Hello from Nanchang.
Today has been designated a "rest/shop" day by James
our CCAI Rep. Kiah had a much better night last night
and slept 95% of the time in her crib. She woke up 1
or 2 times in the early morning but she is easy to
console and she falls right back to sleep. She had a
bottle and then played for a little bit. She was then
right back down for a nap. We went down for breakfast
around 9am. She ate watermelon, eggs, bananas and
bread. She has a very good appetite as evidenced by
her cheeks and THIGHS!!! Her stomach is pretty big as
well!!! She is developmentally on target for her
age. She can sit by herself, crawl, move from sitting
to crawling position and vice versa. She can grab
food in a pincher motion and feed herself. She can
also remove food from her mouth and then put it back
in. We are very very happy with her development. We
know that her foster family is the reason. She has
been receiving one-on-one attention for the past 8
months and it shows!!!
The CCAI contracted doctor
came by to see all of the families this morning. That
is one of the benefits to using CCAI. They have a
contracted doctor that comes by to see all of the
families and check the babies. This does not cost
extra!!! Kiah has some congestion but is doing fine.
She did not like seeing the doctor and even the
wrapped tongue depressor she received as a parting
gift did not make her happy. She then went down for
another nap.
Before the doctor came I
decided to look through her clothes to see if we could
find any notes or information left behind for her. We
have heard from parents who have adopted from China
before that sometimes foster mother's leave notes sewn
in the clothes, etc. We know about the necklace she
sent as we had that translated yesterday. Well, when
I picked up Kiah's Gotcha Day shoes I noticed some
writing IN the shoes. The foster mother had written
something on the inside of BOTH shoes. I then started
examining her clothes and we found a note written on
the bottom of one of the shirts. When James came by
with the doctor we had him translate the information
and the foster mother left her name, the foster
father's name, their son's name, their address and
phone number. It is obvious that the foster mother
wants to have communication with us. She has left
this information in 3 different places. They had
cared for Kiah since she was 2 days old. Again James
urged us to communicate with the foster family through
the orphanage. We did receive the camera we sent to
the foster mother in Kiah's care package so we know
that communication through the orphanage will work.
We hope to have the film developed tomorrow at a local
Kodak kiosk.
We then took a stroll to
the department store next door to our hotel. Very
nice and the people were very helpful. It was 7
stories and the 2 basement floors were a grocery
store. We were able to stock up on some food stuffs
and buy Kiah 3 new outfits and 2 pairs of shoes. This
store is considered a "trendy" store so we were waited
on like we were royalty. In China you just don't get
your items and pay for them. You choose your items,
they write you up a ticket, you then go and pay and
then bring the receipt back to the original clerk and
she gives you your items. This works well if the
store is not crowded!!! Funny thing was we could not
find 1 PINK outfit in the baby section!!! They were
yellow or blue and they offered us the blue
outfits!!! They knew she was a girl by the barrette
in her hair. We then went to the KFC for lunch. It
was then nap time so we headed back to the hotel where
Kiah and Brandon took naps.
This evening we had a
group dinner at a local restaurant. It was a short
walk from the hotel. It was a traditional Chinese
restaurant so we knew there would be some iffy items
on the menu. We don't actually get to order
anything. James orders everything for us and then
tells us to try it. At this restaurant the waitresses
wore plastic gloves and actually put foods together
for you to eat. The duck was good but besides that
and the rice, we could not distinguish much else.
Someone at our table thought they may have had a piece
of tofu!!! But they weren't sure!!! I was glad when
I saw the PEPSI bottles come out!!! We ended the
evening with a birthday cake for the twins. The twins
in our group, Moira and Kate, turned 1 year old
today. They had the neatest birthday candle that
looked like a flower. The top lit up like a torch and
the then the petal opened to reveal 2 tiers of lighted
candles!!! It also played the Happy Birthday tune!!!
James then took out the biggest machete looking knife
to cut pieces of the cake!!! Definitely not a Ginsu..
it was WAY bigger!!! We then strolled back to the
hotel with Courtney and Dean Milton and their baby
Gracie. Gracie is one of Kiah's Yingtan "sister's".
We are taking a trip to
Yingtan City tomorrow morning. We are hoping to
visit the finding locations of the 4 Yingtan babies.
This is very important to all the families. We all
really want to see where our children were found. We
will also get video and pictures of the city for the
girl's when they are older. We feel it is part of our
duty as parents to secure this information for them.
We are told that the trip is 2 hours each way. James
told us to "pack a lunch". We all looked at each
other in amazement!!! Pack a lunch.. of what!!! So,
Brandon is downstairs in the pastry shop right now
looking for our lunch for tomorrow!!! I can't tell
you.. I have never missed Quizznos so much before!!!
We are having fun but we
are very homesick and we can't wait to come home with
Kiah. Katelyn and Jake. you know the drill. WE LOVE
YOU AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH!!!
Love from Nanchang,
-Nicole, Brandon and the ever beautiful Kiah!!!
