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. :)