time to take Jia Jia( who just turned two) off the bottle.While their decision may have been right the way they went about it brought tears to our eyes. ... Tilly, the nurse, with whom we had problems in the past, pulled up a chair in front of Jia Jia. She loudly declared that it was time to change Jia Jia's diet from milk to rice-NO MORE BOTTLES.Without any kind of coaxing, she proceeded to FORCE some rice into Jia Jia's mouth. The child had never had anthing other than bottled milk, so naturally she was upset-She immediately spat it out, angering Tilly....(Tilly's) face contorted with rage, she screamed at Jia Jia and continued shoving in spoon after spoonful. Jia Jia tried blocking her mouth with her hands(Gracie does this) prompting Tilly and another earth to TIE HER HANDS to the stroller. At this point, Jia Jia was hysterical...."

It continues on that they would not let the child have a bottle after they stopped fighting with her. The author was at least able to comfort the child but they would not let her feed her.

If this had not happened to the author in 2004, I would have thought she was describing our Xu Hai Ying. Something similar to this MUST have happened to Gracie. Why else would she not even let you approach her with a spoon? It would have just taken a little bit of time to gradually introduce the children to something completely different from what they were used to.

I never really thought about what it was like for Joy in the orphanage. She was only 13 months when we got her and she was considered one of the pretty ones. Gracie spent over 2 years in that environment.
If I had the opportunity to help in an orphanage in Chine ( as I would like to do someday) I don't know if I would have Mrs. Bratt's self control. But she had to restrain herself or the orphanage could have decided not to let her volunteers continue.

This week we start food therapy so we will see how it goes. Our little friend, Coco, who has been fighting a rare form of pediatric cancer and succeeding, just started her therapy so maybe she can give us tips. With how stubborn Gracie is, this should be an interesting experience!