Sorry not to have posted any updates sooner, having trouble with both cameras and internet connections. Well we have our girl, we met Monday morning at the Civil Affairs office. Our meeting went much better then I could have ever expected, I am sure that is more due to Lucie, Tessie & several packs of smarties than anything else. She was a bit shy at first but playing with the girls rather quickly. She left with us willingly, not the screaming toddler I had imagined. She seems to be enjoying everything, the elevator in the hotel is a big deal, she probably hasn't been on one before.
She loves bottled water, opend every bottle we have pouring one from the other and drinking drinking drinking. She also really likes to wash her hands and will do it for 10 minutes at a time and brushing her teeth as well, she must have brushed them 10 times yesterday. She is really independent, we only had to show her the toilet once and she will go when needed, yes this was a great surprise that she is potty trained!! I'll have to learn what it is she says to tell our guide she needs to go. I am terrible with everything our guide tries to teach, I just can't get the words out correctly and any little sound change makes it a completely different word.
It is really frustrating not being able to speak the language, this city doen't have as many english speaking people and everyone is so curious about us. Not many families have more than one child much less 2 Americans walking around with 3 - drawing attention doesn't even cover it. And the Chinese don't mind staring at you, they'll walk directly beside us just staring - very akward.
Ok back to HaiYang, she was wearing a little outfit I sent last year with jeans and a sweatshirt over it. They dress the kids so warm!! I am guessing it was 60 or a little more yesterday, all of the kids were dressed for the middle of winter! We tried to remove the jeans but when we were getting our shoes on she grabbed them and put them back on, who knows what she'll want to wear today, I am going to hide the jeans.
HaiYang has an appetite, the nanny said to make sure to watch what she eats or she'll eat too much, we did have to take the food from her at lunch, I thought she would burst otherwise. She does'nt have any trouble eating, drinking or talking although we don't know what she is saying, our guide said she talks very well. It is awful to not be able to understand her so far our guide has been with us but it is going to be very difficult when we are on our own. Although as another Hope mom told me, she does understand some things we say and hand motions go a long way. She was chatting up a storm last night, it was so cute! I am not sure what she was saying but she didn't seem unhappy, even grabbed me an hugged me tightly around the neck!!!It didn't take too long for her to fall asleep, I don't think she could figure out why I wasn't leaving, she kept say bye bye. A few times she jumped out of bed, grabbed the brush and worked on her hair a little. She loves to brush her hair and teeth. I was amazed when she started putting little ponytails in herself, it was so cute her tiny little hands were working so fast wrapping the hair, she ended up taking them back out rite away.
She loves Lucie and Tessie and enjoys playing with them and of course she adores Dave, she just thinks he is sooo funny. She really liked the back pack the girls gave her and started stuffing water in and put it on her back, they also gave her a little purse and she carried all afternoon/evening applying chapstick every so often - so cute she would give herself some, then give us some. She is really sweet and funny, if she trips or spills something she'll give a cute little grin and giggle. She is pretty tough too, the nannie from the orphanage said she runs around like the boys and has alot of energy -yikes I am not used to that :-).
She also has a temper and when I say temper I mean it. She had a tantrum in the room that had Tessie's mouth hanging open and if you know Tessie she has a temper of her own so for her to be in shock.... and at the park, I have never seen anyone carry on for so long, we passed up a candy booth and she freaked. Ok, the only reason I said no to candy was that she had been eating smarties and snacks all afternoon and I didn't want her to get sick, anyway she just went hysterical. Dave had to carry her through the park screaming and of course the Chinese don't ignore a screaming kid like we do... they were coming up to our guide offering help or just walking with us in amazement. Jessie (guide) said, most Chinese kids are raised by their grandparents and very spoiled, maybe we should have just bought the stinkin candy. Ughhh, I'll be sure to have something in my bag for the next outburst. Jessie also confimed, that most of the kids that are lucky enought to get into the foster homes like Hope, are pretty spoiled - great.
To step back a few days, we did get to visit New Hope and I just can't say enough good things about it. If you can't be in a regular home, that is a wonderful place to get to be. They really believe in what they are doing and love the kids like their own. I was so impressed with the cleanliness and organization, I can only dream for that much order in our home. They even make all of the kids a scrap book! Just lovely, HaiYang was very eager to show us hers and paused for several seconds at a picture of her with one of her nannies. Oh speaking of nannies, she has called me Ayi (nanny) several times and called the waitress Ayi as well, I thought that was rather funny, for her almost every woman she has been around is any Ayi.
For those of you following from our agency, Jessie has been a great guide and very willing to help, you just have to ask. Our tour guide in Beijing was ok but left us hanging when it came to eating, we had a few unpleaseant meals but nothing too horrible. The hotel in Beijing was great, we did have 2 adjoining rooms, they have a rule something about no more than 3 to a room. It worked out ok but our hotel here is not so great. It is a nice hotel but not family oriented. We have 2 rooms on oppositee sides of the floor, no tub only a shower (HaiYang was a little scared of the shower), and the beds are small, there are 2 in each room but they are somwhere between a twin and double. Of course the girls want to be were HaiYang is so that means us 4 girls in one room and poor Dave in the other for sleeping, although i am not so sure he didn't get a good deal there ;-). I think the problem was that there is a huge trade show here this week, so space is limited. There is also a trade show in Guangzhou but should be ending when we arrive so hopefully our rooms will be better there.
There is so much to tell I can't possibley fit it all in. More later.
