We made the brilliant move of starting our day with breakfast in our hotel. We are in Marriott’s most of our time in China, and so far all of them have fabulous breakfasts. Breakfast is my favorite meal in China, plus someone made the great recommendation to bring some small Tupperware like containers with us to take some thing from breakfast for the rest of the day. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Best $23 (for all of us) spent each day! Plus the cappuccino helped calm my nerves a bit.
We gathered up an insane amount of stuff with us. Diaper bag, camera, her backpack filled with snacks and toys, passports, gifts, and the insane amount of cash we had to take with us.
We picked up another mom getting her family on our way, then made a stop at the bank to exchange our wad of bills to RMB, which took awhile. Finally we were back on our way.
We pulled up at a building I would have ever known was a government building without being told. We were taken upstairs to a conference type room, with a large round table, and phones as well as a small sitting area. We signed several more rounds of paperwork with someone from the orphanage, they took our passports and money, and finally said it was time to meet our girl. We went from signatures to prepping in about 30 seconds.
Chris decided to video while she came in, and let her meet EvaKate and I first. She was so scared walking in, but did so like such a big girl flanked by her nanny. She wanted to stay close to her.
She had the picture book we had sent to her in hand. She didn’t want anything to do with any toys or books I pulled out, but as soon as I handed out snacks and water she was intrigued. After a few minutes she let me pick her up, although it was stiff. When Chris came over, she didn’t want to get near him and kept trying to hide behind her nanny. We wanted to take it slow, but they kept pushing her toward us. Finally they pushed her towards him again, and she lost it. And then I lost it. It was the most heartbreaking cry, and there was nothing I could do to fix it.
We gave her water and she quickly calmed down, and by the end of the time had let him pick her up. She did better once the nanny left. The whole thing happened in less than 30 minutes and then they whisked us back into the van. We stopped at a store where we were told we had 30 minutes to get anything we needed. Thankfully we were pretty prepared, so other than a stroller and water we didn’t get anything. Then we were dropped off at our hotel for the day again, about noon. With two hungry kids, and one very scared little girl.
She had peed through her diaper with all the water she was drinking (girl is obsessed), so even though we hadn’t planned on changing her, we had to. After that, we headed off to McD’s right across the street. It was quick and close, and with a hungry and tired girl, and worn parents, it was exactly what all of us needed. She ate almost all my fries and 1/3 of my burger. We couldn’t find a spot in the restaurant, and there was this old desk just sitting outside the door in a common type area, so we had both our girls sitting and eating on it. People kept walking by laughing and pointing at us.
We brought her back to the hotel and put her down for a nap. Within five minutes she was asleep. Both the girls napped. It had been a long day for all of us.
She adores EK. Walking and playing with her is her favorite, and the one thing that elicits her sweet giggle and precious grin.
I was prepared for her not connecting or attaching to one or both of us right away, but I wasn’t prepared for my lack of attachment right away. To be honest, it feels a bit like I’m babysitting. There’s not this magical moment like at birth where they lay them on your chest and you’re immediately enamored. Love grows and blooms a bit more slowly. Mostly I’m ok with that.
Dinner was another struggle. We want to be adventurous and explore, but we also have zero help. We walked into a restaurant our guide recommended, and basically walked out. There are like no health standards here, and I’ve already been having a bit of tummy bubbliness. This place had all kinds of red flags, plus we recognized nothing on the menu. I cannot get sick right now, so I’d rather play it a bit safe. Thankfully there is a little European cafe type place just down there street that I can tell is going to be our haven. Soup, sandwiches and salads, plus pasta! Naomi ate about half of my pasta and loved it. She’s going to fit in quite well, and I’m so glad I froze some homemade bolognese sauce right before we left!
She met her brothers through WeChat, and charmed them. She was saying Josh and Jack by the end. I cannot wait until we can all be together and find normalcy.
She got a quick bath, and while we were prepared for her to hate water since she’d never had a bath before, she loved it!
We laid her down for bed, and she went right to sleep and slept through the night!
She did amazing. It was definitely a best case scenario. God has been so gracious and near in answering our prayers.
That said, it’s still HARD. Lots of emotion, lots of unknowns, lots of hard things to process (like marks on her leg that look like cigarette burns) and newness overwhelms the senses.
It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but there is so much grace.