Tuesday,
April 1, 2008
There are so many things about yesterday that I didn't post, so
I want to get them down.
Many of you know that our original paperwork said that her
foster family called her Si Si (CC). Well, come to find out from
the director that she is called Zhong Zhong (pronounced Jung,
jung). I think Maggie will stick!
The room she slept in was full of cribs and had a ceiling of
leaves and ladybugs. It was such a colorful place.
They told me that her favorite place to be is outside on the
playground. They call the playground the Children's Paradise.
Now back to the rest of the day yesterday~
After we got back to the room, I took her coat off and we just
looked at each other. This is the picture with her in the yellow
sweater. My heart was breaking because she was so sad and shut
down. She wouldn't move at all and made no attempts to interact
with me or anything. She would hold my gaze for a quick second
and would then cut her eyes away. Her eyes were just empty.
Also, they had told us at the orphanage that she had some
diarrhea and gave us some medicine to give her, so we were
worried that she might be sick. Since this never happened the
rest of the day, we think that she was just grieving.
Kristy and I tried to get her to eat to no avail, and eventually
we laid her down and she fell asleep. After sleeping for a few
hours we decided to wake her up and go out for a walk. We were
in serious need of a Starbuck's fix! We received many stares, as
there are not many westerners here, and to top it off we were
carrying around an Asian child. First we hit the department
store for a pair of shoes. The ones I bought were too small.
Have a mentioned that she is bigger than I thought? She just
fits into 18-24 months. So after we purchased new pink shoes
(did you really think that they would be any other color?), we
headed over to Starbuck's for some coffee.
Well, what a difference coffee and a new pair of shoes will do
for a girl! Back in the room we took out the bubbles and her
eyes began to light up a little bit. The I tried the infamous
stacking cups (which I had offered earlier but she wouldn't
touch), added some cheerios to the mix and we had a different
girl on our hands. She opened her mouth to let me feed her
cheerios and then she began stacking the cups, putting cheerios
in the cups...etc. We also gave her some beads (thanks Lucy)
which were fun to wear and put in the cups. I also made her a
hot cup of formula because she wanted nothing to do with the
bottle and she began to drink that too...hooray, this was major!
I also have to add, and this is for you Bonita, that we showed
her the sign for more and she instantly began to do it. At first
we were unsure if she really understood, but it was obvious she
knew what she was doing. And the reward was more cheerios!
We began to see her start to smile and it made us feel so much
better. We know that she will continue to grieve, but for us to
see her perk up just a little was so exciting and comforting.
Because many of these children are not used to bathing we
decided to forgo the bath until the morning. We put her pj's on
and laid her in the bed. She looked around for awhile and then
went to sleep, sleeping until 6 am or so. Kristy and I were up
at 4am watching her sleep, and listening to her breathe. We both
were pretty sure that we heard her talking in her sleep at some
point during the night.
Today~
Since we didn't have to be anywhere until 2, we took our time
getting ready. Maggie was very sad when she woke up, but slowly
warmed up to us again. I took a quick bath with her since she
was terrified, and then we dressed her is pink (Kristy said it
was scary how coordinated she was). We were then off to
breakfast...this girl can eat! She opened her mouth and let me
feed her most anything that I offered. Oh, what a feeling it was
for me, to be meeting this need for her.
We then decided to walk down Asia Street which is kind of like a
downtown mall, no cars and lots of stores. I don't know how it
happened, but Maggie led us into 2 stores that were having some
great sales. I will not go any further with this subject as our
husbands are reading this.
She is now napping (she is a great sleeper Jeff...wahooo), and
when she wakes up we will go to the civil affairs to make her
adoption official according to China.
Thanks again for all of your prayers and encouraging comments.
Please continue to comment as she will be able to read these
comments when she is older. I know that reading them will let
her know how much she was loved and wanted.
*To our families...we miss you so much and can't wait to see you
in 11 days! Hugs and many kisses go out across the ocean to you~
Denise
*Update from after the
civil affair office~
MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH!
After our appointment today we were riding home in the cab and
she was very shut down. I did round and around the garden with
her (Jeff and the boys will know what I am talking about) and at
the part where you tickle under the chin, she laughed...Kristy
and I were in shock. We continued and so did she. Back at the
room you would think that we had a different child. We began to
play and tickle and play peek a boo...I just couldn't believe
it. And best of all she kissed me....there are just no words
right now, I am overwhelmed!
"Shout for joy, oh
heavens rejoice, oh earth burst into song..." Isaiah 49:13
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Where Maggie slept.
Ceiling in her room.
Sad girl.
Bubbles!
Stacking cups + cheerios + beads=progress!
These girls are pretty funny.
Major breakthrough... she is laughing, kissing us...a totally
different child... praise God!
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