The Empress is Out of Her Shell!

Oh, what a difference a few days makes. As of Saturday, she was sad, watchful, wary of us (though she consented to let Daddy hold her and tote her around). She continued to launch nuclear tantrums at bath time, at changing time, when we took her into the hotel playroom (she HATES that place) . . . most any time she wasn't in daddy's arms or asleep (at least she does THAT all night, like clock work). On Sunday, she woke up a new person, and left us breathless: she eats, she walks under her own power, she talks (though we don't understand a syllable), she sings softly to herself, she smiles, she LAUGHS hysterically.
Ah, bliss.
She has even (slowly) begun to warm up to Mama Katie, consenting to let her feed her, change her diapers, bathe her (though not without a principled cry, which soon fades into contented play in the bath). Now don't get the wrong idea; Daddy is busy too: toting her around, in a Hip Hammock or a borrowed stroller. he does his bit.
In an hour we leave for the United States Consulate, where Her Majesty will receive her visa (her permission -- as if THAT were necessary) to enter and permanently reside in America, her new realm. Tomorrow, it's on to Hong Kong, our last stop and her last look (at least for a while) at her birth land. The following day, we fly home to America, and Virginia.