Tuesday Day 7

Last night went well. Baby girl slept through the night. We actually had to wake her up after 12 hours so we could run to breakfast. We had to meet our group at 8:30. We didn't go down for breakfast until 8 so we felt a little rushed. The breakfast bar is huge. There is cereal with 'real milk', fruit bar, bread bar, hot bar (includes some Chinese dishes, pizza, potato like tater tots and hash brown, pizza, french toast, etc. It takes longer than a 1/2 hour to fully take advantage of it. Also, at 8 AM it was very crowded and hard to move through the lines. We fed Maelynn before we left the room. Her bottles are 1/2 formula and 1/2 rice cereal. She can suck them down in about 60 seconds flat. We are slowly integrating her formula and cereal with the American formula and cereal we brought with us.

We met our group at 8:30. We went back to the civil affairs office for interviews and finalizing the paperwork. She is now officially our daughter! The interviews weren't bad. They asked us our names, when we were married, if we had adopted before, and why we chose to adopt from China. Our agency had us prepared of what to expect. It was a long wait because each family had each interview which took about 5 minutes each. There were a couple of balloons in the room which entertained Logan and even Maelynn. She would hold them by the knots. We also got her to walk a little during the wait. Previously, we would set her on her feet and they would turn to jelly so she could sit. Now she is standing and toddling a little. I'm sure this will not last long. She actually toddled to the Darnell family. When she wants you to pick her up, she backs into you. Jennifer picked her up and had both girls on her lap.

After the interviews we got back on the bus and went to another office to have her picture taken for her visa. She fell asleep on the way there and we had to wake her for the picture. It only took a minute. Once we were done and waiting for the bus to pick us up, she was down and walking. Logan was holding her hand and she was actually pulling him around the room! She was cruisin'! It was very cute and endearing.

Back on the bus for a bumpy ride back to the hotel. We gave her a bottle and Logan, Maelynn, and Mama got to take a nap. Baba checked his Everquest boards. After the nap, we promised we would take Logan to McDonald's. Boy, that was a long walk and it was very humid! This one tasted much more like home. Most things have tasted very similar, but just slightly off. The fries were awesome though. On the way back, we found a playground for Logan to have some fun. We are making sure he gets his special time too. On the way to McDonalds's we were stopped by Jordan who owns a store. He was very nice and gave us directions to McDonald's so we stopped by his store on the way back. We bought Maelynn a pair of squeaky shoes. These are shoes where every time you take a step, the squeak. It is suppose to encourage them to walk. You also always know where the child is, kind of like bells on the shoes. We bought a couple of gifts as well. We like Jordan. He is not pushy like some other shopkeepers. He went to school to be an attorney, but likes this job much better. He likes to see the babies. He drew each of the kid’s names in Chinese and then the translation and gave it to us for free. Even Logan talked to him with no problem. That gives us a big clue. We will go back to see him. Wednesday Jeanie is taking us to the 'real' stores. I think more like a shopping mall. We are waiting to buy too much until we see what that is like.

Back at the hotel, we gave Logan a bath. He was so dirty from playing. While Erich was helping him with that, I fed Maelynn her bottle and then a couple of Cheerios. I got up to check the computer and she got up and came to me. Again, she backed into me so I could pick her up. She is slowly coming out of her shell shock and showing us her real personality. For the past 19 months, she has only been inside the walls of the orphanage. That was her comfort zone. Then yesterday, they got on a bus and rode for 5 hours. The roads here are bumpy. She is now in an environment where the sites, sounds, and smells are completely different. A lot of babies shut down until they can adjust. She has always had to comfort herself. We are seeing how she did this. She does bang her head on the bottom of the crib and kind of hums to herself whenever we leave a room she's gotten use to. She also does this kind of push up thing. From the crawling position, she throws her body to the ground and back up again. Logan says she's doing her exercises. We want to show her that we will comfort her now and she is not alone so we intervene by picking her up or holding and rubbing her head. Once, Erich was stroking her arm. He stopped and she reached for him so he could do it some more.

At the White Swan, they have the Swan Room. It is a play room that is sponsored by Mattel. It is a great place to take the babies. Even Logan had a great time. Maelynn is coming out of her shell more and more. She was reaching for toys, handing them to us, and crawling for more. I rolled a ball to her. She would pick it up and hand it to me. She is also coming to Erich and bonding with him. A left for a little bit to look in a bookstore to give them some time together. There are several stores on the first floor of the WS. It was a nice relaxing time where we all bonded a little more. We let Maelynn walk all the way back to the elevator and then around our floor for a bit. Most of the babies from the other orphanage have come down with bronchitis and have scabies. A lot of the parents are taking them to the clinic here at the hotel. We saw Mary in the hallway with Katie and Kevin. Mary is the mom who twisted her ankle. She and Katie were walking the hall together. It is great to see her up and moving.

After playing all day, we were wiped out and ready for bed. So far everyone is sleeping through the night (except me). I like the quietness and listening to my family breathe peacefully as they sleep.

In the Lord's peace,
Robin