Tuesday,
November 30, 2010
I want to pick right up from our last update, because after
Grace woke from the sleep that followed her sad tears she was
awake and full of fun. We had giggles and cuddles, tickles and
big belly laughs. She was transformed and took to us very well.
She ate pretty well sharing a bowl of mushroom soup with her
mama. She absolutely loves cheerios too, and will say in Chinese
“this good” as she eats them. She finally got sleepy after all
the play, by that time all the layers of clothing she had
arrived with had been peeled off and replaced with PJ’s. By 9pm
she was in her crib and settling down. Once asleep she was in a
deep peaceful sleep that continued until about 6am this morning.
She once again woke up happy and said Nia Hao (Good Morning). As
she was in such good spirits we decided to try a bath after a
bit of early morning play. The bath was a big hit and she
enjoyed splashing and didn’t mind being washed, she actually has
a pretty good idea of how to wash herself. I guess she learned
to be independent at the Foster Home in Bejing. After she was
dried and dressed we went down for breakfast in the hotel. We
sat with a lovely couple from Georgia who also received their
baby at the same time as us yesterday. Grace ate a little bit of
cereal and drank a little juice but by far her favorite food was
watermelon.
Once we cleaned up after breakfast we met our guide Tracy at 9am
for another trip back to the Civil Affairs office. This
appointment was to last much longer and it was here that we
legally became Grace’s parents as her adoption was finalized. It
required a lot of paperwork, we had to sign many pages, give our
thumb prints in red ink over all those signatures, we had to
answer all kinds of questions and promise to never abandon
Grace, and they checked we still wanted to adopt her after
spending the night with her. The final step was a red hand print
from Grace on the last page. She had to be coaxed into this
because she had become quite upset during this appointment. The
office was hot, we were one of four families all trying to get
everything done, and Grace had met up again with the orphanage
director from Yuncheng City. It was clear that Grace was fond of
her and that she was fond of Grace. I think they both found it
sad, but the director was a delightful woman who answered lots
of our questions about Grace and wants to hear how she is doing
in the USA.
When we finally left the office as a family of 3 now legal and
forever, Grace was grieving hard again just like yesterday. Once
in the van she settled down, though she has been taught to sit
on the floor, there are no rear seatbelts here in China. She
seems very intent on sitting on the floor so our car seat at
home is going to be a challenge. She cried again once we got out
of the van, but had settled by the time we reached our room.
Once inside she played happily with us, ate and drank a little.
She would not settle in her crib for the nap we were told she
always takes, we have decided we have too many interesting
things in the crib. So we picked her up and put her on the bed
where she settled straight down to sleep, first with me and then
with Margaret. Once she wakes we are going to try and take her
across the street from our hotel and buy her some shoes. If that
goes well I’ll post a picture with this update!
We really appreciate all the guestbook comments, you cannot
understand how connected and glad they make us feel, we feel
loved and supported.
Mrs. Branscombe really enjoyed reading the comments from the
students in Ms. Oliver’s class! |
When I woke up it was fun, fun, fun with Mama
I woke up really happy
I would even play silly games with Daddy
Back at the Civil Affairs Office with the Orphanage Director
from Yungcheng
My afternoon nap with Daddy |
