Hello from Heidi

Started our big day with a hearty breakfast!

After breakfast we had some time to kill so just wandered around our hotel room. 

At 10 am we met with our group to go to a grocery store to grab a few items. Heidi was in a group home so we were asked to bring some snacks for the children still living there. We also picked up some drinks and yogurts for ourselves.

Last photo before getting Heidi!

We met again at 2 pm to drive 30 minutes into the old part of Nanchang city. As you can see, this is a more run down area of town. This is from the civil affairs office on the 26th floor. 

When we got there one of the little girls was already there. It was a gift to get to video for them their first meeting. About 20 minutes later the second little girl was brought in and I also got to video for them. 

We continued to wait. 

And wait. 

Finally a civil affairs officer came to introduce herself as Emilly! She said because of the rain the traffic is really bad so it will be awhile until the Nanchang orphanage brings our daughter. (The other two girls were from different rural orphanages). 

Finally, finally there was some commotion and we got to meet our girl!

She came right to me! But Trent got the first smile out of her. 

Of course daddy is better than mama. 

But mom’s not too bad, after all!

She was actually laughing here, I promise! She’s very ticklish on her ribs and loves when I say Kai Xin (pronounced ki-shing)  It means "happy" in mandarin. 

We finished up the paperwork at this office by promising to love, protect and care for her and each placing our thumb print over our signature and Heidi got her footprint done. 

She did great on the bus drive back. She almost fell asleep but was interested in all the passing cars and lights. 

Something that surprised us was to see her teeth are all rotten. Her mouth seems to hurt and she grinds her teeth. She doesn’t know to put food into her mouth on her own or even know what small bits of food are. We were told she eats noodles and rice with soup and formula mixed with rice cereal in a bottle. 

I spoon fed her some rice cereal which she ate but didn’t seem to love. Then I spooned her some banana yogurt which she really liked. She was so funny (but not funny) because she likes to blow raspberries. She did it with a yogurt mouth and made a big mess. She thought it was outrageously funny.

 It broke my heart when, after she ate, I barely touched a toothbrush to her top two teeth and her gums started gushing blood. That was hard to see. I actually cried more than she did I think. 

She didn’t appear to have ever sat in a tub, or if she did it wasn’t a positive experience. She really screamed when we put her in the bath. However, once we warmed her up and rubbed water on her arms and legs and showed her how to splash she seemed to like it!

Cutie all fresh and clean from her bath. She is definitely very, very tiny. She fits well into 6-9 month clothes although she will turn 2 in November. 

The highlight of the night was definitely seeing her jie jie (big sisters) FaceTime with her. 

They loved to watch her play and interact with mama. The girls all seem excited for her to come home. She’s great with people but doesn’t know how to play with any toys. 

Before bed I tried to give her a bottle. I don’t know if she didn’t know how to take it, didnt like the temperature, didn’t like the formula, or didn’t like the bottle, but she only took a few dribbled drinks. Hopefully tomorrow we can figure out a way to get her to drink more liquids. 

The orphanage staff said when it’s time for bed just lay her down, don’t do anything special. Obviously I ignored that advice and rocked her in my arms, sang to her and kissed her. I snuggled her under her new blanket which she seemed to like. 

She’s sleeping peacefully now. We have a big day tomorrow with the orphanage visit and going to her finding place. 

Thank you for all the love. It’s been a beautiful, emotional day! I love you all!