We're still in Nanning, waiting for Carly's passport. Having no appointments, our big outing for the day was to a local museum here in Nanning. Afterward, we headed to a local "shopping mall". I put it in quotes because the malls here are very different from what we have in the U.S. Following our little shopping excursion, we made a beeline for McDonald's and Dad and I immensely enjoyed our double cheeseburgers. They tasted just like home! Carly had her first french fry and boy is she hooked!
It is so much fun to see everyone with their new daughters each day. The babies are all doing great as they adjust to life with their new parents. And all of the parents appear to be holding up well, too!
As for sleeping, Miss Carly Jade had other thoughts in mind last night. She slept fitfully all night long - half of which was laying on me as I sat in a chair. I woke up this morning (Carly eventually decided that sleep was a good thing and we got at least a few hours of shut eye) and told my Dad that I felt like the parent of a newborn. Oh boy - let's hope this doesn't continue. It is so hard to let her "cry it out". I figure she's only known me for a couple of days -- I have to make sure she knows I'm still here and always will be. So, when she cried last night, and I do mean really, really cried, I gave in and picked her up. She doesn't like the crib in the room much at all, which seems to be the case with at least a couple of the babies in our group. I wonder if it reminds her of the crib in the SWI and if it makes her sad that she's not there any more.
I've read many people's journals over the past year and most adoptive parents talk about the "grieving time" that each adopted baby goes through. Well, I think we witnessed some of that with Carly today. She is still an absolute doll, so don't get me wrong. But she was quite a bit more clingy and whiney today - what she wanted most of all was to be held. As I thought about what must be going through her little head, it made me very sad. Her world has been turned upside down - totally and completely. And she has no control over anything that has or that will happen. Even though they don't understand things at our level, I know these babies are confused and scared and bewildered in the days immediately following "Gotcha". We come along and pluck them out of their safe little surroundings and we totally rock their world. So my Dad and I did all we could to comfort Carly and love her and provide her with a sense of security. Finally, this afternoon, I remembered that Snugli I packed - so I got it out and gave it a try. What a hit that was! Carly loved it! My Dad and I took her for a walk around the hotel grounds and she was in seventh heaven. I'll definitely be using it during the next week.
Later this afternoon/early evening, we had another "playtime party" with some of the babies in our travel group. The girls are sooooo cute interacting with one another. It is awesome to see them come out of their shells a little more with each passing day. Every day, each one of them does or tries something new.
Oh, I almost forgot to add ... when we were leaving the shopping mall to walk back to the bus, you should have seen the crowd of local people that gathered to size us funny looking Americans up. They formed a big circle around where we were gathered and from the looks on some of their faces, it was obvious they had never seen anything like us. And there we were with Chinese babies! They didn't know what to think. Some were smiling and saying "Lucky Baby!", while others were scolding about the way the babies were dressed. Very interesting experience, to say the least. We did get a few pictures of the people, so you'll have to check them out.
Tomorrow will be a very long and emotionally draining day....we are heading to Guiping, which is the city where Carly's SWI is located. We don't get to visit the SWI, but we will be visiting each of the babies' finding spots. We are leaving bright and early for the 3 hour bus ride from Nanning to Guiping.
Carly is asleep, so I'm headed to bed.
Thanks for following our journey!
At the drum museum in Nanning:
The grounds at the drum museum. Beautiful scenery!
Mommy and daughter - together at last!
Walking to the mall in Nanning:
The crowd of people in this picture were all staring at us -- the Americans with Chinese babies. Some started to scold us for not having our girls dressed warm enough or for having just a little bit of their skin exposed. Others were just in awe -- I wonder if some had never seen an American before. . . and yes, in case you were wondering, that McDonald's restaurant in the background? It tasted JUST LIKE HOME and was probably the best meal I had the entire time we were in China! LOL.
Rush hour in Nanning:
More views of Nanning from our hotel:
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