Sunday, November 10, 2013

Gotcha Day #1

Gotcha Day #1

After traveling for 30+ hours, we arrived at our hotel in Fuzhou, Fujian around 10:30 pm.  We crashed about midnight and we all got a great night's sleep.  We had breakfast in the hotel, and the boys were pretty grossed out by what the Chinese eat for breakfast.  They managed to find something to eat.  There was bacon.  William was happy about that.

When we got back to the room we watched the Bama-LSU game on the internet.  Roll Tide!

There's a huge lake in front of our hotel with all kinds of parks and a greenway around it.  We set out for a little stroll to pass the time until we got Cora Li at 3:30.  (Our guide was to meet us in our room at 3:20 to go down to the 3rd floor conference room.)  We had no idea how big this lake is because you cannot see all of it from our window.  What we thought was to be a leisurely stroll turned into at least 2 hours around the entire lake.  The scenery was beautiful, with lots of gardens to walk through.  There was also an amusement park and a museum along the way.  I had worn some fairly comfortable flats, but developed a blister on my pinky toe before we made it back.  Those last few yards were not comfortable.  Henry kept reminding us of how he didn't want to go in the first place and how we should have listened to him.

When we got back to the room around 2:45, the kids were hungry so we fixed them some instant macaroni & cheese that we had brought with us.  Our guide was at the door at 2:50, telling us that Lihong was here!  We had the kids eat quickly and then quickly gathered up our cameras and headed down.  So surreal.  This is happening!  She was wearing a white ruffled shirt, black leggings, and a tutu skirt.  She wasn't too sure about us, but she came to me right away.  She quickly decided that she would rather be with a Chinese lady, so she reached out for Rebecca to take her.  She cried when I handed her to Billy.  I took her back and walked her around the room a bit, letting her look out the window, while Billy signed some of the paperwork.     I then sat down with her in my lap to do the same. 

We went back to the room, which was strange to just take the elevator.  Normally, you receive your child in a Civil Affairs Office and then drive back to the hotel.  She warmed up quickly to the kids, having a blast with the stacking cups.  She laughed and laughed at them dropping them, putting them on their heads, or just generally being silly.  She has the sweetest and cutest personality.

We ordered pizza and chicken wings for dinner.  It wasn't that great, but she put away some chicken wings!

Bedtime went pretty well.  She would not let me put her in the crib, so I sat in a chair, rocked and sang to her for a while.  She was really fighting the sleep although it was wonderful for her to stare straight into my eyes for so long.  I sent Billy down to get some milk, which she apparently doesn't like.  We tried a couple of different bottles.  I decided that maybe laying down next to her in our bed might work.  She then started sucking her thumb and it wasn't long until she was out.  I transferred her to the crib after a little while and she slept all night.

What we know about Cora Li:
She's stinkin' cute.
She can crawl, pull to stand, and cruise a little.  She can get herself down off the bed.
She says and waves "bye-bye"and can blow kisses.
She can blow her nose.
And yes, we've taught her to say "Roll Tide."
She has a little cold right now.
She's quieter than John.  She says a few things in Chinese, but she's more reserved.
Although she has some physical delays due to her special need, she seems pretty intelligent.
She doesn't seem to like candy.
She didn't care for the soft bunny blankie that I brought her.
Stacking cups are the bomb.
She's a tiny thing, with the daintiest hands and feet.
Her ankles and feet seem weak.  I'm thinking she'll need AFO's for support.
Her hair could use a trim.


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