Tuesday,
August 10, 2010
PARENTHOOD
Well we had a little bit of a rough time before bed last night.
Harper was fussy and screaming her head off for 2 hours
straight. We knew she wasn't hungry so we just thought she was
upset to be with us. To make matters worse when she was
screaming she said, "Ma-Ma"! I am sure this was not directed
towards me, but instead of me she was hoping for her foster mom
to comfort her. It was so sad. We were at a loss on what to do.
I just worry about her heart condition because when she gets
upset she gets very sweaty and so worked up. I was trying to
think of anything to calm her down and then I remembered she
loves to watch people so I held her and took her into the
hallway. We walked the floor and by the time it was dark and I
was staring out at the very busy street. We are on the 15th
floor so my view looking down is amazing. This is definitely
authentic China! The streets are filled with people, cars, bikes
and tons of lighted buildings. I could see my reflection and
everything was quiet except Harper's screaming. In between the
screams I would breathe a sigh of relief wondering how long the
quietness would last before another full on freak out! I never
thought I would be so content to listen to a child scream in my
ear but it was so nice to feel so needed by a child. She clung
to me and I thought wow this is amazing to be here. I just still
feel like I need to pinch myself and say this is really
happening. We just have waited for what seems like eternity to
have her in our arms. After my all my deep thoughts I remembered
my mom saying a baby only screams and cries for a couple of
reasons -- one being gas. That was it! My mom's words of wisdom
came through! I went back to the room and Todd fed the baby gas
drops. We finally figured out how to get them in her mouth...yes
it was a huge struggle but it worked! In just a short couple of
minutes, the shrieking baby was sitting on the bed laughing and
being silly! We were mad at ourselves that it took us so long to
figure out what was causing her crying but I guess we now know
the "pain cry!" By the way, the screaming was so bad that the
man next to us asked to be moved!
She would not sleep in her crib last night. I guess the first
night she was just shocked and rocked herself to sleep. I
thought that might be her normal routine. I tried to put her in
the crib and she just looked at me and then the whimpering began
and huge crocodile tears. She reached her arms out so of course
I picked her up and popped her in bed with me. She makes this
sucking noise like a little squirrel when she falls asleep. Her
little noises are so funny! Todd and I were so tired we didn't
know if she would ever go to bed but she did and I fell asleep
less than a minute later!
We thought we had this parenthood thing under control when we
packed our daypack the night before and woke up 2 hours early to
get ourselves showered and dressed. We soon realized how
unpredictable parenthood is and that some things can't be
planned! Harper woke up pretty happy! We are learning to give
her space when she first wakes up as she is a bit disoriented. I
am sure she is thinking to herself oh no I am still here! Todd
made her a bottle and she took it right away. In fact she
guzzled it. As Todd says we made a "rookie move". Within 5
minutes after downing the entire bottle in one fell swoop, she
threw it all up all over the bed. I know everyone says that when
it is your baby and she throws up you will be fine with it...uhmm
no I wasn't -- she threw up on my bed and my favorite blanket! I
covered up my grossed out feeling well because she was already
upset so we went into parenthood mode and got her bathed... well
half bathed because then she was kicking and screaming in the
tub. This episode was throwing us off schedule and Todd and I
thought we were prepared! Once again we were rushing around the
room to get downstairs for breakfast and we had to meet our
guide at a set time. It is amazing how many things you can do at
once. I thought I was a great mutli-tasker before having Harper
but literally this is insane!!!! We got her dressed into her
cute little outfit I picked out for the Temple visit today. Todd
gave her another bottle and again she drank it down fast. We
were about ready to walk out the door and then boom...yep again
she got sick all over her cute outfit. This time she did not cry
and let us clean her up without a fit. We put on another outfit
but every bottom I put on her falls off. I have no clue what
size bottoms she will wear in American clothing. I did not bring
anything small enough and I brought a ton of clothes! Her waist
is so tiny! In tops and dresses she is probably 9-12 months. The
majority of the clothing I brought is 12-18 months and big so I
guess she will have quite the wardrobe next summer! We got her
into her tiered skirt and I safety pinned the back of it.
Just as an FYI for other adoptive parents I know they say to
bring very fast nipples but bring some other ones just in case.
These are too fast for her. We switched to a smaller one and
things are going much better we also realized that we need to
let her only drink an ounce or two at a time. Parenthood would
be a lot easier if children came with a manual! Ha!
At breakfast and dinner time the restaurant workers all fuss
over her. She loves the attention and when she is sick of it she
makes a huge pout face. It is so cute! She still looks sad today
but definitely happy when she sees me and likes to grab my legs
when I put her down. She trusts me thank goodness! The bonding
process is going pretty smooth. I was prepared for the worst
case scenario and I am just amazed and how strong of a little
girl she is and how quickly she is taking to me.
Every morning we have some activities on our schedule. Today we
would see one of the top three temples in China. The Temple of
Tang Wang Ge is an impressive, majestic building looking over
the Gan River to the west. It was originally built in memory of
a Tang prince over 1,000 years ago, but has been rebuilt 26
times since then, the latest of these reconstructions taking
place in 1989. Our guide just cracks me up. She has so many
quirky stories and jokes. She made us guess how many concubines
the Emperor had. Apparently more than Tiger Woods -- 3,000! She
also informed Todd that on the year of his zodiac sign he needs
to wear red underwear and then he will be lucky!! As they say in
here the Jiangxi the women are spicy!! Ha!
The Temple was absolutely beautiful and although once again we
were dripping in sweat it was amazing! The details are
unbelievable and so are the views. The gardens are gorgeous and
the whole area is calm and serene. Todd and I just kept
commenting wow this is a once in a lifetime experience. We posed
for a family picture in front of the temple and I relished in my
new little family. It is no longer just about Todd and I but
this little girl is ours and she wants every second of our
attention and we are more than happy to provide her with it. We
explored the 6 floors of the temple and people stopped and did a
double take. They are surprised to see us with an Asian baby! We
went to the top floor to watch the 600 year old musical show. It
was very crowded and hot! There was a little bench that people
were sitting on basically only 8 inches deep. I sat down next to
a lady and I said one of the five words I know in Chinese, "Ni
Hao", which means hello. She said it back and then began talking
in Chinese back to me. I kept shaking my head saying I don't
know anymore. Then she asked if the baby knows any? I said
probably not. Her husband was intrigued with us as well and then
took out his camera out and began flashing away. It reminded me
of a time in Hawaii with my parents when they bought me a purple
dragon that I carried everywhere. We were visiting Pearl Harbor
and there was a crowd of people who were Asian and they took
tons of pic with me holding the dragon. I was the center of
attention that day and it seemed this moment was similar. We
were the main show instead of the musical! Countless people came
up and touched Harper and smiled but looked so perplexed. Our
guide said, “I told you they will stare -- get used to it"!
Harper loved all the attention and she flashed her crazy
gorgeous smile. I whispered into her ear, "One day when you are
famous they will say I saw her and took her picture when she was
just a baby!” (LOL)
Harper just loves me -- so I hope! I can make her smile and
laugh. She loves when I threw her up in the air and we play in
the mirror together. She loves to kiss herself in the mirror
too!!! What a girl! Harper has such a dynamic personality and
she knows how to love, laugh and share. Someone very special
must have taught her these things! She amazes me every minute on
what she can already do! Most kids adopted at this age in China
are not doing half of what she can. One thing we know is that
she does not like dark -- even things slightly dark. When we
were going through the different levels of the temple we would
have to walk down a low lighted staircase and she was grimace
and grip on to me tightly trying to crawl on top of my face! It
feels so good to be her mommy and to protect her!!! I don't know
how we lived a single day without her. Todd and Harper are
starting to bond more and she loves taking food from him! He
just thinks she is absolutely perfect and continues saying, “Can
you believe we’re here and she’s ours?!?!” |
Harper waking up after sleeping 11 hrs.! She sleeps very well
but getting her to bed is tough even if she is sleeping with me
in my bed.
Her 1st outfit of the day before she got sick from drinking her
bottle too fast!
Her 2nd outfit of the day which would soon be covered in
watermelon
Getting ready to climb up and down hundreds of stairs while
holding a 20 lb. baby!
The three of us in front of the Tang Wang Ge Temple in Nanchang.
Our awesome guide, Karen, guiding and protecting us along the
way. There were a lot of stares! She shaded us from the sun with
a parasol and fanned us to keep us cool! I can get used to this
treatment:)
The amazing details of the Temple
View of one of the Temple's gardens
Harper waking up from her nap and mommy grabbing a quick pic!
She is finally sitting with daddy and letting him feed her!
Hooray! Now maybe tomorrow she will let him carry her
so mommy's arms don't fall off:)
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