Friday, February 17, 2006
GOTCHA DAY!

Well it is almost 9 pm on our first day as parents of a teenager and she is a teenager. We have learned a lot about her already... she is beautiful, smart, sweet, soft spoken, observant, strong-willed, helpful, eager to please and her smile lights up a room. She came to us willingly and with open arms and has held our hands and stayed by our sides ever since our moment of meeting. We love her dearly already. She is everything that we hoped and prayed for and then some. She even has her own yahoo id and I am writing this after having to wait for her to send her emails first. : ) Amy, I have a feeling you two will be close cousins quickly. She doesn't speak as much English as we thought she might but we are doing well and she is a fast learner who wants to learn English as quickly as she can.

Our guide is fantastic and while I was scared to be alone at first, it is working out really well. We have only had to call him once and that was only because she had a question on how to type an email.. you have to do some kind of pinyin for the Chinese characters using the English keyboard. Our Chinese-English dictionaries are being well used. We are so very impressed with the orphanage staff who brought her to us. There were sincere tears all around as they said goodbye to her and it was hard to express in words our deep gratitude to those who have loved and cared for her for so long. She will be greatly missed but their greatest concern is that she have a family and they told us that they are not worried about her now that they have met us and seen our great love for each other and for her. They asked that we call when we return to the USA to let them know we are safe. She was a great helper in the orphanage and they said she is the best student they have ever had at the orphanage.

Today was a big day for WenYan in many ways... she had several firsts... her first experience with a western toilet, her first time seeing a fork, knife and spoon too and let me tell you she is a very fast learner. She was able to use the knife to cut up a piece of partially steamed broccoli within a few minutes at dinner. Our guide says that her Mandarin skills are excellent and that she speaks very well and is an example of a proper Chinese girl, that the orphanage staff have taught her good manners. At lunch when he asked her what she would like to eat she said that she wanted what mama and baba wanted. He took her over to pick out some dumplings for us to eat and she was so excited. The whole day she has been almost vibrating with excitement. She was able to talk to her little sisters on the phone just moments after we met and many tears were shed all around. We have looked at many photos on our laptop and she said that her sisters are lovely and loveable. She loves to push the buttons on the elevator for the different floors that we need to go to.

When we returned to the government office to do paperwork we took some small gifts with us to give the officials and had to wrap them in the car and boy can she wrap presents well. I know who will be my helper at Christmastime. Lydia... she loved your letter to her in Mandarin and pink ink, and read it out loud to us and our guide translated it for us. She is happy to know that she will have a friend nearby that speaks Mandarin.

Tomorrow we will do some shopping for clothes and other items and do some sightseeing. The guide mentioned a museum but she wasn't too thrilled with that idea although she would like to go to the park if the weather is better. She is really the same size as Shea. She just walked out of the bathroom wearing her new pj's that fit her just as they did Shea when I had her try them on before we left. She is so obedient she used the toothbrush and face wash that we brought for her but I had to show her how to wash the soap off her face. We can't wait to be home now that we have her with us so that we can all be together as a family again. We know that she is a perfect fit for our family. She and Shea will be partners in crime in no time we can tell and Sophie will be right there with them. She is a determined young woman who has so much in front of her. She has been taught well by her teachers and all the way out to the car, they were encouraging her to follow her heart, to believe in herself, to work hard and to be an example for the girls left behind in the orphanage. Even though she got carsick today on the way to Changsha, she still wants to make the long drive again so we can meet her friends and teacher. It is very important to her to return so we will do it.