7-23, Day 4 in China

Day 4; July 23, 2012; Wuhan, China

As I write this, our baby girl is asleep on the bed near me.  The day has been so busy and passed so quickly that it seems like a blur.  I had a hard time falling sleep last night-- and bedtime was much later than I had hoped.  Our alarm went off at 0530.  The breakfast in the hotel is very nice.  This 5-star hotel is quite fancy.  I’ve never stayed in a place as nice as this.  

We met Joanna at 0830.  We arrived at the C.A.B. by 0930.  The orphanage staff had not yet arrived.  As we were starting to sign the Guardian papers (by law, we accept guardianship of ‘Wu Ji Fang’ for 24 hours before committing and being allowed to officially adopt her), they arrived.  We were glancing out the windowed-wall thinking we saw Emalie.  I told them (Sven and Nikolas) not to look at her while I was signing so we could all see her at the same time!  That moment we had been waiting for for so long wasn’t a single moment in time as I’d imagined.  It was more of a trickle as we realized it was Emalie and we joined them in the main room to meet her.  She immediately took to Nikolas smiling at him.  When they put her down she WALKED all around - very well and stable!  We were so surprised!  We went into a room with rocking horse toys and she loved rocking.  She wanted only the red one.  We were then told that the nanny was her ‘grandmother’ from the orphanage.  We thanked her so much or taking such wonderful care of her.  The Assistant Orphanage Director was also there.  Emalie is so big, strong and healthy.  She had grown since her last picture.  Joanna took many photos and videos of us together.  Emalie was smiling and laughing the whole time.  She only barely cried one time-- I think when Sven took his sunglasses out of her hands.  She is so smart.  She noticed Sven’s watch so he took it off and gave it to her.  She immediately put it on her own wrist.  She also reached for and went to Sven first.  She didn’t want to interact with me.  This was disappointing, but I am glad she took to one of us.  We stayed there less than one hour.  

We then went to another office to have her passport photo taken.  She was quite taken with Joanna (staring at her) so Joanna avoided eye contact with her so as not to bond.  Emalie was so cooperative and took a lovely photo.  After her passport photo, Joanna dropped off more paperwork at a different office.  On the way back to the hotel, we gave Emalie cheerios and she wanted and ate some of the fruit bars Sven and I were eating.  Then, she quickly fell asleep in Sven’s arms.  At the hotel, we had to change to a new room (the AC in our first room didn't work well), all the while Emalie was sleeping.  Joanna left us alone to bond.  After many broken attempts, we ordered lunch for ourselves.  (No one speaks much English here as we were told they would.)  Emalie ate a good bit of chicken congee and tried Nikolas’ spaghetti and fried noodles.  We played and played with her.  She is comforted by Sven, laughs with Nikolas and will eat from me.  Nikolas was upset that she ‘likes you (me) and dad more’ but it isn’t so.  She is slowly (or not so slowly!) warming up to us all in different ways.  We are so happy that she hasn’t been terrified.  It was even easy for the nanny to slip away from the office today.  She again fell sleep while I comforted her after a short tantrum.  Her nap is late, but it’s been an extraordinary day.  Sven and Nikolas went for a swim while she’s napping.  Soon we will meet Joanna again to sign paperwork, find a place to eat dinner and buy some water.  Signing off for now.....

Our view out of our first room in Wuhan.

Our last moments as a family of three!

Entering the Civil Affairs Bureau Office in Wuhan.

Our first interaction with Emalie, aka Wu Ji Fang.

She really loves Sven's watch!

Such happy little girl!

She took to Nikolas right away.

Emalie with her nanny from the Half the Sky program at the orphanage.

Look at her walk!!

This is not the screaming and tears we had prepared ourselves for.

What a beautiful smile she has.

Our first 'family of four' photo.

Us with Emalie's nanny.

I guess I lost that toin coss (just kidding!).....Sven's the first to hold her!

Emalie meets her Gege (brother).

"....and this is Mama......"

Kisses goodbye for her wonderful nanny.

Don't you wonder what she's thinking?  I'm sure she had no idea what was really happening, but on some level I'm sure she knew it was monumental.

And after all the excitement, she peacefully drifted off to sleep.  Now it was our turn to stare in wonder at her!

The ultimate "a photo is worth a thousand words".

I took a photo very similar to this during my first newborn photo session a few years ago.    I was so happy to be able to take this photo of my own growing family!

A drooling, giggling machine!

My friend in Maryland is in a band and she sings a song called "Shoeaholic".  In every sense of the word, this is Emalie.  This girl loves all shoes:  big, small, girls, boys.  You name it and this girl will put it on her foot.  We took turns stabilizing her while she walked in Nikolas and Sven's big shoes.  So cute!  Thank goodness I'm only 5'3" or I'd have really had a back ache!

Sven's turn to watch her as she dons Nikolas' shoes....big shoes, wobbly toddler, marble floors = CAUTION!

Thank God for room service (language and delivery problems aside, of course).

A moment that Nikolas has been waiting for for a long, long time.

She may not know or like me yet, but I soaked up every chance I could to be near her while she napped!

Our guide Joanna with Sven, Nikolas and Emalie as we walked through Wuhan to take care of some paperwork in preparation for the next day's Adoption Registration.

Same place, 180 degree view.  Here we are in Emalie's 'hometown' (of a mere 10 million people) with a Tai Chi class taking place in the background.