Progress in the Making

Sunday was a down day where we really just hung out at the hotel and explored around town.

Monday we went to the local zoo. It says it is the third largest zoo in China but we were able to see everything in about 4 hours so... It was super hot and SUPER humid. We all loved seeing the animals, but especially Faith. She ran up to each one and was genuinely awed by them. This is probably my favorite part about adoption - all the "firsts" we get to experience with our new kiddo. We missed their normal firsts like first words, first tooth, first steps, so it's nice to get to experience these other firsts with them. This was clearly the first time Faith had been to the zoo and seen those types of animals up close.

Tuesday was our "Consulate Appointment" (CA). The CA is the final required step in this process. At the CA we have to go to the US Consulate and swear under oath that we will never forsake or abandon the child. We also have to swear that we are adopting the child to raise as our own and not to "sell" them to someone else back home. 😟 This appointment finalizes everything on the American side and most importantly is when her Visa application is finalized. We will be issued the Visa tomorrow (Thurs) afternoon. The Visa will make it so that Faith becomes a U.S. Citizen the moment our plane hits U.S. soil! 😊 According to the Consulate, this particular Visa is the hardest document in the world to obtain...as he said this I was thinking, "No shit, it's taken almost a year to get it, even after you already had the same info on us from the last time!" After the CA, we went to the nearby mall and watched the new Nutcracker movie in 3D - another first for Faith. She did really well with it. Then we had dinner and it was time to meet our diver who was taking us to the River Cruise. As we were getting into the van, Faith grabbed a seat on the outside of the back row. I was getting in behind her and needed her to scoot over to the inside so that Kev and I could sit there too. I asked nicely two or three times and after she refused, I gently picked her up and slid her over to the inside. OH.MY.GOSH! You would have thought I took her favorite toy away from her. She cried and screamed the ENTIRE way to the cruise! We tried giving her toys to play with, candy, anything and it just didn't work. Fortunately when we boarded the boat, she perked up and had a blast looking at all the beautiful scenery. When it was time for bed, Kevin ran an errand to go buy bottled drinks for our day today. While he was out, I tucked Cheyenne in to her bed (in the couch), had Faith give her a good night hug and took Faith into our room to climb into bed. Once she was lying down in bed, she started crying silent tears. This was pretty out of the blue and she wasn't mad about anything. I tried to lay down next to her, rub her back and talk to her. I asked her why she was crying (no answer). Soon after, Kevin returned and I explained everything to him. He asked her again why she was crying and she replied "I don't know". This is grief - mixed with over-stimulation! Poor thing was exhausted. She was back to not wanting me anywhere near her and only wanted her daddy. Once she fell asleep, everything was ok but this broke my heart.

Today we went to Chimelong Paradise. This is a large amusement park with all kinds of rides. We only went for a half day because we didn't want to overstimulate Faith again. The boys and Cheyenne went to ride the "big kid" rides with my mom and Kevin and I stuck to the rides Faith was tall enough to ride.We all had a great time. Faith was such a dare devil. She was pretty happy the whole day except after about every other ride she would see a big kid ride and say (to Kevin in Chinese of course), "I want to ride that one." When he would tell her she was not tall enough she would stomp her foot and cross her arms and pout. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME! 😂 Fortunately, it only lasted until we came up to the next cool ride where she was tall enough. I got the pleasure of riding her very first roller coaster with her and then she gave Kevin her big beautiful brown eyes and asked him to go with her on the water ride...which he agreed! He HATES water rides and I'm pretty sure even his Princess Cheyenne hasn't been able to get him on one, but he willingly agreed to accompany Faith and I on the ride. We came back to the room and gave the girls a nap. While the girls napped, Kevin helped the boys with their homework and my mom and I went down to the bar to have a few drinks and play cards. That was a lot of fun too, mostly because my mom  got trashed and was hysterical! Fortunately, she kept her clothes on! 😉 Once the girls were up for a while it was time for dinner. Right before we went to dinner, Faith came up to me and gave me a hug - all by herself! Once we were back in the room, I gave the girls a bath. While the bath water was running we had an all out tickle fight. They LOVE, LOVE, LOVE taking baths together and splash around and have a great time together. While they were in the bath, Faith says, "Mommy?", I looked over at her and said "Yeah baby" and she said "Wo Ai NI" with a big smile on her face! Oh my goodness, I almost cried. When it's time for bed, she'll probably be back to only wanting daddy, but at least we're making progress.

Tomorrow morning we will pack up everything and get ready to go home on Friday! YEY!!!! We will pack in the morning and will go to Shamian Island for some site seeing and dinner tomorrow afternoon.

We will be picked up to go to the airport at 8:00am Friday morning. We will fly home all day on Friday. I may get the opportunity to write again, but I may not. So, if not, please wish us well on our journey home - not only for safe travels but for traveling with a little girl who 1) has never flown before and 2) does not seem like the type to happily sit ans watch movies for 14 hours. :)

Update - November 3, 2018

The past few days have been a whirlwind. Nothing too exciting has happened but a few people have asked for updates, so here goes:

Wednesday and Thursday were "free" days in Nanning, meaning no adoption related events were occurring and we could do some site seeing. On Wednesday our guide took us to us to a beautiful park. I had wonderful scenery and a "children's corner" that we thought would be a playground but instead was an area with a handful of carnival type rides. We let the kids ride several of the rides and the bought the boys each a foam airplane and the girls each a plastic helicopter type toy. The kids payed with their toys for an hour or so. As I mentioned in my previous post, Faith had a good time throwing the plane to me and having me throw it back to her. At one point we had a bathroom break where we had a water fight with each other as we were washing our hands and it was big fun. Then, just a few minutes later, Faith started crying when I asked to hold her hand as we were leaving.

Thursday our guide took us to the "mountain". We rode a tram up to the top where there stood a giant tower which overlooked the entire city of Nanning. It was nine stories tall and between each floor was a narrow spiral concrete staircase. The boys took off and were out of sight. Mom, Kev and the guide opted not to climb the tower, leaving me to fend with the two girls. Going up was fine and we had no issues. Once we reached the top, it was a gorgeous sight. At one point I picked Faith up to try to show her some of the scenery. Well she was pretty sure my plan was to throw her out the window! She screamed bloody murder until I put her down. Then, when it was time to climb down the staircase, Faith was Pissed (with a capital P) that I made her hold my hand on the way down to make sure she didn't fall and smack her head on the concrete steps. Then, at one point, she attempted to jump from the third step up down to the floor and when I stopped her you would have thought I was the meanest mom in the whole world the way she screamed and cried and carried on. I tried to pick her up to comfort her and that was the way wrong answer! I'm pretty sure the other Asians walking up and down thought I was attempting to kidnap her. When we finally made it to the bottom, I happily handed her screamy butt over to daddy.

Friday we took the bullet train from Nanning to Guangzhou where we will get Faith's American Visa. When we met our guide in the lobby, she told Faith that I had the train tickets so she had to make a decision, did she want to go with Mama on the train or did she want to stay there. (This was a risky question that we didn't know she was asking until afterwards when she told us.) Fortunately, Faith agreed that she would rather go with me than stay there. She willingly sat by me on the train and even fed me a few gummy bears.

This morning we were scheduled to take Faith to her medical exam. All adopted kiddos have to get a medical check and a TB testif they are over 2. The medical consists of a height/weight check, a vision screening, an ENT screening, a general exam and a blood draw for the TB test. We are allowed to stay with the child the whole time EXCEPT when they are sticking them with a needle.

When we met our guide this morning to leave for the medical appointment, she told Faith once again that we are family and mama loves her and does she love her mama (no). Then she asked her why she doesn't like her mama (I don't know). It's ok, I know. And I know it will come in time...but that didn't stop me from wanting to be the one who comforted her when she came out of the blood draw room. Kevin and our guide sent her into the room and then left the immediate area and went and sat around the corner. I was waiting outside the door with a sucker in one hand and her Play Doh in the other. She came out all teary and upset. She did come right over to me, took the sucker and even let me pick her up - just for a minute, but immediately asked for Baba. I didn't want to cause more trauma so I quickly walked her over to Kevin and he hugged her and I handed her the tablet. This really helped calm her down.

When we were back to the hotel it was time to meet our "shopping guide". Today is Casey's 12th Birthday. Since he was originally disappointed to be spending his birthday in China, I arranged for a special guide to take us to the "Toy Market" and let Casey pick out his own birthday present. That cheered him up. We shopped our butts off today. We got toys for each of the kids and pearls for the girls to wear on their wedding day. Turns out, it may be possible to buy my way into Faith's heart because as we were shopping, she actually gave me a hug, kissed me on the check and when I said, "Mommy ai ni." (Mommy loves you), instead of screaming "No!" and shaking her head, she actually said "Wo ai ni" (I love you). She still very clearly prefers daddy but today seems like a little progress was made.

We just got back from a very nice dinner to celebrate Casey's birthday. We are letting the girls play a little before calling it a night. Tomorrow will just be spent relaxing by the pool and having a day of rest.

Please keep praying for Faith's heart (and mine).