Kelley slept thru the night, but tossed and turned and was even upside down in bed at one time. She wacked both of us in the head and back more than once. This morning we skyped with home and that is when she woke up. She was intrigued by Kimmy on the computer. She has already seen many pictures, but now she heard a voice to go with the face. Kimmy tried to talk to her, but Kelley was quiet and still half asleep. We went downstairs for breakfast and offered her many choices. Watermelon was the favorite! She was determined to hold a large fork in her small right hand and eat herself...which she did.
We left around 9:30 am again with Anna & Mr Lee to go to the Civil Affairs office to make it official. She is ours...not a US citizen yet...but ours. The process went very smoothly...no arguing like the last time when we adopted Kimberly. We promised to love her and never abandon or harm her. We had to sign our name more than a dozen times and then place our thumbprint over top. Kelley had to place a whole hand print on one document. She thought it was funny. There was another little boy that was being adopted by a couple from Spain and he was very upset and crying. Kelley found some candy on the table and took it to him to make him feel better. She tried to tell him that it would be ok. She has been very sharing of everything (including French fries), which will work well at our house. I think the ladies from the orphanage were pleased that she was happy and smiling...a much different picture than yesterday.
On the way back to the hotel Anna asked if we would like to see her orphanage on Friday morning. We said yes. She never lived there, so we thought it wouldn't be hard for her. After a few more phone calls, Anna suggested that it might not be such a good idea. Grandma's heart is breaking and has been asking about Huangtao and the family who adopted her. She wants to make sure that we will love her. Kelley's aunt is one of the employees at the orphanage and will probably call Grandma as soon as we arrive so she can meet us. Anna (& we agreed) that Kelley's heart would break again to see Grandma and we would be back to the beginning. We settled on Dan & Kelley staying at the hotel and I will go with Anna on Friday morning to meet Grandma and to see the orphanage and village where she grew up. I will take lots of pictures for Kelley to remember. Visiting the orphanage was not an option when we adopted Kimberly, so I don't know what to expect. I hope we made the right decision. I think it will be good for me to see and know where she came from, so I can share it with her later. I think Kimmy would like to here the same stories, if I had them.
We hung out at the hotel for a few more hours before our WalMart shopping trip. I wandered the side streets taking a few pictures. I saw a donkey, hitched to a cart standing on the sidewalk of a busy street. I took some pictures of the local market, but it was pretty much closed by afternoon. While I was out, Dan taught Kelley some English...at least she learned to repeat some words and make the sounds of our own language. She could repeat "I love you, Kimmy, Sister, Dada, Mama, Thank you and a few other phrases. She repeated some of them for me when I came back. We ventured downstairs again and she was still very happy...crawling, running, skipping & jumping everywhere. With all of our trips up & down, she has now learned how to push elevator buttons...something Kimmy loves to do. She colored some more, played with a yo-yo, listened to some music, watched cartoons and played with her dolls. I read her the story of Ping, the little yellow duck, but she wasn't interested. She does like pushing the bellies of two dolls and then they talk to her. One doll is the same one that we first gave to Kimmy & the batteries still work!
Anna came back this afternoon to take us to WalMart for a little shopping trip. We showed Anna the foods & drink that Kelley liked from the goodies that Grandma sent with her. She likes a yogurt flavored drink very much, so we bought 10 bottles along with some items that she picked up as she was running thru the store. She was on sensory overload and just grabbing things to throw in the cart. Actually, she was leading the shopping trip and knew which aisles to go to. When we first walked in, there was an ice cream cooler at the door and she knew that was what she really wanted. Anna asked her questions about her favorite snacks and she willing answered, constantly asking for ice cream. We told her that she could have some on our way out. Anna suggested an ice cream cone or sundae from KFC, which was next door to WalMart. When we were in line at KFC, Kelley changed her mind and wanted a pepsi instead of ice cream. She gave a big "Ahhh" after her first sip...it was cute enough to be a commercial! That is where our translator was really able to help. We have been able to understand her basic needs and she understands some of what we ask based on body language. But the actual conversation, to discuss what to eat or drink, is missing.
We headed down to the hotel again for dinner and she ate a hot dog & fries...all gone in no time. She also opened up a toothpick and used it on her teeth! I didn't see that one coming. She jumped into bed again and was out before her head hit the pillow. She was a bundle of laughter and smiles today, but I'm sure she is still hurting. If she could tell us how she really feels, I'm sure it would be how much she misses her Grandma. She is a very sweet & smart little girl, that will fit into our family nicely. Tomorrow we will visit the Shanxi museum and Anna will pick up her notary documents.
Today, we heard from about a typhoon and severe flooding in Shanghai from a gentleman in the elevator. We looked it up and luckily it will not affect us, or our flight and stay in Guangzhou.
No comments:
Post a Comment