Jing Yi has arrived at last!

loves spaghetti

look at me

I can use scissors

got this one in by accident-school party

Daddy has the magic touch!

fun with bubbles

We had a knock at the door of our room at 10am and suddenly there she was our new daughter.  It was a little bit of a surprise as we were supposed to get a call when they were on the way.  We were waiting on a call back from the hotel doctor.  Luke’s cold had progressed into a deeper rattle cough in his chest which I was afraid had turned into bronchitis and so we decided to take advantage of having a doctor so close by.  Jing Yi was accompanied by our guide and an orphanage worker.  Jing Yi started crying very soon after her arrival and did not stop until long after they were gone.  I was able to ask the questions I had composed but did not receive much information.  How can you communicate everything about a 4 year olds life to date in such a quick meeting?  The orphanage worker thought it would be best if they left since it did not look like the crying would stop soon.  Huge tears were rolling down Jing Yi’s round cheeks and she did not want to be touched or held.  Pretty much par for the course when someone’s world is suddenly turned upside down and they leave the only home they have known for the past 3 years to join these strangers.  She did have our photo album so at least she had seen our faces before.  John was the first one to break through to her.  He sat her on his lap while I retrieved the doll intended for a gift from Santa.  She has probably never received a gift from Santa to date anyway and this was an emergency.  As John talked to her in Chinese she became fixated on the doll and giving it a bottle and then redressing the doll.  In a matter of 30 minutes she became a happy camper and wanted to check out everything in the room.  She was dressed for a trip to Siberia.  Under her heavy parka she had 4 layers of sweaters on and two layers of pants.  Her cheeks were a ruddy glow from the heat.  It did not take her long to start peeling off the layers on her own accord until we could finally see that she was not as roly poly as appeared at first glance.

The plan was to meet our guide in the lobby of the hotel at 1:30 so we could make the rounds to the various government agencies to make the adoption final.  About this time we found out the house doctor was in and John took Luke there.  They arrived back to the room about 20 minutes later with antibiotics in hand, cough syrup in a mason jar and   a whopping bill of $12 for the visit and medication.  Amazing!  The doctor also told John that Luke was not dressed warm enough, although he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and long pants and we were inside a temperature controlled building.  I was very grateful to get treatment started so that Luke will be feeling much better when it is time to fly to Ghongzhou on Friday.

We were able to finish all the paperwork in record time of 3 hours and the kids did not do too badly.  We met several couples with babies they were adopting along the way and most had waited 6+ years for a healthy baby.  I still find it hard to believe the same process took 6 months when we adopted Lily in 2005.  We had to cross the road on foot a couple of times during this adventure and I was sure on at least one occasion that the kids and I were going to be plowed over.  Our guide walks out into travel without stopping or really looking, she walks steady with her head held high.  I told John it is like there is an invisible shield around pedestrians and cars because as many time as I close my eyes, waiting for the sound of the crash, it doesn’t come.  There are pedestrians, bikers, motor bikes, buses and cars all sharing the same 2 lane road, but stretched out 3-5 across as the jockey for position.  I really need to take video of how it looks from the back seat of a van-it is amazing.  There is lots of honking going on all the time but nobody looks mad and somehow they all manage to make their way.  Our guide realized my fear when I actually screamed while I was behind her with the kids trying to keep up. 

During one interview a Chinese man sitting next to John to interview him on our intentions for Jing Yi said in a loud voice in English, “why do you want to adopt a child from China?”  We were sitting on benches in the lobby and this man’s voice was loud so suddenly all eyes were focused on John.  John thought for a moment and then answered the question in Chinese.  The man broke out into a big grin and he turned to our guide and made some remark in Chinese and I knew we had passed that test.

During the afternoon Jing Yi had decided to call us Mama and Baba and she wanted to know where we were at all times.  She was funny, happy and asking many questions about the things she was seeing for the first time.  She would grab John’s hand and lead him to the window to point to something and during the rides in the van she stared out the window at the sights.  Many new things for her to see.

When we got back to the room we decided room service was on the menu for Christmas Eve dinner after the excitement of the day and the fact that Luke was under the weather.  Luke and Lily actually fell asleep on the last leg of our journey.  I think Jing Yi was the last one up and I could hear John telling her several times in Chinese to lie down, it was time for bed.  I am sharing a bed with her and after getting up one time I came back to the bed to see she was now lying on top of the covers with her legs straddled over the entire width of the bed.  Good time to blog when everyone else is asleep.