Trip to China
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Monday, October 25, 2010 GOTCHA DAY! (Written Tues. morning China time) Yesterday was one of the most joyful days of our lives. We started the day very normally as a family of two at the breakfast buffet eating western foods such as hash browns, bacon and pancakes. We have embraced the variety of foods and started eating things such as fried rice, meat steamed buns and stir fry beef as well for breakfast. We went back upstairs to repack the diaper bag and kill some time. Whoa, an hour can feel like an eternity. We got on the bus and left for the local civil affairs office at 10. It was raining again today, just like on our travel day on Sunday. The bus ride was probably the craziest one yet! The lane lines are pretty much "suggestions", and cars make 3 lanes into 5, left turns and u turns are made from the right lane…etc. Scooters and pedestrians "frogger" across the street between the traffic. We thought that the traffic in Beijing was ludicrous; boy we were in for a surprise when we got to Changsha! The ride to the civil affairs office seemed like an eternity. We went upstairs on the elevator and our babies were in the very next elevator, following us up. We did not have a minute to compose ourselves before our babies' names were being announced and our passports were being checked against the adoption paperwork. JiaMei was handed to me, and then would become forever Eliana. I knew that I really felt like crying but for Eliana's sake I tried to hold back as many emotions as possible so I did not scare her. She was stoic when she was handed to me, just like the lack of emotion in her pictures. She went easily to Tom and me. She was very curious. After she realized that she would not be returned to the caregiver that brought her to Changsha, she let out a wail. This seemed to cause the other babies to cry at different intervals. She is very social. She likes to make raspberries and fish faces and was very quick to demonstrate her entertaining skills. Tom filled out the paperwork which was all in Chinese as Zhou translated. I got to sit and hold Eliana for a long time, while she examined the chair that I was sitting in, the toys that I was giving her and my arm. Once all of the paperwork was signed, it was back on the scary bus to embark on our first trip as a threesome. She interacted with Tom and tried to entertain the other babies on the bus. When we got back to the hotel, we started peeling off the three thick and puffy layers of clothing to change her diaper. She cried a bit, but as my sister always says, if you mess with a baby they are going to be unhappy. We then fumbled through making our first bottle out of borrowed Chinese formula. The babies here drink their formula far hotter than American babies. She sat with me and drank most of her bottle; she was again sweating when she was done (she ate!). The next test was to get her to take a nap. Zhou said to lay her in the crib and rub her tummy. She cried for a second and then I talked very quietly to her and rubbed her tummy and she fell asleep! This was now my chance to cry. She was sleeping and could no longer hear or see me. I took a nap while she did. We slept for 2 hours. When Eliana and I got up, it was time for Daddy to go to Wal-Mart. Daddy met the other 5 new fathers downstairs to get in a cab and travel to Wal-Mart. Eliana and I did not have any more formula, so we ate Cheerios and played with the various toys that we brought. She likes the toys that make noise and to clang the stacking cups together. She can sit a LONG time and play with the same thing. She likes to babble and sing, bounce and dance. About 1.5 hours into the trip I got a phone call from Zhou asking if Tom was with me….I said no, he is at Wal-Mart with you….ok, panic! No I couldn't panic, then Eliana would get upset, smile, ok if I find him I can have him call you….So I went to Debbie's room to tell her in a calm voice , that I had lost my husband in China and now I was going to have to be a single mom already. Eliana was making raspberries for Emily and Emily did it back to Eliana. It was amazingly cute. Forty minutes later, another phone call from Zhou, "Melissa, is Tom with you?" Again, same response no Zhou, he is at Wal-Mart with you. I can have him call you if I find him. So a few minutes later, Tom walks in with a bag from Wal-Mart and a grin. He said that the driver took Seldon and him to a different Wal-Mart. He said that when they got dropped off, the driver just pointed. Tom said that only one girl in the entire store spoke English and that was a girl giving out samples of food. Finally, they could not hail a cab back, so they started walking!!!!! Had to stop at two hotels to try to get help, and ended up showing the concierge at the second hotel the hotel key to get home! Tom will have to fill you in on the details; I have yet to hear the whole story because when he got home he wanted to spend time with Eliana before meeting the other families for dinner.

Family of two Family of three! Tom holds Eliana for first time Eliana smiling On the bus ride home, she likes the cap better than the water Eliana at group dinner

Eliana ate congee, a sort of runny oatmeal rice dish. Tom and I ate dumplings filled with some spinach type thing, spicy beef stir fry and fried rice. Eliana ate a ton of the congee and some more Cheerios. I had Eliana on my lap and had to eat with the chopsticks. I am glad that I "mastered" this two days ago. We ate in our hotel at a restaurant called Food Street where you walk around and point to what you want, then sit down and wait for the food to come out and be put on the lazy-susan to be shared family style. The food does not come out all at once, but in shifts. We came upstairs and Eliana wanted to play, you can tell that her caregivers have spent a lot of time interacting with her. We gave her a bath. Whew, can she wail! She HATED it! But once her clothes were back on, she was happy again. We had not heard her cry since that morning. She did not want a bottle since she ate a lot of congee. So just like during the nap, I rubbed her tummy and she fell asleep. She really uses the entire crib to sleep. Every time we wake up she is laying a different way. She sucks two fingers. She is a precious angel! I still can't believe that today was the day that we have long waited for. Until tomorrow! We still can't thank you enough for the guestbook comments. We love reading your encouraging words! Thank you, and please keep praying for us and Eliana.

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