Monday,
June 14, 2010
Today has been such an incredible day… I don’t know where to
begin. Leah (although we basically only call her Yin Feng for
now… which is pronounced Yeen Fung) slept the whole night with
no problem. Her paperwork had said she was a deep sleeper, and
they weren’t lying. We had all been up around 6, but she slept
until about 8 when we woke her up. She was very quiet and I’m
sure a part of her had forgotten that she was with us, and there
we were when she woke up. We got ready to go to breakfast, and
she slowly began to warm up again. At breakfast the big hit with
her, and Kyra and Ryann as well, was the yogurt. It’s a liquid
and you stick a straw through the foil lid of the cup. She also
loved the warm milk. Then we set out for the morning to tour a
warlord’s compound, where we bought a very neat necklace and
bracelet. Then we went to a mosque, and got two different
perfumes. Then we had another very yummy Chinese lunch. We are
really enjoying the Chinese food here! And it’s different at
every restaurant. This one had a more Arabic flavor almost. But
we seriously can’t get over how much food they give us. Our
guides are always the ones ordering, and it’s enough to feed 20
people, not 8. Then back to hotel for a nap for Ryann and Leah.
Leah was asleep in about 50 seconds. She just lies there, and
falls right to sleep. I’m sure it’s because that’s the way you
had to be to get sleep with other children in the room. After
nap, we colored and played, and Kyra read a story to Ryann and
Leah. Leah really liked that. There were different animals in
the story, and Leah was saying each one. My favorite… duffalo!
Then we had dinner, followed by a bath. We had bathed her
yesterday as well, and we were guessing that she didn’t really
like it, but tonight we know for sure that she doesn’t. She was
crying softly, poor baby. Then it was bedtime where she was
still not quite over the bath. She’s asleep now, so we’ll see
how she wakes up tomorrow.
But the main reason for the incredible day was Leah! She is so
awesome and we love her so much that I seriously don’t know if
we can stand it! Although it’s exactly how we feel about Kyra
and Ryann, and so far we’ve survived! She is very feisty and
spunky!!! And my girl has no fear! She would jump down a flight
of stairs and not think twice. She was jumping over the high
thresholds at the compound (they built them high to keep out
spirits), and running circles around us. That leg / foot of hers
does NOT stop her at all! But on a side note, I can’t wait to
get her a new corrective shoe! And as much as she is a very
determined little girl, she was also doing a great job of
listening when we needed her to stop, walk, or hold a hand. And
we are so blessed that she has such a good understanding of
English. I will explain more about that later, but she
understands pretty much everything we say, and can say several
things as well. She is just absolutely beautiful, and so much
fun! She hasn’t really grieved yet, although her little tears
when meeting us and going to bed were part of it. I’m still
waiting for more. And as crazy as it is, I think I want more so
that I know that she has a healthy ability to form emotional
attachments. But maybe she never really will, and that may just
be her personality. I would be more nervous if there was very
little emotion, but she is so happy, so maybe she’ll be fine
down the road… only time will tell.
We are really enjoying Xining so far! It’s where our daughter is
from, and these are her people, and it will always be a very
special place for us. And the Tibetan influence is so neat here.
When people see us, they seem happy for us to have adopted her.
A few people have wanted to hold her, and many people talk to
her and touch her. I had been worried that we would feel like
complete aliens in their world, but we don’t at all. Of course
we’re about the only white people here, but that’s not what I
mean. They seem to be very welcoming of us, and we have
definitely felt very at ease here. And I have to say that I’m
very surprised, albeit pleasantly, that we haven’t been scolded
yet for not having enough clothes on her. The Chinese people
really like to layer the clothes on their children! And the
traffic, while still crazy, is no where near as chaotic and
insane as in Beijing.
*I always think of other things to say after I post an update,
so here’s another thing from Gotcha Day. We had not used my
camera to take any pictures in the room when we got her, so
that’s why we didn’t have any in the update. We will have some
from other cameras, and we’ll make stills from our video, but I
didn’t have those to post yet. |
Not so sure about this
We train them young
Wearing Ryann’s shades
Our girl can move
Priceless
Naptime |
