So today was "gotcha day". Not sure what we will call it...gotcha day, forever family day, the day that Keeghan screamed for hours on end...we'll see. We left the hotel around 9 this morning for a quick drive to the civil affairs office here in Changsha. We got to the office a bundle of nerves and they put us into a back room to do some paperwork. A few minutes later there was a wailing baby in the outer room. Our guide (Jackie...male fyi) tells us it's not one of our daughter's but my gut said otherwise. We had to finish up our paperwork and have it checked but by the time we were done we knew our daughter's were in the next room. They brought Keeghan to me first and the other family I am here with was amazing enough to take tons of pictures and video knowing their daughter was only feet away. I'm so lucky to have them here! Anway, Keeghan had calmed down a bit by the time they went to hand her to me but that was all over once I took her. She was crying so hard and trying ANYTHING to get away from me that I didn't even get to cry. At one point I set her down to try and grab some snacks and toys out of my backpack which is when I discovered she can walk. Yeah, I got myself a toddler and she is going to be into EVERYTHING at home (Doug read that as put up the gate and babyproof). She was clutching two cookies when I got her and bundled in about four layers of clothes. The wailing continued pretty much for the next hour and a half or so. Once the other family had their daughter we came back to the hotel for a bit.
It took me a good 15 minutes to finally get through to Doug and the other kids to let them know I had Keeghan and all was well. I know both Doug and I had been worried about the swelling in her hand and leg. Although her hand is very very swollen she is using it well. She was picking up grains of rice and playing with silverware at lunch.
Anyway, there was plenty of crying until I decided I should feed monster baby...yeah, she likes to eat too. The nannies had said she is a good eater and likes almost anything and boy were they right! This child can EAT. She chowed on pretty much everything I offered her...watermelon, cantelope, fried rice, congee (it's a Chinese thing...pretty much a watery rice mixture), oranges, noodles, all the different snack foods I brought...but she doesn't like ice cream.
After lunch we made our way back to the room and I could tell Keeghan was tired so I put her in the crib and she whined herself to sleep while I sat and rubbed her leg. Of course she woke a half hour later crying again but I settled her down on my chest and we cuddled for twenty minutes before having to leave to go do paperwork. I dug out the sling to carry Keeghan in and it works ok. I think once I get better at tying it on me it will work better, but Keeghan is big so that may be part of my problem.
We had to go back to the Civil Affairs Office for paperwork. We took a "family photo" that goes on some of the documents and were then quizzed. We were asked about our families, marriage dates, why we wanted to adopted a baby from China, if we'd promise to take care of her, etc. I guess I answered ok because I had to hand over a ton of money and I still have monster/screaming baby (who is now sideways in her crib with all her blankets kicked off). We were only there for an hour or two and then came back to the hotel and we all had dinner together. Keeghan got pretty fussy by the time she was done eating and I was sure she was tired so we came back to the room to go to bed. I tried the same approach I took earlier of putting her down in the crib and letting her cry/whine for a bit but that wasn't working so well. SOOOO I gave in and picked her up and rocked her to sleep in my arms. Thankfully, she stayed asleep when I put her down.
That meant I could get my pj's on and get ready for bed. After doing that I decided I'd try the outlet voltage things this hotel has to see if I could get the laptop to work and was successful!!! So, now I have internet access in my room which ROCKS. So, I got to IM with Doug and Val for a bit (and Carson too) which was great. I got to tell Doug all about Keeghan and some of the crazy things I've seen here. I'll post more about that later, but right now I'm beat and need some sleep.
It took me a good 15 minutes to finally get through to Doug and the other kids to let them know I had Keeghan and all was well. I know both Doug and I had been worried about the swelling in her hand and leg. Although her hand is very very swollen she is using it well. She was picking up grains of rice and playing with silverware at lunch.
Anyway, there was plenty of crying until I decided I should feed monster baby...yeah, she likes to eat too. The nannies had said she is a good eater and likes almost anything and boy were they right! This child can EAT. She chowed on pretty much everything I offered her...watermelon, cantelope, fried rice, congee (it's a Chinese thing...pretty much a watery rice mixture), oranges, noodles, all the different snack foods I brought...but she doesn't like ice cream.
After lunch we made our way back to the room and I could tell Keeghan was tired so I put her in the crib and she whined herself to sleep while I sat and rubbed her leg. Of course she woke a half hour later crying again but I settled her down on my chest and we cuddled for twenty minutes before having to leave to go do paperwork. I dug out the sling to carry Keeghan in and it works ok. I think once I get better at tying it on me it will work better, but Keeghan is big so that may be part of my problem.
We had to go back to the Civil Affairs Office for paperwork. We took a "family photo" that goes on some of the documents and were then quizzed. We were asked about our families, marriage dates, why we wanted to adopted a baby from China, if we'd promise to take care of her, etc. I guess I answered ok because I had to hand over a ton of money and I still have monster/screaming baby (who is now sideways in her crib with all her blankets kicked off). We were only there for an hour or two and then came back to the hotel and we all had dinner together. Keeghan got pretty fussy by the time she was done eating and I was sure she was tired so we came back to the room to go to bed. I tried the same approach I took earlier of putting her down in the crib and letting her cry/whine for a bit but that wasn't working so well. SOOOO I gave in and picked her up and rocked her to sleep in my arms. Thankfully, she stayed asleep when I put her down.
That meant I could get my pj's on and get ready for bed. After doing that I decided I'd try the outlet voltage things this hotel has to see if I could get the laptop to work and was successful!!! So, now I have internet access in my room which ROCKS. So, I got to IM with Doug and Val for a bit (and Carson too) which was great. I got to tell Doug all about Keeghan and some of the crazy things I've seen here. I'll post more about that later, but right now I'm beat and need some sleep.
3 comments:
Congratulations. It was nice to chat with you this morning. She is just as cute even if she is screaming. I can't wait to meet her. Have a great time bonding!
CONGRATULATIONS!! Call me if you need anything -- Shoshi cried tons when we got her. Sounds like you are doing great -- Ellen
Congratulations! She's very cute and the fact that she can walk makes things all the more fun :)
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