Neither of us is (yet) a talented cinematographer. But the Star surmounts the ineptness of the crew and all technical difficulties to turn in diva performance. It's all in the character method, we suppose....
Gotcha Day" is what CCAI, and perhaps other adoption agencies, calls the day the babies are turned over by the orphanages. The "Gotcha Moment" was delayed for everybody by about a half hour as Ellie's arrival was awaited; when the other babies were given to their adoptive parents, Ellie was still ten minutes or so off. Having come a long distance from Nankang, caught in traffic, tired, carsick, hungry, and "afraid of strangers," Ellie stood things well -- stood her ground, too -- until actually taken in hand by the "strangers." 
Sustained crying settled into sniffles and hiccups as Ellie was settled into pajamas. Ellie certainly had some sense of what was happening to her: from time to time her face would gather into a frown and she would burst into fresh crying. On this video, we have only the sniffles. She seemed once to be saying goodbye (with mourning) to her orphanage life. The next day, when the adoptions were registered, she met her orphanage director, her nannies, and one of her playmates, and didn't respond to any of them ... almost as if she didn't recognize them. 
Ellie's first full day with us (followed by a second night, rather like Genesis 1: evening came and morning followed) was a please-the-civil-servants day, with a trip to adoption registration, visa application, notarization, and a trip to Walmart for baby supplies. Ellie's personality awoke gradually during the day. By evening, playful impishness appeared. 
This video belies our claim that Ellie was "clingy" as regards Karen. That behavior came later, towards the end of our stay in Nanchang, and got much stronger in Guangzhou. In People's Park, Ellie wandered about freely for a few minutes -- only a few minutes. We tried her in the stroller, but she stayed in the stroller only if Karen walked alongside, holding her hand. Tom was struck by the playground equipment, which in China doubles as exercise equipment. 
This last is a long video: a collection of Ellie in several different moods. She was by this time very much in "stay near Mommie" mode, unless she felt she was in a secure place. Shopping fascinated her. Going about looking at artistic artifacts didn't. Attempts at speech (demands, mostly, but questions from time to time) show up a couple of times, and at the end of this video, we see the new challenger for Family Pouting Champion. (The title of the video is Tori's contribution.)
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