Tuesday, November 2, 2010
GIGGLES AND SMILES!

I forgot to mention in my last post that she asked her foster mother to crochet cell phone holders for us that we can wear around our neck. That is what I am wearing in some of the pictures. It is so special to me. What a treasure! We also received a photo album from the orphanage with several baby pictures and younger pictures of her. Also a treasure! Her foster dad is a police officer and her foster mom is a stay-at-home mom. Annalyn attends kindergarten part-time and then her foster mom teaches her at home part-time. It's a little bit confusing. Annalyn cannot read Chinese pinyin, but so far she has been able to read all of the Chinese characters from our translator. What does that mean? Basically, we can talk to her, but she cannot talk to us. However, communication has not been terrible. She knows that when she can show us what she is saying that we can understand. She does that really well. But when she is saying regular conversations, we cannot understand what she is trying to say. She speaks in Chinese all the time to us, even though she knows that we cannot understand her. Also, I try to ask her yes and no questions through the translator and that has worked very well.

Last night, she slept great. She had no problems going to bed. She woke up happy this morning. We all woke up before the sun came up, but she and Gwendolyn laid in bed awake for awhile. She did not get up until I asked her if she was ready to get up. She went straight to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Then she played a little bit with Daddy and then when it was time to change into her clothes, she folded her pj's and put them away. (BTW, she can fold really neatly.) After Gwendolyn had her shower this morning, she wanted to dry Gwendolyn's hair with the hair dryer! I got a great picture of that!

We ate breakfast in the hotel this morning. I wish I could have taken a picture of her face when Mike sat down at the table with a big plate of salad for breakfast. LOL We did not need any language to know what she was thinking. She had the funniest look on her face like "Are you kidding me? Salad for breakfast?" Let me clarify that normally, Mike does not eat salad for breakfast, but he said that it seems to be the only time during the day that he can eat a salad. It was hilarious! After he ate his salad, he did finally go back to the breakfast bar and get a plate of a more normal breakfast. Then she had this look on her face of "that's better Daddy." LOL It was so funny! LOL

It is amazing what you can communicate with your face and body language. We are trying sign language, but she cannot bring her hands up to her face, so I think she thinks that she cannot sign back to me. She is able to recognize the signs that I am doing to her.

Today we went back to the Civil Affairs Office to make the adoption official. She is officially ours!! Woo hoo!! We are so glad! She really is such a joy! After that, we went shopping for her. She came to us with 2 pants, a shirt, a sweater, one pair of socks, one pair of underwear, and a pair of slick dress shoes...not good for walking. We were able to purchase a great looking pair of tennis shoes that she picked out. She was soooo sweet. She asked our translator why Gwendolyn was not getting shoes. She was saying it in a generous way. So sweet! She also picked out 2 pants, a shirt and a sweater. The store did not have a lot of variety for her age. But we did pick up some more underwear and socks. We also purchased an extra suitcase that will hopefully be filled with her favorite DVD's, books, and souveniers.

This afternoon, we basically rested and played in the hotel room. She had a hard time sticking to one activity this afternoon. I think she was a little bit tired...maybe trying to keep herself awake? I don't know. According to her daily routine that her foster mother sent to us, she is used to taking a nap in the afternoon. So far, every time I ask her if she is tired, she says no.

Right now, she is sleeping peacefully on the little couch in our sitting area. She said that she wanted to sleep there tonight. She is used to sleeping in her own bed, so I thought that it would be ok. She is just a precious and sweet child. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

For those of you who don't know already, so far in China, I am able to check my email. So all of the FB posts and messages I can read because they are sent to my email, but I cannot tell what picture you are commenting on. Thanks so much for all of your kind messages. It is so comforting to us when we get up the next morning and read the sweet comments from our family and friends. It makes us feel like we are not half way around the world. LOL. It really makes us feel closer to home. We are honored that you all would want to share in our joy! We are so blessed with great family and friends!

Tomorrow, we will tour the famous Yellow Crane Tower. Annalyn seems really excited about it. She has never been on a tour, but she passes by it very often I think...maybe on the way to school. So look for pictures tomorrow! Good night from Wuhan, China!

P.S. Daniel, so far we have not had anything weird to eat and no bugs. So sorry to disappoint you! LOL! However, tonight at dinner, Annalyn did shoo away a fly off of my plate in Chinese. I am pretty sure it was "shoo fly" in Chinese. LOL!