March 23
Alexia Day!!!!!!!
Erin here:
It's a little after 6:00am here in Chongqing. It is still very dark outside. That seems strange since in Beijing it was pretty light outside by now. All of China is on the same time zone and Chongqing is a few hundred miles west of Beijing. So it makes sense that it is still dark outside, it is just a strange feeling, it was light yesterday morning and very dark today.
I have been awake for the last two hours, just lying in bed trying to relax, I took a bath to try to ease the lower back tension, and I have been pouring over my Chinese Text Book. I have to admit terror has set in. Our poor little Lexi, what are we doing to her? Is this going to traumatize her for life? She is going to be so frightened. Will I have the ability to comfort her in a way she understands? How clumsy are we going to be and how long will it take us to know her enough to know her needs and wants and understand her personality, and for her to understand us. And I don't mean just verbal language, but body language, the look in the eyes, etc.
When we checked into the room last night (a very nice room in a very nice hotel) there was a crib all setup for us right next to the bed. Sitting on one of the end tables was a bag of bath toys with a card wishing us Congratulations and Best Wishes from the hotel staff. We both just stood there and cried for about a minute. I think it was a little of everything, joy and fear together.
Well that's all for now, in about 14 hours I will be updating this page with pictures of Lexi and tales of our first meeting and our first day together. In addition to being united with our daughters today we will also go to the Majestrate to complete the adoption. So the next time I sit down here to write we will officially be forever family.
Erin again:
I thought I would give you the pictures first.
What a day! There was so much emotion it is just too intense to describe. As we approached the offices where the babies were, the anxiousness grew intensely. We took an elevator to the Civil Affairs office. When we walked into the front office there were nine babies hanging out in walkers. Everyone was circling around asking who was who. I wasn't sure at first then I saw this cutey in pink in a walker and asked the woman standing near by Ai Nian?? Ai Nian?? She said yes. As I approached her she initially backed away in her walker as far as it would take her, not very far. Then they started to hand us the babies. There was lots of crying and wailing. Lexi took a couple of sobbing deep breaths as they pulled her out of her walker to hand her to me and that was it. For the first 30 minutes she sat very quietly, taking it all in. Evaluating for herself what to make out of all of this. Ken and I took turns introducing ourselves to her. Then we sat and pulled out a couple of toys. She seemed to like that. Then we moved to the floor and pulled out the Cheerios. Boy she liked that. About an hour after being put in our arms she was smiling and giggling and talking up a storm. This child we were just told "was shy and introverted and it may be a few days before we see her smile" just let it all show. To quote Amie, another adopting mom, shy my butt.
We all got on the bus after a couple of hours of introduction and paperwork. I thought for sure she would lose it either in the elevator or on the bus. Not our Lexi, this is one tough resilient cookie. As soon as the bus started to move she fell asleep on Ken's chest. She couldn't get comfortable so was a bit fussy, but wouldn't you be? We thought for sure when we got back to our hotel room she would continue her nap, but as soon as we put her down she fussed and woke right up. From that moment she has been nothing but playful and chatty. She seems to really understand who Ken and I are. She wants us both in sight at all times. When we went down to dinner Lexi would get fussy if she couldn't see daddy anymore when he went back to the buffet and would call quite loudly for him.
Lexi is smaller than we anticipated. She is not the weight indicated in the reports we received. She is not under nourished underweight, just tinier than originally indicated. So I fear everything we brought is too big, definitely the diapers are. We will be able to trade diapers with others in the group who have a smaller size. She also isn't walking unassisted yet. I am sure that will catch up quite quickly maybe before we even get home. When we went to change her diaper we found marks on her skin, it is scabies (the pediatrician in our group confirmed it for us). We have the medicine for that with us and started her on it this evening. It is a cream you put all over. Other than that she is in good health and has a great appetite.
That's all for now, we are very tired and I am sure Lexi will run us ragged starting as early as possible. Good Night all.