Below this post is the photo post. I know some of you will want to just breeze through this post and on to the photos, but there might be a few grandparents and friends who want to hear the whole story. I will warn you that while I always have spelling errors etc. I am so tired tonight and they might be plentiful which I guess will just add to your fun in reading this post.
After our errands I was pacing the room, pretending to nap, chatting with friends on FB, looking at the clock etc. I told myself that at about 3:20 I would need to get ready to go downstairs, you know do something with my hair, figure out what toys to bring down, and change out of my hotel room clothes (we decided to wear some PJ pants in the hotel room to save on the time we were in jeans).
Well, at about 3:16ish we got a phone call that we should come down to the lobby right away. Yikes! Apparently they were scheduled to go to another hotel first, but that family had not arrived in the city yet so they came to us first. We both started changing clothes and brushing teeth etc and made it down to the lobby right AFTER T arrived :( The director handed her right to me and Brandon was able to get some video. I will never forget how light she felt. Much like big brother she pretty much zoned out, but no tears. We got some photos with the director and they gave us the camera we sent (so excited to develop it) and a necklace from the area she lived. They also gave us the formula she is used to and told us that it is to be mixed with rice cereal for 4 bottles a day.
After the director left our guide explained many things to us about her current schedule etc. Since we didn't have the cereal to mix with the formula we had to go to a grocery store right away. We went up to the room to change T and got to see her tiny little legs under the puffy pants. Once freshened up, we headed downstairs and to the grocery store.
The walk was interesting as we learned where T has been living. It sort of made the pieces fit together from the photos we have received. She was indeed living on site at the SWI, but with a "family" so it is sort of a foster/swi hybrid. We will get to see it all this week as we have arranged to go to her SWI. I am so thrilled and nervous and thankful for this opportunity.
Our guide, who is great, also told us about the local response to adoptive families and it is quite positive. We thought we were getting stares before... well add a local baby to the picture and we are crowd stoppers! Once we got to the market everyone was grabbing their friends and point to us. Our guide told us one was saying something sweet about T. We are much taller than everyone here and we only saw one other non-Asian person today. Since this is not a tourist city we are a rare thing to see.
The grocery market was packed! Wow! We did get what we hoped to with the cereal and some fruit for me and Snickers for Brandon. Sadly, our guide told us that the nuts here all have added sugar. Oh dear... looks like I will be very hungry when we get home. The biggest bummer of lack of protein is the lack of energy that comes with it. I told Brandon I just might have to eat 6 hard boiled eggs at breakfast each morning.
After returning to the hotel we spent a little time bonding, put up the photos, arranged to eat dinner in shifts, fed T her bottle and played some more. We got her to giggle and laugh out loud. She likes to hit the arm of the chair with a steady beat. Family band potential?!? She is very sweet and her voice (babble not any language) is so sweet. The SWI told us she stays up until 10:00pm... what? That is late. I was starting to fall asleep. We decided to give her a quick bath. I know what you experienced adoptive moms are thinking, yep total fail! We gave M a bath the first night with him and he LOVED it so I think we had that image in our heads. Our bathroom is so much colder than our hotel room. I think the cold was the worst part for her. We were very fast. I just wanted to get the stink off her feet and wash some large sores she has on her legs. She was so very cold after the bath and not overly fond of me. Daddy to the rescue. He cuddled with her and warmed her up exposing only a tiny part at a time for me to lotion up. Her skin is so very dry. The rosy cheeks in the photos are very very chapped skin. Daddy held her for a while and she spit up quite a bit. Wow, I forgot how awful that stuff smells coming back up. After we felt like her tummy was settled we laid her on the bed and she fell asleep between us while we were both touching her. Now the question is do we change her diaper before moving her to the crib, or do we just hope she doesn't leak during the night?
She can bear weight on her legs, attempt to crawl, and sometimes sit alone though she often topples over. She has low muscle tone so we will be working hard to build that up. She loves to jump in our arms so we are thinking that the Johnny Jump Up will be a hit for her and really help with muscle tone. She can also copy a beat and copy a variety of sounds.
At 9:30 we were able to Skype with M. It was so wonderful to see him laughing and playing and making funny faces into the camera. What a blessing. It is now after 10:30 and since I have been up since 4:30am it is time for bed! Tomorrow is when we make everything official with the civil affairs!!!
Good night, or good morning to you all!
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