Ni Hao! Today at around 12 we met Madeline Lu Ren, a very petite, laid back sweet-faced little one year old. She was very good, only a few whimpers when handed to us, mostly in shock I think. She cries every time we lay her down. She was wearing split pants so I'm thinking she was not in a diaper, although her legs are not strong enough to stand at a potty, so I'm not sure. She came with a diaper on, but some babies did not.
We had quite a full day involving much paperwork, waiting, paperwork, etc. Our last appointment was at 8 pm and then we finally put her to bed, she had not taken a nap all day. She has been waking every hour and a half needing comfort, and has a very sad cry. But we did see several smiles today as I see her bonding to us fast. We are really trying to not rock her to sleep but it is hard, we are wrapped around her pinky! We also finally discovered that she doesn't use bottles, she doesn't seem to know what to do with them, but will drink from a cup and was very happy with us when we finally figured this out. Big smiles! She can't really hold the cup, but that must have been how she was eating, she knew what to do right away. She's extremely petite, 12 month clothes are big on her, and needs to develop a lot of leg strength but I'm sure a week with Leo will have her catching up fast. She is by far the smallest of the group. There is so much more to tell you, but it is late, I am trying to get back to sleep without success. The pollution(about 1/2 mile visibility) and smoke are very bad here indoors and out, and make our eyes and throat constantly burn, so we are desperate for Idaho's blue skies and clean mountain air. Love you all and miss you terribly, especially Little Man! More tomorrow.....
So yesterday was quite an emotional day. We began with me being an emotional wreck about all things Madeline and then some that weren't. I'm sure I drove Kevin nutty with my bouts of crying and irrational-ness, but he's a great husband and let me cry. As soon as we got to the building she was meeting us at, I began to feel peace, finally. As soon as they brought her in the room, I knew her right away. She doesn't look much different than her referral picture, which I had printed on my shirt, and she seemed to really like seeing it. She gobbled down some cheerios and fell in love with the cheerio lid right away, but we could not get her to drink from bottles.
We had quite a full day involving much paperwork, waiting, paperwork, etc. Our last appointment was at 8 pm and then we finally put her to bed, she had not taken a nap all day. She has been waking every hour and a half needing comfort, and has a very sad cry. But we did see several smiles today as I see her bonding to us fast. We are really trying to not rock her to sleep but it is hard, we are wrapped around her pinky! We also finally discovered that she doesn't use bottles, she doesn't seem to know what to do with them, but will drink from a cup and was very happy with us when we finally figured this out. Big smiles! She can't really hold the cup, but that must have been how she was eating, she knew what to do right away. She's extremely petite, 12 month clothes are big on her, and needs to develop a lot of leg strength but I'm sure a week with Leo will have her catching up fast. She is by far the smallest of the group. There is so much more to tell you, but it is late, I am trying to get back to sleep without success. The pollution(about 1/2 mile visibility) and smoke are very bad here indoors and out, and make our eyes and throat constantly burn, so we are desperate for Idaho's blue skies and clean mountain air. Love you all and miss you terribly, especially Little Man! More tomorrow.....
ts, even at the airport. We also got to experience the market, just around the corner, and when I say market, visions of produce or fish stands being tended by local merchants may come to your mind. This market was really like a Super Walmart on steroids. This multi-level store had just about anything in it and sure felt like every resident in Nanchang was in it, did I mention that was 5 million? There are store clerks at the end of every aisle to help you find what you need, but as none of them seemed to speak english they mostly stared at our large, bewildered group and chuckled whispering comments to each other, which in turn made me giggle. We found bottled water, juice, and some interesting Chinese snack cakes that we hope help soothe Madeline tomorrow. Dinner was quite the adventure as we all headed to the restaurant without our Chinese-speaking guide. Our waitress was very patient with our group of 12 high-maintenance westerners. At one point, to cross the language barrier, we did animal noises back and forth with the waitress to figure out what meat was in what--I kid you not. Leo would have been great at this game. We both tried just about everything and it was satisfying and not overfilling like some american food can be. Of course, we were thankful to top it off with the oreos in our room!
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ough, and after talking to him on the phone was thankful to hear his sweet little voice—he sounded great! Grandma said she had told him that we were gone to China to get Madeline and his response was, “Oh, Great!” 
Yesterday was our news that we might POSSIBLY leave next Friday, the 12th, and I hope to hear more today. I am beyond excited and a bit freaking out as this long-time dream becomes a reality. I am nervous for the transition period but very much look forward to extra giggles in the house, let's hope they outnumber the screams.