It’s Gotcha Day for Lydia!

We met our guide Vicky in the lobby at 9:00 am and headed in a van to go to the Civil Affairs office about 20 minutes away. Rob and I were joking this morning that we were both pretty calm amazingly, guess we felt we knew the drill since it was our 2nd time at the rodeo. As we pull into the parking lot we pass a group of ladies carrying a baby and Vicky pointed out…”there she is.” It didn’t take us two seconds to become big piles of mush…she is so beautiful. Vicky asked us if we recognized her…we could only nod...she looks just like her latest photos. The aunties waved at us and held up Lydia’s hand to wave. We scrambled out of the van and saw them at the elevator but kept a distance as they needed to get things in order before they could pass her over to us.

Lydia was dressed in a new red outfit that looks like the Chinese summer pajamas; much like Gabby’s Gotcha Day outfit but Lydia has a thinner material with shorter pants and short sleeves. She had on brand new little jelly sandals with a blue bunny on them. She has three ponytails in her hair, one on each side and one in the back to keep the hair off her neck. She has thick, soft hair and bangs. Her skin is soft and smooth, but she has a few mosquito bites around her legs and arms. We were told that she sometimes gets a rash from the heat.

We went upstairs to a large room and gave Vicky our passports. Lydia was there with three other aunties and a gentleman, not sure if he was the orphanage director or not. Rob got out the movie camera and began filming. We gave our gifts to the aunties and the donations we took of blankets and hats, they were so appreciative.

Before we knew it, they had checked our passports and it was time to hand Lydia over to Rob. Vicky offered to videotape for us which is great so Rob and I could both give her attention. She cried of course, but we got out the Cheerios and the light up duck that Nana sent and that at least softened the intensity of her cries to whimpers and whines. Rob began giving her Cheerios one at a time, but after holding three in her hand, she used the other hand to grab at the whole bag…definitely a girl who knows what she wants! We were the only family in the room at the time getting their baby so it was such a different experience than before. It was amazing to watch my Rob comfort our little Lydia, it was such sweet moment. He sat down with Lydia on his lap, she ate Cheerios between her sobs and he began showing her how to make the ducky light up.

I had the chance then to ask lots of questions about the types of food Lydia can eat and her schedule. They had taken the night train from Huaihua so she would probably be tired but normally takes a two hour nap around noon. She had eaten some breakfast that morning, so she probably wouldn’t be that hungry but we were told she really LOVES snacks. She has a BM once a day; usually in afternoon and now…I can’t remember if they said she had one yesterday or not. For those of our followers who have adopted before, you know the importance of having that first poop!

She does NOT drink from a bottle, instead they put it in a little cup and hold it and she puts her mouth on it and does the rest. We had taken a bottle of apple juice mixed with bottled water with us. When we got back to the hotel we gave her some juice. Rob held it up to her mouth and tipped it a bit, she kind of gums at the edge, some spills down her front, but some goes in. We have brought lots of bibs so we are prepared. It takes her a long time to get a small amount of liquid in, we are going to have to go early for breakfast as that may take longer than usual, and again we had read that was typical of kids with cleft palate.

She likes bananas and we were told that you just peel it and hold it for her and she will bite it, but other fruit needs to be in small pieces. She is NOT on formula any more nor does she drink milk. They do give her a yogurt type of drink for calcium. We had some yogurt this morning for breakfast on the buffet that was pretty thin and runny so we will have to try that out tomorrow.

The auntie says that she eats table food, congee (rice porridge), steamed eggs, soft meats and noodles. Noodles were the only thing they said sometimes can come out her nose while eating; I think we will be sure to cut them up small. They said she is a good eater and that the hole in her palate didn’t seem to effect that, by the looks of her chubby cheeks, arms and legs she is well fed.

We have caught glimpses inside her mouth when she gets tuned up, she has two bottom front teeth with one more on each side beginning to come in. Her top gum has two front teeth that are close to each other and seem to be hanging normally. There doesn’t seem to be a big gap or hole in the front gum, we can see in the back of her mouth where the palate doesn’t look “normal”, but again we have just taken quick glances. Her lip looks great. You can see the scar from the repair and one part seems a bit bumpy, but her little nose is as cute as a button and when crying the snot rolled out just like any other baby.

I showed them the pictures of our family that we had put in a book for Lydia. We showed them that Lydia would be the little sister and the littlest cousin. They asked for a copy of our family picture of Rob, Gabby and I, since we had other pictures of Gabby to show Lydia, we just gave the photo to them. The head auntie gave us a gift for Lydia in a little red box tied up with a ribbon. It is a silver necklace that means good fortune and longevity. I am so overwhelmed at the generosity and love that they have shown to us and the care that Lydia has gotten.

After about 10 minutes the whimpers stopped and she was comfortable with Rob so the aunties left. Vicky brought over some paperwork that needed to be done that day. Basically promising to love and care for her, promising to take good care of her for the next 24 hours until the paperwork is finalized, giving them our passport and other information. This was all new to me because last time Rob did all this while I held a screaming Gabby in the room until she finally fell asleep. During this time other families we had met and seen in the hotel at breakfast this morning filtered in. Lydia seemed to be the youngest one being adopted other than a little toddler boy who seemed to have a repaired cleft as well. The rest were older girls perhaps ages 3-5.

Then it was time for Rob to sign his name on all the papers I had already filled out and I would have a chance to hold Lydia. She was not happy, got stiff in my arms which is what Gabby used to do to Rob, but she quieted down after he passed me the Cheerios and the duck. She could see that Rob was not leaving and she put up with me for a few minutes while he finished the paperwork. When it was done, we packed up and Rob put his hands out for Lydia and she was all too happy to be back in his arms. We got back in the van to head back to the hotel. We didn’t need to go to a store for formula and the hotel has provided a stroller for the time being so we decided to visit a “Walmart” type store perhaps tomorrow or the next day.

We were not in the van 5 minutes before Lydia was asleep in Rob’s arms…she was very twitchy though like she was fighting sleep. We returned to the hotel and Vicky asked them to send a baby bathtub to our room for when we want to bathe her. The aunties said she likes bathtime.

We were back in our room before 11:00. I have held her a couple of times, but right now she prefers Rob. When I give Rob a kiss on the cheek or hold his hand, she begins to whimper so she and Gabby have a lot in common, jealous when their territory is being invaded! She ate more Cheerios, peach flavored puffs and dried yogurt pieces that melt in her mouth. We got her to drink about 1/3 of a bottle’s worth of juice and tried some rice cereal mixed with juice. She wanted no part of the rice cereal, she hid her face in Rob’s shoulder and wouldn’t even look at it, so we didn’t push it. Rob thinks it might be the spoon, so we will have to get a Chinese type spoon from the restaurant and try it. Also if she is used to table food, the baby food we brought may not work, but there is so much on the restaurant buffet that should be familiar to her.

Rob tried to get her to stand on the floor next to him, but she would have no part of it, just curled her legs up like Allie used to do when Kim would try to get her to stand in the grass. Around 12:30 we darkened the room and sat on the bed with her and let her zone out to some Chinese cartoons. She fell asleep, but woke up when Rob put her in the crib. Slowly he has gotten her asleep a second time and got her in her crib, comforting her whines again but not getting her back out. She was out by 1:45 and she slept for two hours with the occasional call out to Daddy to come and soothe her again. Soon Rob was napping too knowing that HE is now the one on duty and I have been typing away.

We originally were going to order room service for dinner, but we are going down early to the restaurant to try a variety of table foods from the buffet because we don’t think baby food will fit the bill tonight. We will post pictures later as Rob needs to show me how to do that, but wanted to let everyone know what a great first few hours we have had with our little Lydia. We are so blessed and so lucky to be the mama and baba to two wonderful girls. Darling Gabby, we can’t wait for you to meet Lydia! Thank you and Nana (and everyone else) for your prayers this morning as we were getting your new baby sister. She loves to watch cartoons just like you and when she can’t get her duck to light up…she hands it to Baba for him to fix…so she is a smart girl just like her big sister!

Love to all!