A night on the Town

Running around in her birthday suit is a new experience for sure. She loves to have her hair brushed, put on a pretty new dress and go out on the town. This girl does not like to stay in the Hotel at all. She is way too social for that. Going to sleep is getting better she is not fighting it as much and can even be put down in the crib instead for having to be walked up and down the hall. She even wakes up with a smile on her face now.

Local Flavor

The people in Guangzhou are so nice and the shopping is incredible. This lady is painting Annalises’s referral picture on the inside of this bottle. Will has wanted to try one of the local authentic Chinese restaurants the one with all the live fish outside. We were the only adoption family in the restaurant, which is something I like. We tried some interesting dishes. Love the little chair they had for Annalise and they also had conchee thank goodness for that. I have been trying all day to post video though and not having any luck we have so much more I can’t wait to share but for now it’s off to bed this little one is running me ragged.

What we Like

I am so in love with this baby she is every thing I have always dreamed about. Today I called her Jingchu and she shook her head NO and I said Annalise and she smiled. She can say Anney, Mamma and Law Low. She loves it when I brush her hair and dress her in a pretty dress. Today we went to the Zoo and it was like taking a bath in your own sweat, it was so hot. After a good rest we went for a swim and out to dinner. She loves to go out and loves her baby today she gave her baby to Will and and bottle to me. I guess you know now who is in charge of what. She will take her bottle in the am and the pm and loves her sippy cup with the soft nipple. Tomorrow we start the Amarican paperwork to get back into the US.

Happy Birthday Annalise

Today was Annalise’s 2nd birthday and we invited our travel group to a cake and ice cream party at Starbucks. They set aside a section of the restaurant. I played some music and all the kids played with balloons. We then did a unique song of Simons Says and Annalise loved the dancing and tried to do some of the hand movements. She just loves music. Then it was time for cake and we all sang happy birthday in English and then in Chinese. When we were done she looked around at everyone and realized this was all for her. She is the most amazing little girl with quite a fun and outgoing personality. She and I are a match made in heaven.

Medical Exam

For someone that did not cry a peep on day 4 she screamed her head off during her medical exam. Looks like fun times ahead for us in the future. All they did was check height, weight, ENT and did a quick exam. This is a requierment for the Amarican Visa. As you can see she was not into it at all as we were leaving I had her wave good bye and she stopped crying and all was good again.




Quiet Please.....ya sure....

Cuteness

Chinese Paper Work is complete and somehow she must know because she is a completely different little girl so happy and enjoying everything.




Our group is great. We are 5 familys. The youngest is 10 months old and other little girl that turned 2, a 7 year old and a 10 year old. This is 2 families 2nd Chinese adoption and 1 familys 3rd Chinese adoption. I am the only new Mom and single Mom in the group. They have been so helpful and supportive to me. This is the most Annalise has walked with the help of her new friends. She wants so much to keep up with them.

Thoughts from Will

The last few days, our “baby days”, have been a combination of joy mixed with some stress. Little Jing Chu is a gorgeous little bundle of joy most of the time, but with her very insistent personality she can be a pill as well at times. I am experienced with American two-year olds, having three grown children, and I can assure everyone that Chinese two-year olds are no different that their American counterparts… NO is definitely part of her vocabulary. Not so much verbally yet, but she can communicate “no” very, very clearly with facial and body language, and when she indicates “no”, she means it and there’s no changing her mind. This has been somewhat trying at times, requiring hours of holding and cuddling. The holding can only be done for so long, as she is not a little newborn feather … rather more like carrying around a deadweight bowling ball.
Paulette is doing fantastic, although I can tell that she feels a little stressed at times. Again from experience, I know that two year olds can just be a bit demanding, but with Paulette’s experience with preschoolers in her job, the two of them are making great headway and she will get through it. She is doing wonderful as a mom, with total love and concern for Jing Chu showing with every hug, smile and warm caress she gives to Jing Chu dozens of times each hour. Jing Chu is already very attached to her new ‘Ma Ma”, and insists on being hugged regularly. It’s a match made with God’s blessing.
I’m trying to capture Paulette’s tender loving emotions towards Jing Chu on film, so that in years to come, when they both dig into the photo albums, Jing Chu will have a sense of her mothers love and Paulette will recall fond memories of the time spent in their first days. It’s so easy to take pictures of the two of them, as they are both very photogenic and with Jing Chu’s antics there are dozens of photo ops every hour. I hope you all enjoy the pictures and that they are helping you to get a feel for what a tender blessing from God she is.

Coming Around-Day 3

We can eat with a spoon but get about ½ of the conche all over us and we will not wear our bib. She loves orange juice and can drink from a straw great and this is helping because she is now refusing the Chinese baby bottles. Can you blame her when she gets scrambled eggs, French toast and potato chips. Yea that wonderful diet I had envisioned is out the window. She is definitely staying hydrated and not going hungry. Don’t know what we will do when the cookies I brought from the states run out. She will point to the exact section of the snack cup for them. The big news from today is that I got her to sign “More” for the first time. We were sitting outside of a Christian Church that was given in both Chinese and English. She did not want me to sit down so we went outside because it was so hot. We had a cup of water and after practicing she did it all by herself. She is not so good at drinking from a cup and by the end of the service she was soaking wet but it felt good considering we are wet from sweat anyway. It was hard on the local ladies one lady gave me a pack of tissues to dry her off. We were only across the street from the hotel. We then went swimming for the first time and she gave me her first belly laughs she loved it and is definitely my girl. Then it was to the play room and guess what Mom, her favorite toy is the little kitchen : ) She is sill refusing to walk so we crawled around. I don’t want to push her and am working at or below her level to give her the confidence she needs to move forward physically. She is still quite the Velcro baby and is heavy especially when she is dead asleep and we are walking though Guangzhou. I am not ready to yield to the stroller yet maybe in a few days to save my back. It is doing surprisingly well but needs to get some rest. Good night all and good morning to you.

Reflection On Gotcha Day

This picture was the last thing we did on Gotcha day. Not your traditional family caregiver picture but it is a true representation of the love Annalise has for her Nanny.

I was a nervous wreck trying to say calm but just couldn’t. We gathered at 2:00 and made our way to the Adoption Center of Guangdong Province about 15 minutes away. Then up to the 8th floor and entered a big room with couches and coffee tables around the sides. There is a children’s playroom with a curtain and this is where the children wait for the adoption to begin. The curtain was open and who was right in plain view but little Annalise herself. She was so animated running up to the curtain and looking out and playing peek-a-boo with curtain and all of us. She waved at us and blew us kisses and I saw my first smile. My heart was just bursting with love for this little girl. Then things began we were the 3rd family to get their child. She was carried out by her Nanny and a lady from the SWC. It is all a blur but she did not want to let go of her Nanny. I did not want to take her out of her arms so I asked if she would sit down with me. We sat on the couches and I got out the snack cup and showed it to her she was happy to eat and loved everything. I used the snack cup to get her to move away from her Nanny. With the Nanny’s help she made her way onto the floor and she continued to eat from the cup and she let me feed her. It was finally time and I picked her up and the crying began. After we had a few minutes together her Nanny came up and took her back and she stopped crying right away. This was what she wanted and I did not mind. We all sat down together and I had a chance to ask questions. I asked about the note that was left with her by her birth parents and they did not know about a note and I said it is in all her paperwork that there is a note. They called the SWC and the note was faxed to me. The Nanny handed me a stack of papers stapled at the top. It is all the Half the Sky Progress notes and pictures from the last 2 years. I bursted into tears and hugged her Nanny so tight and thanked her with all my heart. (BTW this was the first time I cried so I won the bet between Will and myself for not crying) Her Nanny is in many of the pictures and she is the one in the picture on the side bar. They also presented me with a special momentums and a note from her Grandmother at the SWC. This was such an emotional time for both of us. She was so loved by her Nanny and Shenzhen took such wonderful care of her. I will be indebted to them for the rest of my life and hope to keep in contact with them. I want to take her back to Shenzhen but I don’t know if it is a good idea right now and my rep agrees we need to wait and maybe at the end of the trip we can go if she comes around. Shenzhen has given me an invitation to visit so we will just have to see. Annalise is very smart and knows exactly what is going on. I just wonder how much she may remember someday. I hope this blog helps her to know how much she is loved by so many people around the world.

Adoption Day

Adoption day consisted of 2 interviews with Chinese Officials. It was formal and the final step in becoming a mother to Annalise. She is very clingy to me and wants to be held and carried all the time. The good thing is she will go to Will to for a short while but wants to come right back to me. This was and has been the only time she has walked for us today and it was a short distance. She has refused to take a bottle and will only eat Cheerios and the other finger foods I brought. I was able to get her to take a few bits of steamed egg as long as there was a Cheerio on top. We Went in search of a Chinese baby bottle to see if that would help and sure enough these silly American bottles with a different shape and size is not going to work at all. The Chinese bottles have a hole in the nipple and all she has to do is bite on it and the liquid comes out she does not need to suck too hard. This did the trick along with a bowl of conche at Lucy’s. She even ate some of the baby prune food for me so I am hoping tomorrow we have blast off. The best comfort for her is the little braids on this doll she wraps the braid between her first and second finger and rubs it under her nose while sucking her thumb. Too cute. I am falling so in love with this little cutie.

PS: For some reason I can not send emails from the Hotel but I can receive them and post and read the blog so thank you all for your wonderful comments and signs of encouragement that she will come around. It brakes my heart to see her so sad.

Gotcha Day

Annalise is doing better but it was not an easy day for either of us I am exhausted and she is finally asleep. She is very attached to her nanny and has never been out of the SWC. It was hard for her to let go and come to me. The grieving process has already begun so I can only hope she will come around soon. Back at the hotel she was beginning to feel a bit better and began to play with a few toys. Thank goodness for the toy baby bottle it is her favorite. I will fill you in more when I’ve has some rest but enjoy the picture she is just beautiful and quite a smart little girl.