Well... It's been nearly a week and a half and we are FINALLY settling in. Cuyler walks around the house counting: "1,2,3...4" We are finally a family, Mama! He loves his little sister to death, even though she gets most of the attention. Sometimes he feels a bit left out, and he has learned to tell us when he needs extra hugs or he feels like he isn't getting enough lovin. It is so cute.
Ginger is finally bonding to me, and smiles and giggles and laughs and plays all day with her Mama. I no longer have to wait until she is asleep to curl her little hand around my finger and watch her sleep and feel her breath. She reaches for me now and when she wakes up in the morning and sees my face she smiles instead of hanging her little head and sobbing. What a sweet relief!
Her body has finally settled into the new time zone, as evidenced by the fact that she finally pooed in the morning instead of at night! Yaaaaay! Major hurdle jumped! She sleeps all night, and last night was the first night she slept the entire night in her crib, rather than coming in to bed with me around 4:00 am. We work in shifts: David puts her down and when he comes to bed at 10 or 11, I am on call, and go in when she cries around midnight to pat her back to sleep.
I don't think we could possibly ask for a smoother transition, really. Ginger fits in like she has been here all along. She is amazingly adaptive and easy going. Except when she doesn't get her way, in which case she puts up quite a fuss. We will be forever grateful to her foster family, who so clearly took such wonderful care of her. She is a happy, engaged, spirited and bright little baby girl.
I still cannot believe it when I settle into the big bed in our room every evening and read stories to my childREN. We have waited so long for this, and it is so worth the wait. It brings tears to my eyese to see my son so tender and sweet with her. First thing in the morning he runs into her room to "check" on her, and he and I lie in bed and wait for her to wake up.
Tomorrow is her big Dr's check up , and that will be very telling. At least one of the babies in our group has been diagnosed with Hep B. Apparetnly 73% of the population in HGinger's provine have Hep. So.... We will see.
Ooops- I think my little princess is waking from her nap. So I need to get her up, give her a snack, and then we will go pick up brother at pre-school and spend the rest of the day at the park. yeah, yeah, life sucks!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Uggghhhh
Oh, I may never write again. We finally made it to Guangzhou and the WHite Swan hotel and I got sick on the plane. The flight was excruciating and two days later I am still not hearing normally. Then once we landed, the fun began. My stomach started twisting into knots, leaving me basically incapacitated. There we were at the airport waiting for the bus, babies rolling around on those always delightful airport floors, and and mom down their with them, crying just as loudly. Well, not really, just trying to amuse!
I have been sick every since, with a nasty throat infection, cough and stomach issues. Well, this time is like no other, I ALWAYS get sick when I come to China. Even my skin hurts! My flesh crawls all night, cold hot cold hot. And poor David was up all night with Ginger last night. She is not well either, and last night was really bad for her. We will take her to the clinic today. Oh, yes, we have pink eye, too.
So. we have lots of little potions and powders to take to try and make us well. i so want to leave the hotel, but I can't walk more than a few moments. Ginger seems to feel bad for a while, then build up speed and be OK for a while. David is just exhausted and grumpy.
Can't wait to show you all our ADOPTION BARBIE doll. No kidding! Mattel sponsors them and they come in a box dedicated to people adopting children in CHina! There is a little play room here, too, well-stocked with toys, that Mattel sponsors. Too smart. Ahh, the marketization of our children! Only the Chinese can do it better than the Americans!
OK, my stomach is writhing and I am due another long session shaking and sweating in bed. This will likely be my last pos till we get home. Who wants to come take care of us?
Oh, and Cuyler came up with a super cute pet name for Ginger, he calls her is little Ginger Bun! He was not interested much in talking to me yesterday, jsut wanted to talk to his Little Ginger Bun. So cute!
Love to all-
I have been sick every since, with a nasty throat infection, cough and stomach issues. Well, this time is like no other, I ALWAYS get sick when I come to China. Even my skin hurts! My flesh crawls all night, cold hot cold hot. And poor David was up all night with Ginger last night. She is not well either, and last night was really bad for her. We will take her to the clinic today. Oh, yes, we have pink eye, too.
So. we have lots of little potions and powders to take to try and make us well. i so want to leave the hotel, but I can't walk more than a few moments. Ginger seems to feel bad for a while, then build up speed and be OK for a while. David is just exhausted and grumpy.
Can't wait to show you all our ADOPTION BARBIE doll. No kidding! Mattel sponsors them and they come in a box dedicated to people adopting children in CHina! There is a little play room here, too, well-stocked with toys, that Mattel sponsors. Too smart. Ahh, the marketization of our children! Only the Chinese can do it better than the Americans!
OK, my stomach is writhing and I am due another long session shaking and sweating in bed. This will likely be my last pos till we get home. Who wants to come take care of us?
Oh, and Cuyler came up with a super cute pet name for Ginger, he calls her is little Ginger Bun! He was not interested much in talking to me yesterday, jsut wanted to talk to his Little Ginger Bun. So cute!
Love to all-
Friday, March 6, 2009
Finally some space to write!
It has been difficult for me to write, as I have been completely consumed by this tiny little bundle of joy that is my daughter. It has been an exhilarating and emotional few days. Ginger is an absolute delight; she is extremely personable and outspoken. She loves to laugh and play; in short she is EXACTLY the person they told us in her dossier that she was. Which is comforting.
In an unexpected turn, she has bonded pretty much exclusively to David. Up until yesterday she would not tolerate my holding her or even getting too close unless David was there. She would let me feed her and play with her a bit, but she had to be safely in Daddy's arms. We had expected this to happen the other way around, with her being afraid of David. Apparently this is not uncommon at all. In fact, it is happening alot around us to varying degrees. David cannot leave the room, put her down or even really look away for long before she starts crying. This is one of the things they didn't prepare us for.
When she looks at me, huge tears well up in her eyes, she hangs her dead and just SOBS. Oh, man, it is absolutely heart breaking. I just want to hold her and love her and keep her safe. So, between the two of us there are plenty of tears! We are not sure if it is because of my blonde hair (which many people surmise), or because I remind her of her caretaker. Which, when you see her picture to the right, you can imagine why!
We went to the orphanage Thursday and everything started to change afterward. We got to see her "Founding Place", the small building to the right which sits at the gate of the orphanage. They man the building 24x7 so that when someone leaves a baby they can get her in out of the elements quickly. Oh, man, and talk about elements! It is freezing cold and raining here. This couldn't possible be southern China! My feet are wet and I am cold. booo frickety hoo!
Anyway, on to the subject at hand! We chit chatted with her foster mom for quite a while. Well, kinda. I don't really understand the dialect here, and she kept telling me about these two small dogs she has and how much Ginger loves them and how she calls them, blah blah blah. So, i was saying, oh yeah, we have a cat, but no dogs. When Ginger is 3 we will get a dog, blah blah blah.
She kept talking about those dumb dogs, so finally I got an orphanage employee to come and translate a little (into standard Chinese, not English), and it ends up the dogs are little boys! She must think I am a complete and utter moron. Anyway, she was delightful, but Ginger was not horribly interested in her. In fact, she only let her hold her a little bit, and if Daddy wasn't right next to her she cried in her arms. we promised Grandma Pan we would send pictures every year. Grandma pan did translate some of Ginger's words, which was nice. She loves to count. you know, 1,2,3,5,8. That is how Grandma Pan counted. So, we don't sweat the details, like what order numbers go in!!!
Suffice to say going to the orphanage was extremely cathartic for all of us and will forever remain a highlight of our trip. It was really nice to see where she was from; it was actually a poor but nice little town set in some foothills with tree covered hills surrounding it. And LOTS of red mud.
Since returning from the orphanage Ginger has blossomed even more. She is tolerating me at greater and greater intervals and is allowing me to hold her and play with her without Daddy present. I even got to get into a bath with he last night. Yesterday on the bus she stood up and was smiling at me and reached for me and several of the women on the bus had tears in their eyes, as it was so touching. I held her while she slept on the bus, too, and everyone was rooting for me! One f the couples has adopted 4 children from taiwan prior to this, their CHina doll, and they have given me great advice. the dad, Ron, is really a big jolly guy and the babies love him. He told me I had to do the tough love thing with her and let David go out and do something and just let her cry so she had to come around. I was hesitant to do so, because this has been such a traumatic week for her, I hate to traumatize her more, but I did it anyway and it worked.
This group of 8 families has really bonded well, too. We all share toys and clothes that don't fit our babies and food that works, etc. We are rooting for one another, loving each other's babies, and crying on one another's shoulders. Even the hotel attendants are rooting for us! It is very sweet, and a real bonding of humanity. Our world is so full of separation and anxiety and angst and oppositional forces, that it is very humbling and magical to be engaged in something that just naturally brings people together rather than splitting them apart.
In an unexpected turn, she has bonded pretty much exclusively to David. Up until yesterday she would not tolerate my holding her or even getting too close unless David was there. She would let me feed her and play with her a bit, but she had to be safely in Daddy's arms. We had expected this to happen the other way around, with her being afraid of David. Apparently this is not uncommon at all. In fact, it is happening alot around us to varying degrees. David cannot leave the room, put her down or even really look away for long before she starts crying. This is one of the things they didn't prepare us for.
When she looks at me, huge tears well up in her eyes, she hangs her dead and just SOBS. Oh, man, it is absolutely heart breaking. I just want to hold her and love her and keep her safe. So, between the two of us there are plenty of tears! We are not sure if it is because of my blonde hair (which many people surmise), or because I remind her of her caretaker. Which, when you see her picture to the right, you can imagine why!
We went to the orphanage Thursday and everything started to change afterward. We got to see her "Founding Place", the small building to the right which sits at the gate of the orphanage. They man the building 24x7 so that when someone leaves a baby they can get her in out of the elements quickly. Oh, man, and talk about elements! It is freezing cold and raining here. This couldn't possible be southern China! My feet are wet and I am cold. booo frickety hoo!
Anyway, on to the subject at hand! We chit chatted with her foster mom for quite a while. Well, kinda. I don't really understand the dialect here, and she kept telling me about these two small dogs she has and how much Ginger loves them and how she calls them, blah blah blah. So, i was saying, oh yeah, we have a cat, but no dogs. When Ginger is 3 we will get a dog, blah blah blah.
She kept talking about those dumb dogs, so finally I got an orphanage employee to come and translate a little (into standard Chinese, not English), and it ends up the dogs are little boys! She must think I am a complete and utter moron. Anyway, she was delightful, but Ginger was not horribly interested in her. In fact, she only let her hold her a little bit, and if Daddy wasn't right next to her she cried in her arms. we promised Grandma Pan we would send pictures every year. Grandma pan did translate some of Ginger's words, which was nice. She loves to count. you know, 1,2,3,5,8. That is how Grandma Pan counted. So, we don't sweat the details, like what order numbers go in!!!
Suffice to say going to the orphanage was extremely cathartic for all of us and will forever remain a highlight of our trip. It was really nice to see where she was from; it was actually a poor but nice little town set in some foothills with tree covered hills surrounding it. And LOTS of red mud.
Since returning from the orphanage Ginger has blossomed even more. She is tolerating me at greater and greater intervals and is allowing me to hold her and play with her without Daddy present. I even got to get into a bath with he last night. Yesterday on the bus she stood up and was smiling at me and reached for me and several of the women on the bus had tears in their eyes, as it was so touching. I held her while she slept on the bus, too, and everyone was rooting for me! One f the couples has adopted 4 children from taiwan prior to this, their CHina doll, and they have given me great advice. the dad, Ron, is really a big jolly guy and the babies love him. He told me I had to do the tough love thing with her and let David go out and do something and just let her cry so she had to come around. I was hesitant to do so, because this has been such a traumatic week for her, I hate to traumatize her more, but I did it anyway and it worked.
This group of 8 families has really bonded well, too. We all share toys and clothes that don't fit our babies and food that works, etc. We are rooting for one another, loving each other's babies, and crying on one another's shoulders. Even the hotel attendants are rooting for us! It is very sweet, and a real bonding of humanity. Our world is so full of separation and anxiety and angst and oppositional forces, that it is very humbling and magical to be engaged in something that just naturally brings people together rather than splitting them apart.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Gotcha Day
The day we have been waiting for finally arrived and we got our beautiful Ginger. It was pretty indescribable and I am pretty tired, so I think I will just post a couple of pictures for now and try my hand at the narrative tomorrow.
Suffice to say that it was an amazing experience to be in this big government office with ALL these babies, dressed in the same clothes and mostly crying, while we sat on the other side of the room and waited for them to call our name. I recognized her from across the room.
She is a true Peck, as she slept beautifully through the night, after having fallen asleep on her daddy's chest. She definitely prefers him to me. Every time I hold her she will look up at me and tears will fill her eyes and she will hang her head and cry. It is heart breaking to me, but we must take it one step at a time. She loves loves loves her Daddy and cannot bear to be away from him. So we are here in Nanchang in the freezing cold rain, bonding with our darling girl and hangin out. OK, there are some pics and I am going to go to bed. Will blog more later.
Suffice to say that it was an amazing experience to be in this big government office with ALL these babies, dressed in the same clothes and mostly crying, while we sat on the other side of the room and waited for them to call our name. I recognized her from across the room.
She is a true Peck, as she slept beautifully through the night, after having fallen asleep on her daddy's chest. She definitely prefers him to me. Every time I hold her she will look up at me and tears will fill her eyes and she will hang her head and cry. It is heart breaking to me, but we must take it one step at a time. She loves loves loves her Daddy and cannot bear to be away from him. So we are here in Nanchang in the freezing cold rain, bonding with our darling girl and hangin out. OK, there are some pics and I am going to go to bed. Will blog more later.
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Mei Mei room
Mei Mei's room is the sunniest room in the house