Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Today's "official" duties were to start promptly at 8:30 AM. For those of you that don't know me well...that is EARLY! We all underestimated how much time it would take to get 5 of us, including two toddlers, ready and out the door. An hour and a half later we realized our error and were forced to skip breakfast to make our appointment on time! :( We were ushered back to the Civil Affairs Office to complete the paperwork and notarizations making Ellie officially OURS!

I was a bit nervous, as the orphanage workers were to be there for this process and to answer any questions we might have about Ellie. But when the lady who had delivered Ellie yesterday extended her arms to take Ellie from me, she refused! I was very pleasantly shocked! Ellie sat quietly in my lap as I asked questions about her first 22 months in ChangNing. I could have never imagined how difficult it is to formulate questions to sum up this precious little girl's life in a few short moments. I left there feeling disappointed that we know so little about the beginning of our daughter's life story. They did confirm, though, that Ellie had been living in a foster home with a couple in their early thirties that had one 10 year old daughter of their own. She left the orphanage to live with them at 10 months old and was picked up from their home just yesterday morning to make the trip to Changsha and her new family. This explains her very difficult day and breaks my heart even further. Who could expect any child to have reacted any differently when removed from the only home she knew, and thrust into the arms of strangers, who spoke a language she could not even understand.

In spite of all of this, Ellie took great strides today in adjusting to her new life today. She actually turned a big corner when the orphanage workers were saying "goodbye" to her. She started to laugh and wave her hand at them as she proudly kept saying "bye-bye" and then laugh in delight at her accomplishment every time. She interacted with Kate quite a bit and yet kept a careful eye on Doug and me all day, wanting to be held 95 percent of the time. We gladly obliged since this meant that she was obviously looking to us for comfort. Then, just moments before laying her down for the night, she began to hum sweet little tunes and play with Doug as if she'd known him forever. She would put a pacifier in his mouth with the handle between his teeth and then go to him as if kissing him to retrieve that pacifier into her own mouth. This game seemed to delight both of them and was a nice ending to our second day together as a forever family. That "nice ending" was short lived, however, when Ellie decided that going to bed was not near as delightful! It took nearly an hour to get her sleep and as I type Doug and the rest of our crew are literally passed out from our very full day here in Changsha.