Today was a free day, or so the schedule said. That means that we don't go anywhere. I don't think you ever get a free day as a parent, but it has been nice to not be on a time clock with more appointments. After dinner at the hotel, Salem took a bottle and went straight to sleep around 8:00. As soon as her head hit the pillow, I crashed on the bed in the sea of baby paraphernalia. Two hours later I woke to Drew typing, thankful that he had taken the reigns with the blog. My arm was all cramped up from holding Salem all day so I don't think I would have had the strength or mental fortitude to do justice to the day. I slept hard and woke up refreshed around 6:00. Salem's notes says she wakes up around then, so I scrambled to the computer to try to squeeze in a post from the day before, the light from my computer screen the only illumination in the room. She stirred a few times then her cues drifted back into sleepyland. Two hours into typing,her stirring signaled to both of us that she would soon be awake. We wondered if she would wake remembering us or if she would find herself once again in the company of strangers. Had the trust we gained the day before been enough to carry through until today or would we need to start all over again. This curiosity coupled with a desire to comfort her at all costs, compelled both of us to her crib side to wait for her eyes to open. She woke slowly, rubbed her eyes and stared at us, but not in a frightened sort of way. She felt safe it seemed and we said our good mornings for the first time as a family.
The breakfast buffet here at the Galactic Hotel is something to behold. While we enjoyed lavish foods and juices, Salem was content to sample Drew's pancakes while turning her head to any type of spoonfeeding. Up until now we have reason to believe that the only foods she has eaten are formula and rice cereal in a bottle and congee, a Chinese staple made of rice and other foods used to introduce babies to food. But we don't think she has been fed much with a spoon. We tried to give her apple and sweet potato puree, but she didn't want it. Her pincher grips are good but the concept of bringing puffs or other foods to her mouth is new. The rice crackers we gave her yesterday were easier for her to manage.
When we returned to the room, she was tired yet fought going to sleep. As soon as I got her to close her eyes I would lie her down only to see those big brown eyes pop back open and immediately disappear into sliver amongst wails. I let her cry for a while hoping her exhaustion would give way to a nap, but the volume increased.Normally we would let her cry longer, but in our desire to build trust and comfort her at any cost these first few days, I picked her up after 5 minutes and tucked her in the sling. She was out within minutes. I took it upon myself to finish my Gotcha Day post with her attached to me. An hour later, with post complete, she remained in deep sleep, so Drew propped four pillows up for me to lie down with her. It felt so nice to take the weight off my shoulders and feet, to close my eyes and listen to her breathing. She radiates and exorbitant amount of heat. How she can stand it, I don't know. To feel that tiny heart beating so quickly left me content to stay and enjoy the moments that will be gone so quickly with time. I felt like I was on pregnancy bedrest every time I interrupted Drew's reading to ask him to get me something, and I loved ever minute of it!
It is common for mothers to bundle their children in multiple layers during the winter months, and anything less is frowned upon. Old women have been known to click and shake their fingers at foreigners who fail to follow the rule. In an effort to honor the culture andgive every passerby a good reason to think well of adoption we stuffed Salem into her pink snowsuit and panda hat then secured her in the sling making sure no flesh was exposed. One goal of this trip is to dodge any clicking or shaming by successfully bundling my child. As we were checking out at the market, an elderly lady from the next row over was looking at us and smiling. When we met eyes, she looked at me and gave a firm thumbs up. Initially, I felt glad that she would approve of our adoption of this little girl, and choose to bless us with an affirmation. As I walked away, I realized that more likely she was impressed with my efforts to cloth my child appropriately. Score!
One other interesting piece of information we have on the notes we received from her foster mom is that she has been trained to sit on the potty. This is common in China as they often don't diaper their babies, using split pants instead. After they fed the baby, they sit her down on a potty until she goes. This helped to explain her dry diapers today, so we thought we would give it a try. The hotel provided a potty that looks like a riding toy with handles. we stripped her diaper, sat her down and viola...pee pee:) She hated every minute of it though. It is tempting to keep this up to avoid the diaper bills, but I don't think we will require her to continue.If she refuses to mess her diapers, then of course, we will go for it,but I can't imagine keeping the regimen going while we travel and transition at home.
Without hesitation, she sucked down her morning bottle while mommy called big brother. This has been the first opportunity to video skype with Jonathan since we have been gone due to weak Internet in Beijing. His excitement over seeing mommy and daddy on the screen led way to multiple stories, leaving us little room to remind him that hehad a little sister to meet. When we asked if he was ready, he emphatically said "Yes!" As we anticipated, the moment was sweet, lavished with giggles and smiles and Jonathan trying to climb into the computer to hug her. Drew was correct in his prediction that Jonathan wants us to bring her home NOW. 9 more days, sweet boy, and we will all be home. You are going to be a GREAT big brother:)
The breakfast buffet here at the Galactic Hotel is something to behold. While we enjoyed lavish foods and juices, Salem was content to sample Drew's pancakes while turning her head to any type of spoonfeeding. Up until now we have reason to believe that the only foods she has eaten are formula and rice cereal in a bottle and congee, a Chinese staple made of rice and other foods used to introduce babies to food. But we don't think she has been fed much with a spoon. We tried to give her apple and sweet potato puree, but she didn't want it. Her pincher grips are good but the concept of bringing puffs or other foods to her mouth is new. The rice crackers we gave her yesterday were easier for her to manage.
When we returned to the room, she was tired yet fought going to sleep. As soon as I got her to close her eyes I would lie her down only to see those big brown eyes pop back open and immediately disappear into sliver amongst wails. I let her cry for a while hoping her exhaustion would give way to a nap, but the volume increased.Normally we would let her cry longer, but in our desire to build trust and comfort her at any cost these first few days, I picked her up after 5 minutes and tucked her in the sling. She was out within minutes. I took it upon myself to finish my Gotcha Day post with her attached to me. An hour later, with post complete, she remained in deep sleep, so Drew propped four pillows up for me to lie down with her. It felt so nice to take the weight off my shoulders and feet, to close my eyes and listen to her breathing. She radiates and exorbitant amount of heat. How she can stand it, I don't know. To feel that tiny heart beating so quickly left me content to stay and enjoy the moments that will be gone so quickly with time. I felt like I was on pregnancy bedrest every time I interrupted Drew's reading to ask him to get me something, and I loved ever minute of it!
She woke up and met her Aunt Kiki, Uncle Matt and Nancy on Skype and just as we were saying goodbye, Cabbeen arrived to take us to thelocal supermarket. In his hand was a bag and I noticed a familiar green fabric sticking out. Marry told us yesterday that the photopillow we sent in her care package a few weeks ago was left in the vanby the orphanage director. He gave us the disposable camera we sent and the pictures of her foster mom and home, but the other things weren't there. I knew it wasn't guaranteed to make it back with her,but I had really hoped they would. The pillow i made to look like a green floral doll with a heart shaped picture of our family on the face. This I had hoped would help her to bond with us when we met in person. Jonathan has always wanted Salem to wear pink, so when we received our referral, we took a special trip to Target just to buy Salem a pink outfit. It, too was in the bag. And the most important item other than the photos of her first year is MeiMei, a pink giraffe that we got on our trip to Target. We bought two, one to send to Salem and another to let Jonathan care for until she came home. MeiMei is "little sister" in Chinese, so MeiMei became Kiki Monkey's little sister for the duration of the wait. We slept with the one we sent to Salem for a couple of weeks before sending it to her to infuse it with our smell. After having it for 3 months, it now smells like her first home. How excited I was to see all the items return and to have the smells that mean comfort to her in the transition!
It is common for mothers to bundle their children in multiple layers during the winter months, and anything less is frowned upon. Old women have been known to click and shake their fingers at foreigners who fail to follow the rule. In an effort to honor the culture andgive every passerby a good reason to think well of adoption we stuffed Salem into her pink snowsuit and panda hat then secured her in the sling making sure no flesh was exposed. One goal of this trip is to dodge any clicking or shaming by successfully bundling my child. As we were checking out at the market, an elderly lady from the next row over was looking at us and smiling. When we met eyes, she looked at me and gave a firm thumbs up. Initially, I felt glad that she would approve of our adoption of this little girl, and choose to bless us with an affirmation. As I walked away, I realized that more likely she was impressed with my efforts to cloth my child appropriately. Score!
On our way back, we stopped for an ice cream treat and in my efforts to encourage spoon feeding, I slipped Salem a little bit on the wooden spoon I was using. She took it and liked it. Jonathan had to wait until he was one to have his first taste, but after we found out how much sugar is in Chinese formula, somehow making Salem wait was silly. Apparently it worked because at dinner she ate spoon after spoon of her fruit puree. We are making progress!
For nap time, I decided to try lying her on her tummy to see if she would like that better than her back. As a bonus, I gave her MeiMei and immediately she gabbed it and fell asleep. What a blessing!It has been helpful to have the freedom to be at the hotel with her today. Without the whirlwind of events we have been able to better evaluate where Salem is developmentally. We know she has been held a lot as her referral notes indicate and her "spider monkey" tendencies with us confirm it. She is 11 months today and is still working on rolling over and pushing up to crawling position. Her arm strength has much room for improvement. Noticing these things, we decided to give her some quality tummy time after her afternoon nap. For the next two hours she and Drew played on the bed. She is incredibly strong sitting by herself and has the silliest scoot across the bed or floor by hopping and moving her legs. It is hilarious! This of course gets her in giggles and that is good to see. Drew is very successful in soliciting smiles and laughs. I love to sit back and watch them play pondering the many years we have waited to be here.Fifteen years ago, we had our first conversation as a dating couple about marriage and children. Both of us wanted to adopt, but Drew wanted to adopt from China. To finally see him with his little girl,laughing and playing is phenomenal and makes me fall in love with hi mall over again. I filmed for at least 20 minutes and captured the first moments of her personality emerging. She is amazing and we are so in love with this little girl!
For nap time, I decided to try lying her on her tummy to see if she would like that better than her back. As a bonus, I gave her MeiMei and immediately she gabbed it and fell asleep. What a blessing!It has been helpful to have the freedom to be at the hotel with her today. Without the whirlwind of events we have been able to better evaluate where Salem is developmentally. We know she has been held a lot as her referral notes indicate and her "spider monkey" tendencies with us confirm it. She is 11 months today and is still working on rolling over and pushing up to crawling position. Her arm strength has much room for improvement. Noticing these things, we decided to give her some quality tummy time after her afternoon nap. For the next two hours she and Drew played on the bed. She is incredibly strong sitting by herself and has the silliest scoot across the bed or floor by hopping and moving her legs. It is hilarious! This of course gets her in giggles and that is good to see. Drew is very successful in soliciting smiles and laughs. I love to sit back and watch them play pondering the many years we have waited to be here.Fifteen years ago, we had our first conversation as a dating couple about marriage and children. Both of us wanted to adopt, but Drew wanted to adopt from China. To finally see him with his little girl,laughing and playing is phenomenal and makes me fall in love with hi mall over again. I filmed for at least 20 minutes and captured the first moments of her personality emerging. She is amazing and we are so in love with this little girl!
One other interesting piece of information we have on the notes we received from her foster mom is that she has been trained to sit on the potty. This is common in China as they often don't diaper their babies, using split pants instead. After they fed the baby, they sit her down on a potty until she goes. This helped to explain her dry diapers today, so we thought we would give it a try. The hotel provided a potty that looks like a riding toy with handles. we stripped her diaper, sat her down and viola...pee pee:) She hated every minute of it though. It is tempting to keep this up to avoid the diaper bills, but I don't think we will require her to continue.If she refuses to mess her diapers, then of course, we will go for it,but I can't imagine keeping the regimen going while we travel and transition at home.
Tomorrow is a pretty easy day as well. We plan to visit the Teng Wang Pavillion here in Nanchang then spend the rest of the day resting and playing. Salem has a little cold, so I don't think we will be doing much. We miss you all at home and can't wait to introduce you to our sweet girl. Thanks to all who are praying...it is eveident and we are grateful. We love you!
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