Sad day

Today was a sad day for Harper.  She seems to be grieving the loss of her nannies and friends from the orphanage.  It is heartbreaking to see her upset.  She had such an empty look for most of the day.  She mostly just wanted to be held and snuggled.  This grieving is a normal part of the transition.  It is actually a good sign.  It shows that Harper has bonded in the past, and will bond again.  Actually, she is already very bonded to Shawn and I.  I think part of her sadness today is because Ashley is gone.  Ashley had to return to the USA today, because school starts on Monday.  We are so thankful that she was able to come to China for part of the trip and share in the experience of adopting her baby sister. 

The pictures say it all for me.  Harper was just sad today.

We visited Shamian Island today.  We didn't stay long. because Harper wasn't feeling up to it.  The US Consulate used to be on Shamian Island, so many adoptive families would stay there.  The Consulate has moved to a new area now.  The number of international adoptions has decreased dramatically since 2007, and as a result there are fewer tourists on Shamian Island.  Many of the shops and hotels have closed.  We tried to take a picture of Harper with a statue on the island, but she didn't want to pose today. 

We ate lunch at the famous Lucy's restaurant.  It serves a wide variety of American style food.

Fortunately, there were some moments today where Harper was happy.

Playing with her stacking cups

Playing ball with Daddy

Playing Patty Cake with Momma

Harper has already experienced great loss in her life.  She lost her birth family and now is experiencing the loss of familiar caretakers.  She will struggle with feeling safe and secure and she may lack the ability to trust that we will meet her needs or be a permanent presence in her life.  Shawn and I will continue to meet her needs quickly and consistently so we can form a strong and healthy attachment.  With time, we are sure that she will be able to trust us and know that we will always love her.

August 16

Today was a wonderful day!  Harper was so happy!  She was full of smiles and even laughed out loud a few times.  There were no signs of grieving. 
We went to the purse market today. I'm not sure I can even begin to describe it!  There are 20 buildings, each with several floors that are stuffed with purse vendors.  There are thousands of little purse shops.  Ashley and I could have shopped for hours!  We hired a local guide named Ann to show us around.  She tried so hard to teach us how to bargain for a better price, but we were no good at that!  Everything was so cheap, I wasn't ever successful at bargaining.  We also went to the watch market.  It was very similar.  There were thousands of watch stores.  It is illegal in China to sell knock off products.  When a watch vendor asked if we wanted to see Gucci, Bvulgari, Tag, and Rolex watches, we said "OK."  He said we would have to go to a separate office.  We followed him down a back street and into a building with hotel style rooms.  There were watches everywhere!  His knock offs were very good quality, but he wanted a lot of money for them -- about $300 USD each so we didn't buy any.  It was fun to see this part of China.

First time in sunglasses

 Playing with sissy

Harper is definitely my girl!  She loves clothes and shoes!  Every time we change into a new outfit, she likes to look in the mirror.  She just smiles and smiles at herself!

 Harper is starting to eat more solid foods, but still has a couple of bottles each day.  Momma loves feeding her and hopes she continues a bottle for a while longer!

First time for Mexican food!  This little girl really is a Scott!  She LOVED it!

This evening, Harper spent about an hour playing with a yogurt melt.  She isn't really interested in many toys!  She would take the yogurt melt (which was very sticky from being smashed in her little hand) and place it in the bottle lid.  Then she would take it back out and start over!

First time in Mizzou gear!  M-I-Z!

 

What a busy day!  Harper continues to be an excellent sleeper!

Harper is really bonding well with us and we are so thankful!  This little one has been through so much and she is still so kind and happy.  We just love her to pieces!

August 15

Today, we had most of the day free.   Our appointment to apply for Harper's Chinese passport wasn't until 3:30pm, so we had some time to just hang out as a family.  We have seen some signs of grieving in our sweet baby today.  This morning, she was a bit forlorn and would gaze off into space.  She was likely missing the nannies who cared for her and the friends she had at the orphanage.  We looked at a photo book from the orphanage, with lots of photos of Harper over the past few months.  Many of the photos contain pictures of her friends.  That seemed to perk her up a bit.

Later, we went to the playroom in the hotel.  There were two other adopting families in the playroom.  It was nice to visit with some other people going through this experience.  Both of their new children were about Harper's age, so it was fun for her to play.  She was a bit timid and mostly wanted to watch the other kids from Momma's lap.  We were so proud when she shared her favorite pink ball with another little girl!  She frequently clings to this ball, and when her playmate reached for it, I wasn't sure what reaction we would see.

Today was Harper's first real bath.  We anticipated that it would be a traumatic experience for her, so for the past two days we had only taken a quick shower.  We knew that orphanage children aren't bathed in a tub.  They are usually just given a quick sponge bath.  We tried to make it less traumatic by putting in some toys, and with Mommy getting in the tub too.  Harper did not like it at all!  She was even crying out "Ayi!  Ayi!" which means "Auntie!  Auntie!".  That is what the children call the nannies at the orphanage.  It was heartbreaking to see her tears and hear her cry out for someone other than Momma or Daddy.  On the other hand, we were relieved to finally see some tears from our girl.  The tears show that she had bonded with some of the nannies from her orphanage, and this was a great sign that she will be able to bond and attach to us.

Fortunately, she was easily consoled after some dancing with Daddy.

She ate LOTS of noodles for lunch today.

After nap time, we went to get her passport.  She loved this hair bow!  When she saw herself in the mirror, she had the hugest smile!  Every time we would pass a mirror, she would get a huge grin on her face.

After supper, we decided to introduce Harper to ice cream.  There is a McDonald's near our hotel, so we grabbed some Oreo McFlurries.  So far, we've been able to order in restaurants by pointing at pictures on a menu.  (Most fast food workers don't speak English)  Ice cream wasn't on the picture menu at McDonalds, so I typed "ice cream" into a translator on my phone.  I showed the phone to the girl helping us, and rather than reading the Chinese symbols on the phone, she read the English part.  She said, "Oh!  You want some ice cream?" in very clear English! 
Harper was a bit unsure of the cold texture at first, but decided that she did like ice cream.

In the photo above, you can see some peanut butter and cereal.  Another adoptive family was checking out of the hotel, and brought a big bag of water and food by our hotel room.  All of the families here are so kind!  We have been so blessed to meet so many great families!

Our first full day with Harper!

Harper is such a pleasant baby!  She has made huge strides in attaching to us.  I'm so happy to see that she understands that we love her and will take good care of her.  Today, our adoption guide tried to hold her and Harper didn't want to go to the guide.  It was obvious that she wanted to stay with Momma.  Later in the day, Daddy got the first smiles from Harper!  He was dancing around the hotel room with her.  I'm pretty sure she was laughing at him, not with him --- but he got to her smile a lot!!  She loves Ashley very much too, and is often looking around to find Ashley and see what she is doing.

Harper slept 12 hours last night.  I was worried that she must be getting hungry, so I finally woke her up this morning.  When I tried to wake her up, she covered her little face with her arm.  It was sooooooo cute!

At breakfast, we learned that Harper isn't picky about her foods.  She is pretty unsure of most solids, but was willing to try anything.  She ate very well!

Today, we went back to the Civil Affairs Office to complete the adoption.  The procedure is to keep the child overnight, then return the next day to answer if you feel the child is satisfactory.  We gave a resounding YES to that question!

After her nap, we decided to go to Trust Mart which is the Chinese Wal-Mart.  It was a great opportunity to try out my Ergo baby carrier!  (Shawn absolutely hates this product, but I think Harper likes it!)  Please excuse how sweaty I am.  Have I mentioned that the humidity level in Guangzhou is over 98% every day?

We finished the day with some time at the pool.  Harper was not really a fan of the pool.  She stuck out her pouty bottom lip (apparently that sign is the same in Chinese and English) and it was clear that she wasn't excited about swimming.  She did like watching all the other kids play.

What a perfect first day as a family!

Mexican Food in China!

We have found excellent Mexican food in China!  There is a restaurant called Tekila's just down the street from our hotel.  We decided to eat there for lunch before our appointment to meet Harper.  (Sorry this post is out of order.)  Our family LOVES Mexican food so we were super excited to find it in China!

Ashley & I being silly with our chips and spicy salsa!

The chicken enchiladas were wonderful!

As we were eating, a huge thunderstorm popped up.  We had to hurry back to the hotel because it was time to go meet Harper!  There was no way we were going to be late for that!  I had a small umbrella in my purse, so Ashley and I made it back without getting too wet.  Things didn't work out so well for Shawn!

We will definitely be going back to Tekila's.  Next time we will take 2 umbrella's.  I sure hope Harper likes Mexican food!

Gotcha Day!

We have Harper and she is just precious!!!!  She is very serious and interested in everything.  We made it through the Civil Affairs Office with no tears (from her or me!).  Everything went very smoothly.  Because Harper's orphanage is about 8 hours from Guangzhou, we were one of the last families to meet our child.  It was actually very calm and quiet at the Civil Affairs Office.  About 20 families were leaving just as we arrived.  When we got to the CAO, we could see Harper in another room.  She looked out at us and seemed to possibly recognize us from photos we had sent to her. She is very inquisitive, so maybe she was just wondering who we were. 

After a few papers were signed, we were allowed to take Harper from the orphanage nannies who brought her to Guangzhou.

We brought a few toys with us and Harper immediately latched on to a pink rattle ball.

We asked the nannies when Harper had last eaten, and they said 11:00.  It was nearly 4:00, so we offered her a bottle.  She drank it all within 3 minutes!

After a few more papers were signed, we were ready to go!  We took our first family photo.

Back at the hotel, we played for a while.....

Posed for some pictures...........

Then took a quick shower..........

We played a bit more and when Daddy started to make a bedtime bottle, Harper was too sleepy to wait.  (Notice the pink ball! She clung to it all night!)

We couldn't be more pleased with our precious little bundle!  She is very calm and sweet.  She is interested in everything.  It appears that she has not eaten much real food.  The nannies said they fed her congee (an oatmeal like porridge) and soup.  The nannies also told us she has 16 teeth, so we tried giving her a few solid foods tonight.  She seems to like tasting them, but is unsure what to do with the food once it is in her mouth. She really enjoyed chewing on a slice of an apple, but didn't appear to know how to swallow it.  Something tells me that daddy will be introducing her to donuts in the morning! 

Thank you all so much for your prayers!  I think Harper is doing as well as possible under the circumstances.  Other than a small heat rash, she appears to be very healthy!  We are so thankful for this blessing!

The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou

The Garden Hotel is wonderful!  We have a huge suite.  They provide so many unexpected extras at this hotel!  The service is top notch.  We have been here for one day and already they have delivered a complimentary fruit platter and also some fresh roses!  Not only did they have a crib waiting for us, it also had a nice gift basket in it with many baby products and a stuffed panda.

We have a large bedroom, a fantastic marble bathroom, and a huge living room with a TV, couch, table and chairs and a desk.

Shawn's favorite part of the hotel is the breakfast buffet!  It is a huge spread with every imaginable breakfast food on it.  Shawn's favorite -- the chocolate covered doughnuts.