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Wednesday, March 8, 2006
72 HOURS AFTER RECEIVING ZOE
It has been an incredibly wonderful day today, filled with
Zoe’s smiles and laughter. I marveled so often today that
three days have changed this child from a scared and tearful
little girl to a joyful and curious child who babbled, sang
and laughed her way through the day. It is wonderful to begin
to see who Zoe is. She is pure joy. I am so lucky to be her
mother.
Zoe has continued to need me to be close to her all the time.
We are so grateful that she is continuing the attachment
process, but I have to say that my back and arms are
definitely sore from carrying her everywhere we go- even just
across the room to get something. Taking showers and going to
bathroom are a bit rough! She did let Steve carry her home
from the grocery this afternoon after she fell sound asleep on
the way there in my arms. As much as it melts my heart when
she cries maaaaaaaa and stretches out her arms to me whenever
anyone else tries to hold her, it has been really rough on
Steve. He so wants to hold her and not just be the bad guy who
is keeping her from Mommy. They are definitely making progress
together. Zoe no longer cries when she looks at Steve. She now
loves to steal her Daddy’s hat (Mary we have some great
publicity photos for the YMCA with Zoe and Steve’s YMCA hat!),
blow kisses, and be silly with him. Hopefully tomorrow and the
days to come will allow her to continue to open up to him.
Steve has been a fantastic husband and has made it so easy for
me to learn how to take care of Zoe. He has been wonderful
about getting things ready, washing lots and lots of bottles
and spoons, jumping to bring me something I have forgotten
when I am changing Zoe, and looking for all the little ways he
can help me. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be a
parent with.
I was really prepared for Zoe to have a rough time with eating
and sleeping. She absolutely loves to eat! Our menu today has
included four 8 oz bottles of formula, tofu, watermelon (you
were absolutely right Liliana. Zoe does love her watermelon.),
rice congee with vegetables, the ever present Cheerios, wagon
wheels, biter biscuits, rice crackers, half a jar of peas,
rice cereal, a cookie snuck to her by a waitress, egg and corn
soup, some kind of ground pork dish for dinner, noodles,
steamed eggs, and she was still stealing another baby’s rice
crackers during playtime in the hall tonight. I am so glad
that she is eating and that she hasn’t been picky about
anything so far except the broccoli that definitely got spit
out. It went in Mary Kate’s direction! She weighs somewhere
around 7.5 kilos (about 15 lbs) and most of the clothes that I
brought for her are quite big. The way she is eating, they may
be small by the time we come home! Zoe has slept through the
night all three nights, other than needing her stomach rubbed
a couple of times to get back to sleep. She is sleeping in the
small crib in our room. Naps, on the other hand, seem to need
to be taken while she is outside and walking, which has been
quite a strain on my arms and back. I am amazed how helpful
Zoe is with bathing, dressing, and toileting. We are both
learning so much from each other. She shows me by how she is
trying to help me her routines and I am noticing her very
quickly adapting to the way I do things and figuring out how
she can help me as well. She really is a smart kid.
We didn’t have any appointments we had to be at today. Just a
fun day to see a little of Nanchang and get to know our babies
better. We went to a pavilion today with beautiful gardens
that was within walking distance of the hotel. There was a
short musical show with traditional instruments that Zoe
loved. She really enjoyed watching the colorful fish in the
ponds and if I hadn’t had such a tight grip on her would have
ended up swimming with them! The gardens were wonderful to
walk in. The trees are beginning to bloom here and in spite of
being foggy, it was a warm day. It felt like the beginnings of
spring. The rest of the day was spent eating and playing. Zoe
discovered stacking cups (thank you Ellen, Jack and Madelyn),
my crossword puzzle book, and is constantly practicing pulling
herself up and standing. Her little dances when she is
standing are so cute! She babbles and sings constantly. I find
myself walking the streets of Nanchang singing little made-up
songs back and forth with her. We ended the day with a
playdate in the hall with two other babies and an older
brother in our travel group. It was fun to see how comfortable
Zoe felt with the other children. I am embarrassed to say,
though, that my daughter feels very at ease in taking away
toys from the other children, even the older ones. She even
took a rice cracker right out of the mouth of another of the
babies, even though she had one in her hand already! Hopefully
Danielle, MaryChun, Madelyn, and everyone else will still want
to play with her when we get home!
I will close my eyes tonight seeing the sweet smile of my
daughter, hearing her giggle and seeing the look of sheer joy
on her face when she is eating or playing. I can’t wait to get
to know her even better in the coming days. I am so blessed to
be able to be her mother.
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Zoe’s Smile
The Tengwang Pavilion
Zoe’s (and mommy’s) Laughter
Zoe discovering spring
Peas
Playdate in the hallway
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