she's absolutely beautiful!!!! we arrived in nanchang after a 2 hr flight on china air without much fanfare. 30 minutes on the bus and waiting in the lobby were a dozen little babies all dressed in the same pink and yellow outfits. we were asked to go straight to our rooms and meet later in a designated conference room! ugh. 5 hours to vancouver, 12 hours to beijing, overnight and 2 hrs to nanchang and we couldnt pick up our little girls until we were all in the "official" meeting room. why have them in the lobby when we're walking in???!!! it was pretty torturous to some of the mommies just coming off the bus. so, we go to our rooms, wait a little while and go down to a hastily prepared room to find the babies dressed in 4 layers of clothes, winter clothes no less, and were presented with our little girls.
they were all surprisingly plump! not what we were expecting at all. we signed some temporary custodial papers that would allow us to take the girls under our care until the "official" papers were prepared and signed. it was a surreal experience. imagine 12 little faces peering up at total strangers dressed with so many layers they looked like over stuffed teddy bears. it is customary to over dress babies in china and if you dont, be prepared to face the scorn of any chinese granny who might be seeing your depraved parenting skills. if they are sweating, it is good. alana is a godsend. she was actually not from an orphanage but from a foster home. she was loved, you can tell. she is so well behaved. she hardly complains, she has a gentle cry. she loves to talk! she even says "dada"! i melted. boy she can eat! she loves to laugh and tells us right away when something is wrong. we truly are blessed. she's so much fun. today, we spent the day doing the official stuff and unloaded a WHOLE lot of $$$. the chinese center of adoption whatever gave us the stamp of approval, took our picture and money and then we were off to the notary to get the whole thing... notarized. i just sign where i'm told to and put my faith in our 2 guides. mrs. chuang is our agency guide and monica is our local guide. the whole affair, and it was an "affair", went on for 2 or 3 hours and i can say that by the looks of the people running this government office, there is a fine line between official and clandestine. anyway, it got done and from a pile, they gave us a little vase and passport type document that is our official adoption certificate. done. on with the fun. alana just loves to play and she is STRONG. she can lift her head right up off the bed and look around. she cant quite sit up on her own. we gotta work this girl out! oh my god can she eat!
semi solids too. there were 2 problems tho. first she has a cold. and so do all the other little girls. not a big deal. the other is that she has a very bad diaper rash. carol thought is was an inflamation of her barthalemew glands due to the symmetrical nature of the pimples but the other 2 docs in our group disagreed. so on with the cortisone creme and on with life. alana doesnt seem to mind! she has a full pharmacy and 3 physicians at her disposal and she couldnt care less. she probably got it from their "dressing" habits. sixteen layers, 30 degree room temps and a wet diaper are not condusive to a healthy skin. we immediately let her breathe! she loves tummy tickles. i'm having a blast. cant sleep worth a damn but having a blast anyway. so are alana and carol. last night was a little overwhelming by the profundity of it all but atavan helps. taking it easy tonight and just thought i'd touch base with you all. see you all soon.