"I am sending an
angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I
have prepared."
Travel
Day 6
Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - Adoption Day
Today was adoption day. But, I didn't realize it until I woke up. We got
dressed and tried to eat. Every time I sit down with Kya though, she cries. I
have to stand and walk or dance. Otherwise she cries. I do try to let her cry it
out sometimes but we were the only Caucasians in the restaurant and everyone was
staring so I was embarrassed about how it might look. So, I ate toast and walked
around with her. We left on the bus and I thought she would cry a lot from
sitting down but she loved the bus ride and fell asleep going and coming. The
Civil Affairs was really easy. The notary, registrars, passport and orphanage
donation were all paid there. We first had family pictures. Ours turned out
really good. Then we met with the registrar, asking if we were satisfied with
the baby, how did we plan to care for her and educate her. Then we took her red
hand print...very smudgy, she hated that. Then over to the black leather sofas
to meet with the Notary. A very nice lady. Dale did all the paper work and
answered all the questions to everything while I comforted Kya. He was crying
himself as he stood up from the Notary. The questions were emotional for him. I
never prepped him for that. I knew it would all happen but never told him. I
assumed I would be available and handling it, just like I handled the adoption
paperwork. But, now I have Kya and I needed him to handle everything else. He
did wonderful. Kya doesn't like anyone around her within a certain perimeter or
she cries and she doesn't want anyone touching her, which is very, very
difficult here. All the Chinese Woman want to touch the babies. They love them
so much. Well, the long and short is the notary and registrar were so wonderful
and nice to us and they smiled the entire time, as if they were happy the babies
had families. We went shopping afterwards at a 3 story shopping plaza. The
escalators are like ramps, not stairs and the carts are magnetized to them so
you can go up and down floors. We bought Kya a stroller there, which she loves
and falls fast asleep in.
I can tell Kya is a good baby. But, right now she is a fussy baby quite
often. She didn't have any dirty diapers yesterday which I am worried about. She
is also teething so she shakes her head back and forth and whales. Finally, I
realized that's what it was and gave her baby Motrin, which she loves. She grabs
the dropper and puts it back in her mouth to lick it all off. She loves the Nestle
formula and the drop in inserts work great for her. She has quite the suck, so
they are not a problem at all. She can hold her own bottle but I like to help.
She is used to eating a minced meat ball each day. So, she loved the spicy
hamburger I gave her yesterday. She doesn't like Cheerios and only likes to hold
french fries, not eat them. She's a spice girl! She's not changed much at all
from her referral photos. She has two little white moles on her right ear and
that's about the only thing new we discovered expect a scar on the back of her
leg. She's 11 months and the 12 month clothes are a little big for her. She
loves TV. She just sits and watches. She likes to play by herself and gets upset
if you interrupt or try to play along. She helps when I dress her by pushing her
leg and arm through. But, is real unsure of the bath tub.
First morning
together
She was so hungry
that she drank it all in about 1 minute
and then threw it
all back up, all over mom, but don't we look peaceful here!
*Click
the below photos see larger image.*
It's official now,
she's our daughter.
(Outside the Civil
Affairs Office in Chengdu, Sichuan.)
We bought the orphanage donation. We went in with the our friends that are here adopting as well and
bought a washing machine. 3 other families went in and bought a drinking water
heater. It heats the water enough to make it drinkable for bottles, etc. Very
nice. There was some misc items too, like a little clothes wash rack thing, a
fry pan and something else. Dale did the shopping with Bill, Rosa our guide and
an Orphanage Rep. So, the orphanage made out very well. We have pictures and
they were so very, very happy. They didn't expect that and we didn't expect to
be able to do so much either. We also felt blessed to do this. So, thanks to
those who wanted to contribute. It went far!
The day has come
and gone, it's hard to believe.
Room service anyone
for our first official family dinner?
