Happy photos and Stranger anxiety

I think its been a week since I've posted.  For awhile, there were so many new things happening with Wu Yi, and I guess now it feels like we are settling into a routine.  Don and I are fully recovered from the trip, and although it is still hard for me to get used to being at home instead of work, I am finding a routine that seems to be satisfying for the two of us girls.
For the most part, she is doing very well!  She continues to bond with me and her brothers ~ she laughs easily, is well behaved, is hesitantly trying new American foods (even the food she picks out from the Asian food market doesn't seem to taste right to her), sleeps great, is playing more, watching fewer Chinese cartoons, and occasionally will do some school-type activities with me.  She also likes to cook with me and seems to know what she is doing at the stove.  (Maybe she can teach me a few things!) She has not cried since her last phone call to the nannies which she made while we were still in China.  She is understanding more and more English, although she still is not speaking at all.  If she needs to communicate with me, she uses hand signals, or grabs my sleeve and pulls me to what she wants.  If we are in the car and she sees a dog or a park, she grunts and points.  Her favorite DVD to watch is Cinderella, which we have in both Chinese and English.  Yesterday, she was watching it while I was doing laundry in another room, and I heard her quietly singing along to a song in Chinese!  It was wonderful to hear ~ except for when she laughs, she is so quiet.
A few days ago, I developed some photos which were taken of her prior to our trip.  I had mailed a couple of disposable cameras to the orphanage in December with the hope that we could get a glimpse of her life in China.  It was such a wonderful gift to get back over 40 photos of Wu Yi ~ both inside and outside of her orphanage as well as her school.  They included pictures of her closest friends, nannies, and teachers and seemed to be very open about the details of her daily life.  I had this impression that the orphanage may have been a place that was trying to "hide" from adoptive families, but these photos were very open and honest and I was very touched.  Of course, Wu Yi was thrilled to receive them as well and we put her own copies into a special album for her to keep in her room and they were immediately "hidden" in her special school backpack that contains every item that was hers prior to meeting us.  She rarely opens that backpack, but I know it is her most prized possession.  One day, I did sneak a few items out of it (school work) so that I could have it translated in order to get an idea of what she had been doing at school.  It was mostly writing, simple math, and language, along with some health/nutrition stuff.  There was, however, a letter written by a teacher on behalf of the class, which told Wu Yi how much they would all miss her, to study hard and be a good girl for her new parents, and not to forget her friends whose names were listed at the end of the note.  There was a "PS" at the bottom of the note addressed to Don and I which asked us to take good care of her and to please continue her education.  I was feeling guilty about sneaking into her private stuff until finding that letter.  It might have sat there until she couldn't read it anymore and we would never have known it had existed.  I'm not even sure if she knows it is there.  It has been painful for me to know just how much she was loved in China and it is hard not to question if all of this is "for the best".  Of course I am grateful that she was well cared for and, of course, I know she did not have a good future over there.  It is just sad to know that some people in this world are left with situations that have to be so difficult.
Despite how well Wu Yi is doing with so many things, she still has anxiety about people in general.  She is comfortable being outside of the house with me, but if someone approaches her ~ even if just to say hello ~ she withdraws into herself and ignores them.  This includes people who try to speak Chinese to her.  This includes other kids,  This, unfortunately, includes Don.  It is heartbreaking to see her reject him like this.  Even if all 6 of us are together, if Don is around, she "shuts down".  She puts her head down to hide her face behind her hair and refuses to play or acknowledge whatever situation we are in.  It is difficult for Don to decide if he should keep trying to engage her, or to just walk away because she looks so stressed out.  I think we just need to keep working on it as a family. She has only known us for a little over a month.  Today is the first day of our spring break ~ wish us luck!

PS ~ While I was writing this, Kellen got her to try on some new tennis shoes.  Farewell red snowboots!!