Thursday, March 31 - Nanjing Free Day

We were very relieved to have a day in which to do nothing but spend time with girls. AK has begun feeling slighted by the attention given to Inara which we knew would happen. So, Eric and I took turns having one-on-one time with AK, today. I took AK on a boat ride through Nanjing and a rickshaw tour of the city. Here are some photos from our day! We are off to Beijing on Friday so we will not post until Saturday.

Wednesday, March 30 - LianYunGang Orphanage

Today, we traveled to Lian Yun Gang to see Inara's orphanage. I wasn't sure what to expect and was concerned for my girls. I knew the visit would add to Inara's confusion and that the effect on AK would be significant. Both of those concerns played out but the visit was also profoundly amazing. Inara was loved. I mean, really loved. The orphanage staff came out in groups to greet Inara and it was clear that she had a special place in their hearts. She was all smiles seeing everyone who had cared for her and the staff beamed as they passed her from person to person. We were treated to a lunch with the director. It was the most spectacular Chinese food we have eaten yet. The staff was kind and we could see how well the orphanage was run, how well cared for the children were, but, most importantly, how connected they were to the children.

Inara's orphanage is largely funded by Half the Sky and we learned that it was Half the Sky that funded her surgery in Beijing.

Here is Inara giving us a tour of the play room.

What was fun to watch was how Inara would grab AK's hand and take her to the toys or her crib.

Inara with her best friend who has also been matched with a family in the US. We hope to be able to locate them so we can keep the girls in touch.

It was a very emotional day being at the orphanage. Most of the children at the Lian Yun Gang orphanage are special needs children and some severely handicapped. But everywhere you looked there was art and crafts of the children hanging from the walls and ceilings, pictures of them with their nannies, and toys. The place was a flurry of activity and laughter.

Yes, she was most certainly loved. We feel so luck that she had so many people who cared deeply for her and took such good care of her. She is such a well-adjusted, developmentally normal kid and we now know why.

Hipster 6yr old

My hipster daughter kept us all laughing on the trip to and from the orphanage. It was worth the 8 hours in the car, and both girls did amazing!

March 29 - Nanjing

It's all about AK.

Eric and I are background noise in Inara's world, for now. She is obsessed with Akasha. As long as Akasha is holding her hand, she is content going any where. Akasha is who can sooth her, make her laugh, and transition her into new environments.

Today was rather relaxed. We met with the Chinese officials this morning who made our adoption official :) We wait in Nanjing until they issue Inara a passport and then we are off to Beijing.

Inara saw her Nanny again this morning which sent her into a little bit of a state. But, I am also realizing that we are not feeding her enough which may have also been the issue of her sullen state.

Inara is an eater. That is for sure. She ate a whole small pot of steamed egg custard with oyster sauce and a whole bowl of duck liver/duck blood soup. I think she might have eaten more than Eric at dinner tonight and afterwards, she could not have been a cheerier child. Yes, she needs food and apparently, lots of it. :)

Speaking of food, I don't think there is any part of the duck I haven't eaten, now. I had duck hearts with steamed beans the other night. This morning, for breakfast, I had braised duck feet. And, then duck liver/duck blood soup for dinner. Don't knock it until you try it - the duck feet were amazing.

Tomorrow morning we are off to Inara's orphanage -4 hours away. We will be gone all day so this will not post until Thursday.

Note: getting around, "the great Firewall of China" is pretty interesting, although relatively few workarounds and having tech support in-tow is pretty handy.

Gotcha Day, March 28 - Nanjing

It is 5 AM and I am here in bed watching my two babies sleep. They are beautiful. I love listening to them breath. I wonder what they are dreaming about; Akasha my serious child and Inara who in one day has already revealed that she is a comedian and an incessant giggler.

Inara mourned the separation from her nanny for about 4 hours. It was so sad to hear her wimper and look around hoping her nanny would appear. She cried for “mama” and it wasn’t me she was crying for.

And then, as we got ready for bed and snuggled with the girls, Inara began to smile. First, her smiles were for Akasha. But, soon, she infected herself with her own smiles and she could not contain the Huanxin, elated joy, that is her.

It was about 8 o’clock that the outright goofy antics began that I did not know a 15 month capable of. She began teasing Akasha and then teasing me and giggling when we played along. And, she did the most surprising thing of all, she snuggled into me and stayed that way until she fell asleep.

When she woke at midnight, I expected her to begin crying when she looked around and realized she was still in the strange environment in which she dozed off to. Instead, she began playing, laughing and snuggling some more. She crawled over to check on Eric – he smacked his leg and when he moved she gave a satisfied giggle. She nudged AK to see if AK would wake and play, to no avail. So, she simply propped her feet upon her sisters belly and leaned against me to play and snuggle. She finally ran out of steam at 1 o’clock and drifted back to sleep. I wonder what other wonderments today will bring . . .

Sleepless in Nanjing . . .

It is 12:30 AM Nanjing time (Monday) and 10:30 AM in the Rocky Mountains. I am wide awake and find myself reading, writing, and mentally rehearsing tomorrow.

It is interesting to observe how each of us has prepared for the arrival of Inara. AK fell asleep in the crib they had put in our room for Inara, after spending the afternoon going between playing in the crib and Inara's blow-up duck bath. It is almost like she is trying to understand how everything is going to be from Inara's perspective. Before bed she pulled out all of her stuff animals and warned them that they were about to be manhandled by a one year-old. The stuffed troops seemed to resign themselves to their fate at the orders of their general.

For me, it was preparing the diaper bag in an almost ceremonial way and trying on the Ergo carrier, knowing it was about to contain 20 pounds of baby. For Eric, it has been getting the electronics ready so that video and pictures are ready to be taken of the moment. Logistically, we are ready.

However, there is no fully preparing one's self for what becomes an alien abduction of a child. We have waited for Inara for so long and are already in love with this little girl whom we have not yet met. To her, we will be white-faced strangers taking her from those she knows. It is a trauma to a child that we will cause knowing that having a life-long family is more important.

So wish us luck. Tomorrow might be the beginning of days of crying as Inara protests against the alien abductors and mourns the loss of her nanny. We are hoping that AK's presence will provide Inara some reassurance, distraction and comfort. If that doesn't work, we brought cookies. :)

Sunday, March 27 - Nanjing

AK playing in Inara's blow up tub.

Eight hours sleep and bellies full of dim sum, we are feeling much better, today.

We started our day at the hotel's breakfast buffet which was divided into western and Chinese food. Most of Chinese patrons were enjoying the novel waffles and pancakes while we stuffed ourselves on fish, dim sum, steamed pork and miso soup. If you have to be a traveling Celiac (like Eric) China is the place to go.

We met with our travel rep at 10 and wondered inot the Confusian Temple shopping area. AK bought sugar glazed strawberries on a scewer and we wondered aimlessly through the small shops.

Nanjing is such a different experience from our previous travels to China. We do not see any other westerns as we walk around and folks have been a wee bit concerned seeing us with AK - when they learned that she is our adopted daughter (instead of a child we are obsconding with) they are very kind and friendly.

We have been lounging in our room this afternoon as we are still recovering from our travels and we are trying to prepare for Inara tomorrow. AK worked hard on Inara's memory journal, drawing pictures of Inara and koi fish she saw in the lobby. It was fun working with AK on packing Inara's diaper bag for tomorrow - I remember fondly packing up hers for the first time.

Enjoy the pictures and we look forward to being able to post the first pictures of Inara tomorrow. We get her shortly after 2:00 PM China time, tomorrow - just after midnight Rocky Mountain time, I believe. We cannot believe "Gotcha Day" is finally upon us!

(Forgive the formatting of this blog post. We are experiencing incredible lag in our connection today and every action, even typing was arduous. Hopefully, it will be better tomorrow!)

We Have Arrived!

After 34 hours of traveling, we have arrived in Nanjing, China! We made all of our connections and even had time to gorge ourselves on sushi and kimchi in Korea. What seemed most miraculous to us was, despite all of our connecting flights (one which involved us doing an OJ Simpson run through the Guangzhou airport and reaching the gate just as it was closing), our luggage made it!

I am constantly amazed at how well AK travels. It is 4 AM Fort Collins time and she is still going strong and seems able to survive on little cat naps here and there.

Eric was able to VPN us into a computer state-side so that we will have access to our blog and Facebook while we travel. Yeah, Eric!!