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Sunday, March 12, 2006
ZOE'S PERSONALITY EXPLODES
Zoe’s personality has shown itself
even more since we have arrived in Guangzhou. Actually, it is
literally exploding out of her. I spent so much time before we
came to China preparing our lives for transitioning a worried
and timid child to our home. Zoe is anything but that. Her
name means life giving and she is certainly that. We are
worrying now how to give her the stimulation to keep up with
her curiosity and outgoing personality. Zoe charms everyone
she meets. We are constantly stopped by people remarking what
a happy child she is and how lucky we are. And we are. We
definitely are. She loves a challenge and has gone from not
crawling well to bouncing on our knees or anywhere else her
feet can touch the ground to hear her shoes squeak. Tonight
she was pulling herself up on our bed to knock over towers of
stacking cups. We kept placing them farther and farther away
to get her to crawl or pull herself around the bed. In Zoe
style, once she figured out a couple of times how to balance
with her hands on the bed and put one foot in front of the
other, she decided that was much too slow and basically ran
while balancing herself with sometimes only one or no hands on
the bed. She is bonding with Steve rapidly, though still needs
to be reassured that I am still there. Trust apparently isn’t
an issue with me, as last night when we were playing on the
bed she stood straight up, spread her arms and catapulted down
on me several times. So, as I so often feel with my students,
I am once again running behind trying to catch up with her
rather than helping her take little baby steps towards her
goals. We are praying that her transition to home will be easy
and she will keep this amazing sense of wonder, joy, and
adaptability as we settle in. If so, she will certainly keep
us busy and we will welcome visitors for her to flirt with!
This child truly has sunshine that spills out of her.
Today we spent the morning at the Temple of the Six Banyan
Trees and a park. The girls were blessed at the Buddhist
Temple by a monk who chanted a blessing for them. The ceremony
took place under three large Buddhas symbolizing the past, the
present and the future. The chanting was beautiful and Zoe
sang quietly along with the monk the whole time. The park was
gorgeous, with the trees blooming and there was an exhibition
of pottery and other art from the area over the past 2000
years. Zoe is fascinated with her Daddy’s hat and managed to
steal it at the park. She isn’t quite as happy with her own
hats, to my dismay because they are so cute, and spends most
of the time pulling them off. Zoe traded hats with her Daddy
when she stole his, so we would be so happy to share Daddy’s
picture with you. He looks very cute, but not too happy, in
Zoe’s little pink hat.
Steve, Zoe and I spent the afternoon shopping. The prices are
amazing here. I have bought several pairs of children’s
leather shoes for 30 yuan a piece which is almost $4 US,
beautiful little cotton and corduroy dresses for around $5,
and silk children’s Chinese outfits for around $5. I am also
trying to find small gifts for Zoe to celebrate our gotcha day
anniversary each year, so Steve will be shopping for another
suitcase or two to bring it all home tomorrow. We stopped at a
pearl market on the way to dinner that was basically a huge
shopping mall filled with more jewelry stores than you can
imagine. We have most of the day free tomorrow, so I can’t
wait to check out the rest of the little shops close to the
White Swan Hotel.
Dinner tonight was definitely an experience. We went to a
restaurant overlooking the river that can handle 2000 people
at one time. We were served a traditional New Year’s meal,
which was wonderful. It was a little unnerving, though to have
the whole pig come out and be placed looking straight at me
eyes and teeth intact. I have loved the food that our guide
Jack has introduced us to here in Guangzhou. We have done
Thai, Cantonese, and this traditional New Year’s meal.
Tomorrow we will have dinner on a boat tour of the Pearl River
if the weather holds. I have to admit that before we came to
China I was sure that I would only eat Chinese and was
horrified at the idea of eating American, as I wanted to get
the whole China experience. I have eaten American at breakfast
and lunch pretty consistently since we met Zoe, as my stomach
has been a bit queasy and somehow the comfort of a ham and
cheese sandwich or an omelet has been so welcome. Zoe used a
high chair for the first time this morning, as she refused to
get out of my lap to eat before then. I have definitely found
it difficult to eat with a baby on my lap who is very
interested in playing with everything on the table in front of
her, so my pants are feeling a bit loose as well.
It is amazing to think that one week ago today we first met
Zoe. She really is an explosion of life and joy. It has been a
fantastic week learning who she is and all three of us have
seemed to relax in Guangzhou. It is thrilling to see all the
other adoptive parents in various stages of the process
throughout the hotel and the coffee is even better than
Starbucks at the internet cafe! I have to say that although I
am drinking up every last moment we have in China, I am ready
to come home and begin settling into our new routines. I miss
all of you and am ready to be in my own home instead of living
out of a hotel room. Of course, it doesn’t matter where I am;
when I see my daughter’s beautiful smile, the light and life
in her eyes, and the excitement when she jumps up and down
after learning something new my heart overflows with love and
I whisper over and over again, “I love you my little girl”.
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Buddhist Blessing
Zoe stole Daddy’s Hat
Zoe and Jack
Zoe and the Trees
Zoe and Mary Kate (thanks for the pictures!)
Mommy and Zoe laughing at Daddy
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