Annie was sad and Teary last night Before going to bed but slept all night and was happy and playful this morning. We went back to the Civil Affairs office where our adoption was made official- a "swearing in " of sorts.
Playtime this morning
It's official! Then they made us take another picture because Ev's head was blocking the official China crest/seal
Annie fell asleep on the way to the tea plantation, and again on the way home, but enjoyed exploring with us (briefly as our guide hurried us through- she is hurrying us through almost all things which we are trying not to be bothered by). Annie even tried the 4 types of tea with us during the demonstration!
Tea fields
She took a nap when we got home but had the roughest time yet when she awoke. Sobbing crying. She has quietly cried b4 but this was the saddest we have seen her. When she finally calmed down we had our first bath, which she hated. We saw a picture of her in a wooden tub so we know she's had them before, just still scared of all that's going on.
She has 2 personalities at this point- the happy, silly, and playful little girl that laughs out loud and crinkles her nose. Tonight at dinner when she was taking her straw and dripping her juice all over the table with a happy smile was the 2 year old shining through. Then, she retreats into herself with a very serious and sad demeanor- its hard to know from hour to hour who will show up. We know that being here in Hangzhou- while a beautiful city as far as China goes- is pretty disorienting to us- and we have each other to lean on. I cannot imagine the grieving that she is feeling and the confusion from these strangers who speak, look, smell and act differently than anyone she has ever known. When she smiles, it warms our hearts- when a big tear falls out, our hearts break. All in all I would say things are going very well, but we will be SO happy to get home to Charlie and Edie and the familiarity and ease of life at home all together.
We are headed out to eat"local" with our guide tonight. Our experience last night at a local place was funny- Annie has been sad all afternoon and then turned into a clown at dinner- playing her chopstick drums and banging her porcelain bowl on the table while throwing back her head and laughing...no one spoke one word of English to us- thankful for the pictures on the menu - we got about half of what we thought we ordered - along with Hot Heinekin beers. We pretended we were at the lake on a hot summer day and got the last 2 beers out of the cooler. (and then stopped at the market on the way home and got Cold buds:)
Lastly- she is exactly the size they told us she was- 2T clothes fit her well. She is "solid" for a Chinese girl, according to our guide- which just made us smile, as the other little loved lady in our home is described in the same way.
We love getting emails if you have the time....we have more Dan time in our hotel than we expected and it gets a little lonely!
I am sorry about your guide. Our first adoption 5 years ago was miserable. I think we sat in the hotel most of the time. Our guide had multiple agencies she was working with and we ended up in the back of the line. I think she took us sightseeing twice and again very hurried. Every time we asked to do something she said it would cost more money. I have no idea what we paid for because we did not get much.
ReplyDeleteHope you find something to keep you entertained. If you are like us we don't like sitting around staring at each other. Hope you get to meet our little boy tomorrow. Can't wait to hear about your experience at the orphanage.
love the photos julie! She is seriously a doll and she has all of our girls back home totally beat in the hair department!! MS is a little jealous of her pigtails :)
ReplyDeleteJulie, I cannot wait to talk to you when you get back... since you have been to all the same places where we went (West Lake, Tea Museum, same Civil Affairs Office). We are praying for you and hope the rest of the trip is smooth.
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