Trip to China
All Days  |  Previous Day  |  Next Day

Friday, August 22, 2008 ON BOTTLES AND BONDING Today was a good day. A very good day. And not because it was all easy because it was not. There was a period of time this afternoon when Eva cried and we could not say for sure if she was hungry (sterilize water, make bottle, cool bottle, refuse and throw away), teething (she is definitely teething and you can see those teeth right under the surface), distressed by all the changes, uncomfortable tummy? So we played the guessing game for a while. That game you play with a very young baby. But after some food, some chewing on her duck which we are sure is not phthalate free as we bought it at the Walmart in Nanning, some tummy massage, more ointment on her spots, we went to a birthday party for one of her Beiliu sisters and she was the model of happy baby. And we think - though we cannot be sure - but we do think - that she looked right at Colette and said "mama, mama" - we'll take it. We will take that and all the other memories too. Of the death defying taxi ride to the Guangxi cultural museum (car seats, seat belts, what are those?) ... To the meals of noodle soups, bean curd, and sauteed greens and tea - to the late in the day Mommy and Eva time when she took a long long bath a Good Bye to the waters of Nanning. Followed by very energetic play time where we used the portable crib as a playpen and practiced Eva signaling that she wanted to be lifted and then rewarded her with flying through the air and semi turning all the way upside down. Followed by a full bottle and almost instant sleep at 7 pm. She is looking for us when we walk away and, while I am sure she would walk off with any others as well, there is more attachment every minute. Daniel went on a field trip to a giant bookstore, where he picked up a few childrens books, including a copy of The Giving Tree in mandarin. They also had Mandarin translations of biographies or autobiographies of Hilary, Obama, and McCain. No room in the luggage for those! Two notes of gratitude; first, to our wonderful guides in Nanning - Michael and Hannah - their clear love and patience with the American families and love for the Chinese babies is evident. Michael has been doing this work since 1996 and has seen many many babies and families come through Nanning. He quietly guided us through everything and patiently advocated for our babies before we even arrived _ he had arranged for a Nanning doctor to see Eva as early as July when she was referred to us so that her skin was much improved by the time we met her. He told us over birthday cake tonight that we are his heroes but no, we are the lucky ones and he is our hero - And Hannah too - her patience with our feeble attempts at Cantonese, her enthusiasm for the babies, her humor, grace and beauty. Will we see them again? We can only hope - but we take them with us in our hearts along with a love for Guangxi. And another shout out needs to go to Colette's parents who are home with Louis and Nathaniel - their love is bountiful and we are gratefu beyond words that while we miss the boys so much we have not worried for a minute about their care - what a blessing. Love to all and tomorrow we will be back in Guangzhou -

Website by myadoptionwebsite.com