Our wait is over!!

What an amazing day!!  We have one wonderful daughter,
who is an absolute delight! full of mischief and
laughter, who came to us wet and hungry and crying…  She
is currently (as I write this) sitting on the bed with
Alex eating soft rice crackers, chuckling away and
talking baby talk including her only word so far DaDa…
She loves her Panda – and keeps trying to give him her
cracker…  Don't get me wrong - We have had "lots" of
screaming times when she did not want anymore congee,
when her milk was not coming quick enough out of her
bottle, and really – any time that Alex is not in the
room!!  She knows exactly what she wants and she loves
him completely already, and settles only with him…
Which although a large part of me wishes it was me, I am
really thrilled about it, because as the stay at home
Dad it is so important she bond with him…
Poor Alex though has had to be out of the room a few
extended times due to his upset stomach (gastro).
Personally I don’t think it is anything to do with the
food, as we have all eaten the same things and none of
us are ill, but he did clean his teeth with tap water l
ast night…
Taylor and Liam have both had lots of chuckles out of
BinBin (her Chinese Nickname), by playing peek a boo.
She is very smart as she knows exactly where they are
when they hide, and she looks for them…  Her pincer
movements are perfect – she holds onto her cracker with
pointer and thumb – but fiercely – don’t try to take it
away.…
She loved her bath – spashing and enjoying it…  Again
more crying when she came out…  She has these black/blue
marks up her back which we already learned is very common
among the Chinese babies, but we will need to take
photographs to show the kinder teachers so we do not get
accused of bruising her, as this has happened in the
past…  She also has dark dots all over her body and down
her arms… I have given her a coating of scabies lotion
after her bath…  But apart from that she seems very
healthy!
The emotional journey of going to get her was such a
roller coaster!!  I came down to the foyer at 3.45pm and
my heart jumped into my mouth as there was a group of
people with two Chinese babies the same age…  Sharon was
there, and was quick to reassure me they were not ours!!
We had to wait in the lobby for Joshua (get off that
internet please!!  Right now!!) and then Meng and Hong
Shi Yu were not there.  Coby rang them on the way – but
we headed off – for the 2 minute walk up the road to the
adoption centre…  They joined us as we crossed the road…
Crossing the road is dodging the cars in each lane of a
6 lane roadway…  + bikes + pedestrians + horns tooting
constantly – total mayhem really…
With my heart hammering, we nearly walked past the
building but came up to a room full of babies and
waiting parents.  I got tears straight away, trying to
spot our baby Jade…  However, we watched as one by one
the babies were matched with the waiting parents…
Another emotional roller coaster – I was in tears just
watching the 6 of them meet their babies….  We waited
with Sharon and John from Melbourne and another couple
from Kentucky, along with Sharon & Johns, Brother &
Sister In Law and Meng and Hong.  We waited with bated
breath – for any sound of the lift opening (our babies
were travelling 2.5 hrs from Yichun).
We watched as the couple from Kentucky were presented
with their 3.y.o daughter who sadly seemed to be handed
over asleep… & who was very upset when she woke up and
kept calling for her "MaMa"…  Both Alex and I were in
tears…
Then we had to compose ourselves again (after handing
out tissues) when Coby came in to say they were down
stairs!!  Joshua on the Video Camera and Taylor on the
still camera along with Neil made for quite a waiting
media throng…
Jade and Jessica entered – dressed up beautifully in
red Chinese Clothing with White fluffy trim and Red Hats…
Simply gorgeous!!  I did as planned and wrapped her in
her 100 Good Wishes Quilt, but Jade did not settle easily
and started crying quickly…. Meng took her and tried to
settle her, but she tried to reach for the drink of
another baby – she was hungry!!  So we headed back to
the Hotel as quickly as we could…  (We were to leave the
paperwork until tomorrow morning…)  Again across the
traffic, this time with Jade in my sling – no guide
this time to hold the traffic, so Alex was quick to
point out holes in the road and when we could continue
crossing to keep her safe…
So many stares…
This is after a lovely day shopping and spending time in
the amazing Peoples square…  They have massive water
fountains that play in time to music and kites and
balloons and spinning tops… the tops you keep spinning
by whipping them with a piece of string and they are
spinning all over this massive public square…  Taylor
bought one (8rmb - $1.80?) and he and Liam took turns in
whipping it to keep it going…  Although it was happening
all over the square, Taylor and Liam drew quite a crowd
watching and laughing… Josh soon joined in too… They
continue to get an amazing amount of public interest –
especially Josh with his blonde hair… It will be
interesting to see what happens when we have Jade out
in public… Even the walk back to the hotel from the
handover was watched very closely by all…
Time has gone by while I have written this, and I have
stopped to help Alex occasionally with an extra bottle,
or to get some smiles from my daughter – she is not
scared of me, she is happy – but she much prefers her
Daddy…  He puts it down to his small eyes, and his
glasses… (she keeps pulling them off and laughing…) he
thinks her carer must have had glasses…  But I think
she just loves him and it is wonderful to see…
He has had to rock her to sleep and she is sleeping
between us, snoring softly…
She usually wakes at 6am, and we need to be at the
adoption place by 9am, and we have a busy few hours
ahead of us then…
Time for me to sterilise some bottles ready for
tomorrow.
We feel so totally blessed and happy – she is going to
bring much light, laughter and love to our home…
Love, Laughter and Light to you all…
Cindy…