So, this night thus far I slept three hours -- its probably the most consecutive sleep I've had in China -- that said, three hours does not a night of sleep make. I'm not sure what's up with this but I did try to fall back to sleep for an hour with no luck -- I'm hoping that after writing a little more about yesterday which keeps playing over in my mind, I will once again be able to get some rest.
Yesterday, was the day we met Silin and the post that I wrote showed a happy little girl which she certainly is. But she also had some very real moments of grieving. When she was put in my arms, she was completely distraught -- her cries were that of a newborn, high-pitched, repetitive, inconsolable....the rational side of me was prepared but of course there was a little part of me that thought, oh no, what if this is the way she is always, what have I done. I knew I needed to be patient with her and we asked to take her back to the hotel to spend some time together b/f we had to do all the paperwork. I'm so glad we asked.
On the way back to the hotel, I wore Silin in the Becco frontpack and she calmed right down. In fact, she pretty much melted into my body and I could see that she was comforted. It was after we had her in the room for a short time, after we fed her the little egg that she grasped so tightly at Gotcha, got her to drink soymilk, introduced her to Cheerios, brought out her toys, that we actually got to meet Silin.
Here is what I know so far: she is a sweetheart. She likes to feed Daddy cheerios and she even let me feed them to from my lips, like a little cheerio kiss. I took her outside for a while and brought her ball. She learned to throw and to catch. She walked on grass for the first time and I could tell she wasn't sure what to make of it. She had never been outside before in her 2.5 years. Its hard to believe.
Right now she is sleeping next to Yami. I tried the crib for her but she wanted none of that. But after I layed her down next to me in bed, thought she whimpered for about 10 minutes, she fell asleep and it seems like the descriptions of her are right on -- she's a pretty sound sleeper which for our family is nothing short of a miracle. (when the boys were born, especially Z) I used to say that he got 2 classes in utero on cuteness but none on sleep -- we were sleep deprived for years. (Now I'm sleep deprived and I have noone to blame but myself)
When she saw the boys on Skype last night she said Guh Guh (the Chinese word for brother). She doesn't seem to have much language in Chinese but she is already starting to understand some of the things we keep repeating to her. I think yesterday she tried to say "moh" for more but she lets you know she wants more also by her big smile and the simultaneous shake of her body.
She is definitely tiny, thin, but her appetite is certainly healthy -- I have complete faith that she will be putting on weight over the next weeks/months.Yesterday, we offered her food many times and always had cheerios out. She ate plenty and even joined us for dinner at the Korean restaurant next to the hotel where she ate pleny of sauteed mushrooms, rice, tofu, and soup.
At 8:30 this morning we will meet our guide to do all the paperwork to complete Silin's adoption. I think we will be there for a while but when we leave, she will offically be ours.
It is wonderful to get e-mail from many of you back home. We are making the most of our time here but your emails keep us connected back home and I really do appreciate them.
OK, I will post this now-- sorry if there are typos, I will proof later --
Bye Bye (even the Chinese say goodbye this way)
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