Well, today was a free day with no guides. I'm not a fan and personally, I'd rather have the guides with me. Here are a few stories that I haven't written about yet because my posts have already been a mile long! This one proves to be no exception, so grab your cup of coffee and sit back and enjoy.
I received a wonderful gift on Gotcha Day from the nanny. She had made a beautiful scrapbook of L's life! The pictures didn't go all the way back to her infancy, but they went probably as far back as the time I sent my care package. I have pictures of the room where she slept, the crib, the playrooms, the classroom, the bath, some nannies, so much! It is a beautiful gift and I nearly lost it when I flipped through it. What a treasure to have! It is clearly one of those things I'd grab if my house were ever on fire.
I did get a copy of L's Finding Ad. A Finding Ad (for those of you outside the adoption world) is a newspaper classified ad that has the child's picture and a very brief story & description that gets published right after a child is found. It serves as a way of trying to make sure the child doesn't have any family actively looking for them or able to care for them. It is another small treasure to have that very first picture (oh, did she have hair in that picture!).
After Gotcha Day, we had to run to a couple stores for supplies for L. The first stop was a baby supply store. On the walk there, we passed by a BMW dealership. L really seemed to love the brand new BMW's. Good taste, sweet girl. Good taste!
There are a lot of Volkswagens driven around here. It seems to be the car of choice. The driving is insane! Cars, busses, mopeds, bikes, pedestrians, nobody has the right of way. It's a free-for-all out there! And they do drive on the right side of the road like we do. That surprised me.
For the most part, we are well received. I think. I get lots of looks. A LOT!!! A couple of men passing by have given me HUGE smiles, as did an old, wrinkled, gray haired yet beautiful lady. I'll never forget those smiles. Those mean the world to me. I want to hug them and say thank you and tell them that a part of my heart will always be in China as we raise one of China's daughters. Instead, I just flash them an equally big smile and nod my head and walk on by.
On our first trip to Walmart with the tour guide though, a young store employee shouted something out as I walked past. My tour guide immediately gave her a look I'll never forget. That employee clearly had something against me, my country, the adoption, L's special needs, something. Ever since then, I've been a little leery to go out in public, especially alone. That look spoke volumes!
I've seen a few little smiles from L so far. They are little, but they are there. I haven't heard her laugh yet, but that will come. And she is very quiet so far and doesn't talk much, even to my guides.
She loves the photo album I made for her and sent in my care package. When you think about it, that album was probably the only thing that was truly hers in the orphanage. And her favorite pictures in the album? Her guh-guhs -- big brothers! She'll say guh-guh over and over again. It's so cute and it makes me want to jump on a plane right now and get her home to meet her big brothers!
L also loves oranges! I had one in my carry-on bag that I never ate on my flight over here. Well, it's probably L's favorite fruit! Even at breakfast I made some toast and the only jam they had at the buffet was marmalade and L proceeded to lick all the marmalade off and not eat the toast. Silly girl! But I'll miss staying at the R Ranch where the orange trees were plentiful. My daughter would have loved it! (Miss you TONS, R Family!!!)
She has big feet. The 18 month pajamas fit her nicely, but the footie part is quite tight. What I brought for her here will do just fine for the remaining 7 nights we have here, but I'll be quick to get the 2T jammies out of the drawer when we get home. I don't know why I didn't pack 2 sizes of jammies when I packed her 2 sizes of clothes. I do think she likes the lightweight footie pjs though, especially the zebra stripe pair! She likes to look at herself in the mirror when she's wearing them.
She is very easy and seemingly laid back. A perfect match for our family and my laid back boys. God knew exactly what He was doing when He matched her with us!
Sleep was a little harder last night. She cried and cried and didn't want me to hold her. She arched her back and kicked her legs and tried to get away. A couple of times I'd set her down and actually let her get away and she'd only wail even harder, so I'd scoop her up, rock her and walk with her and repeat "mama," "baba" (dada in Mandarin), and "guh-guh," over and over again - my way of saying "you have a family that loves you and you will never be alone."
She still fears the bath. I took one tonight so she could see me in there and know it was safe. Well, she wailed and started banging her head on the bathroom door. Even the beach ball I had with me didn't seem to help much. She'll come around, but in the next day or so, she'll need a good bath, so you can pray for that. She really doesn't like me changing her diaper or clothes either. I can see in her eyes that she's sad and misses her nannies who cared for her daily needs. The look on her face says, "mom, you're doing it wrong!" Poor girl. So much adjustment for her!
But she's really doing great!
I'll leave you with one last thought... On Adoption Day I still had to answer a few questions from the young, beautiful adoption secretary before all my signatures were notarized. The last question I was asked was, "Do you promise to take care of this girl forever and never abandon her." My eyes welled with tears and I held back a sob that had lumped in my throat. I said, "I promise. Of course I promise." what immediately became new to me was the Bible verse, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." that verse that I've known since I was a child became completely real to me in that moment. And even though times are tough for our family right now with a house closing, a relocation coming, and a new daughter added on the other side of the globe, I fully know that God has not left us to fend for ourselves. Just like I promised my new daughter, God will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.
Amen.
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| First day with smiles! |
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| She's not ready to sit and read books yet. |
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| Smiles after a bath and lotion. She loves baby lotion! |
