Tuesday, February 10, 2009

God certainly must be hearing all of your prayers! Today was yet another day filled with first experiences with our little girl. She continues to open up more and more. Today, she is having conversations with us, of course, in Chinese, and we love every minute of it. Grandma Sharon and the kids have her running through the hotel lobby and restaurants! She is becoming quite the loud, dynamic, and outgoing girl! She mocks all of us. She gave me and Ethan both kisses on the cheek today! I wanted to scream, I was so excited! She said the words ‘potty’ and ‘bye’ and ‘daddy’ and ‘e.’ She now also blows kisses and waves goodbye!

She is still a little shy with Jeremy, and I know that’s hard for him. It must be hard for her, too, as she is not used to men, for one thing…and then a tall man, to boot! I know that before long, she will be going to him for everything!!! :)

We ventured out to the new Fuzhou Zoo today with our China agency coordinator, Echo. Echo is the absolute best! She is with us through out our trip, helping us finalize the adoption. Ethan and Lauren are quite fond of her, as well the rest of us. She will do anything and everything for us.

We encountered more curious local people at the zoo. A few came up and talked to Caiya. They told Echo that Caiya is very lucky to be with us, and that she will have a good life. We saw some neat animals…some specific to China/Asia, and some worldly animals, too. The zoo was nestled into the mountains. Some parts of the zoo had one way to get to some exhibits: steps…endless steps…no ramps for strollers, but we always found a work around; I carry Caiya and Jeremy hauls the stroller.

After the zoo, we stopped at McDonald’s. Echo and Jeremy hopped out of the van to get it. You couldn’t miss Jeremy! The tall Caucasian man wearing his green Geneseo t-shirt and cargo pants walked the downtown streets of Fuzhou among all the local business people wearing dark suits. That was a sight to see. Both Ethan and Caiya were sound asleep on me, so I couldn’t get to my camera in time to get a shot.

We spent the rest of the night hanging out at our hotel. We ate at the hotel restaurant. It is so amazing what this girl eats! Anything and everything! I ordered seafood Japanese noodles. Now, the seafood part was way more than just shrimp and crab. It also included stir-fried squid, mussels, and prawn. I didn’t touch the squid, but Caiya did. She ate Lauren’s wonton soup, too! For being as small as she is, we wonder where it all goes!!!

There are several other families from the U.S also adopting, that are staying at our hotel. A couple of the kiddos are from the same institute as Caiya. It’s nice talking with them and hearing their experiences.

We still have 3 days left in Fuzhou before heading back to Guangzhou. So, we’ll have more to share tomorrow!!!

Hugs and Blessings,
The Holke’s


Lauren's Blog

Today we went to the zoo there were a lot of different animals. Yingsy sleep all most the whole way in her little stroller, it was cute. She started speaking today but we can not understand her she actually speaks Chinese. She has learned a little bit of English not much though. She is also very energetic and funny she is the cutest thing you could ever see. I have got lots of my pictures taken by total strangers, it is weird, trust me.