If any of you remember my criteria for whether or not this baby could be a Lexie - well, she IS definitely a Lexie. What a personality - you won't even believe this one is for real. Truly, we all laughed so hard tonight that, if we didn't wet our pants, we came very close. But, let me backtrack for a moment...
We left Nanchang at about 11 this morning and when we arrived at the hotel, we had about an hour to unpack, make formula, and get ready for the biggest life change we've had in a very long time. Tori sat by the window the whole time watching, but never did see the baby bus arrive. We were told that the babies had their regular naps with their foster families, and when they awoke, they were driven here. So, basically, I think they all cried from there to here.
We were to go to the 2nd floor meeting room at 4:30, and when I walked to the door and heard a child screaming (at the top of her lungs I might add), I had this sneaky suspicion it was my baby. And, I was right. She was irate - arching her back, crying as hard as crying can go. Her clothes were nasty - she had on NO diaper - I don't even know if they were split pants; I was too grossed out to look. She had about 5 layers of sweaters on and smelled terribly of urine, and she was unconsolable. As we looked around at the 2 or 3 totally calm and sleeping babies, we felt so helpless. It was so sad, but I knew that things were going to be fine - God was in control. The old family was behind us, and we could focus on our new family.
Lexie seemed to feel safer with Billy, so he held her most of the time. The fact that his singing soothed her was shocking to Tori and me (and to any of you who have heard my dear husband sing happy birthday from behind the movie camera), but we would have done ANYTHING at that moment to soothe her.
We finally were allowed to leave the room after a very long 20 to 30 minutes, and when we got back to the room we immediately stripped the poor child and plopped her in the tub. I don't know if I will be able to look at those clothes ever again. She still was hysterical, but as soon as we lowered her into the warm water, with a few toys, she calmed down. She was very unsure of us, but was trying so hard to be brave, to not cry. It was heroism at it's best. I will always admire my little girl for the courage she showed today. She was so frightened, and she was trying with all of her little might to trust us.
I washed her like crazy, and we got her out and dressed her, and she finally stopped crying. We gave her a bottle, which she drank a little bit of, and we all sat down with the toys in front of us. That was the ice breaker. After one hour, and much experimenting with us on her part, she was a completely different kid. She loved Billy and was feeding him Cheerios before we knew it. Then Tori made her smile, and the two of them played "lets share the panda."
I had to leave to go to a paperwork meeting, and when I returned, the transformation was shocking. Not only was she running the show, but she was cracking us up, playing peekaboo, pushing the stroller everywhere, and truly - she was TRYING as hard as she could to make US laugh. I can't even describe it. Here giggle is precious - I hope I can put it on YouTube at some point. She even picked up the remote control and pointed it towards the TV, held the phone to her ear and started talking - so many things it was amazing. She is one little spit fire - you won't believe it, honestly. How in the world will I take her on a 13 hour flight - I can't think about it.
When I would walk away, she would shout Mama, mama!!! She said baba and pointed to Billy, and Tori's still trying to teach her how to say big sister. She ate about 100 cheerios - they must not have those here, and she had some fried rice with veges for dinner. She is our girl Katie - when she's done playing, she picks up the toys and puts them back in the suitcase. At one point, I had some wipes on the floor where we were playing, and she wasn't satisfied until I had them up on the bed.
When it came time for bed, however, she remembered her foster mom (we were warned) I think, so she started crying all over again. I think she hates the feet in the PJs, because she kept pulling at them, and I didn't know what to do to console her. I finally laid her on the bed and we turned on the TV with Chinese people talking. I held her really close to my chest and rubbed her head, and she fell asleep holding my hands. I can only imagine that it will take her awhile to know that we aren't going to abandon her, and that nobody is going to suddenly rip her out of her arms. But, I think that in this one brief encounter with her, of a mere 4 hours, she got a glimpse of how much she is loved and how much fun she's going to have.
Katie was dying at home, so we called and she heard Lexie laughing at the top of her lungs. It was almost as if she knew it was time to entertain her new big sister. The two of them will be great buds, I'm sure.
Oh - one piece of info we learned - Lexie was found by the entrance gate of the orphanage. So, the great news is that we are going to the orphanage on Thursday and can take some pictures. I am so glad to have that small piece of info for her. We also got a copy of her notice - which is placed in the newspaper at the time of abandonment. SO - I have a picture of her as an infant - another gift. Now I just need the birthnote.
So, here are some pictures. I hesitate to add the crying ones, but it was what it was. We still will have some bumps along the road as Lexie tries to figure us out. But, God is go good. Today was such a gift, and I am thankful from the very very bottom of my heart.
My love to you all,
Kerri
