Happy day after gotcha day!

Thank you all for your positive thoughts regarding our wild day yesterday.  I think it would have been better if we were not ALL sleep deprived.  Today has proved to be MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better.  As I'm typing here I'm watching (in the mirror) my little angel nap and squirm from one side of the king sized bed to the other. 

 

We woke her up at about 6AM.  We were not crazy about trying to get her undressed last night since she was so miserable so we wanted to change her and give her a bath this morning.  We also wanted to make a video call (would have liked to do more...hint, hint Patti).  We also were not sure about the potty issue.  Sophie did not go potty last night but we were here only a short time before putting her to bed.  She did go right away on the little potty/gigantic teapot thing provided to us.  We then gave her a bath in the tub they left here.  There is only a shower in our room.  She wasn't crazy about this idea but it had to be done.  She spit up on herself yesterday on the way to the city. 

 

After showering we put her in her new duds and played a while.  She LOVES her two toy cell phones!  She wasn't sure about the baby doll we brought and even smacked it's face a couple of times.  I even got a small glimpse or two of a smile.

 

As we then headed to breakfast she began to tear up.  I think it was the uncertainty of where we might be heading.  By this time the front runner was me.  Sorry Jason!  We went downstairs and she sat on my lap.  It was a very interesting buffet.  There was every imaginable DINNER item you'd find, but very few breakfast items.  I guess that's how they eat here.  I tried to leave Sophie at the table to make a plate...nope, wouldn't happen.  We walked hand-in-hand to pick some yummy treats of rice, green beans, hard boiled egg (still in the shell), and doughnuts.  All I can say is that THIS GIRL CAN EAT!  She had both hands full the entire time and even attempted to egg piggy style a few times.  At one point I had to remove the plate because she was picking it up and bringing to her face!  Guess she was hungry!  We had some VERY smiley times at breakfast.  She was trying to feed me egg and beans and thought it was hilarious when she demonstrated bad manners like nose picking.  Oh jeez!

 

After breakfast we went back to the room to play for another thirty minutes.  However, we got a call that we could come down right away for paperwork.  Back down we went.  I was nervous to see how Sophie would react to the orphanage director but it was GREAT!  She sat with me the entire time.  At some points she looked really sleepy and I believe convinced the director she was depressed, but then she began smiling as the director snapped some shots of her.  I'm sure the nanny from yesterday will be relieved to see those!

 

Here are some things we learned:

 

We will be able to visit the orphanage and if we want to bring a gift they'd love diapers and formula. 

 

Sophie WAS part of Half the Sky!!!  Because of this we have A LOT of extra info about her!  We have drawings the nannies made for her, extra photographs, and more medical info.  They were also the organization that funded her heart surgery in Beijing.

 

She was in Beijing for about 7 months during the time of her surgery but was never in foster care.  She was only in the orphanage.  The director said when she left she was so small and they could hardly recognize her when she came back.

 

She has a friend who was already adopted, was also a part of Half the Sky, and lives in Australia.  Apparently they were very close and the parents of the little boy provided their email for us to contact them.  I'm going to ask about other children already adopted (like Keaton) and children getting ready to be adopted when we visit the orphanage. 

 

Sophie is ticklish.  She likes to make games out of just about anything.  I kissed one of her feet earlier and then of course she gave me the other.  And then the other.  And then the other.  You see where I'm going with this!  She also played a game with raisins with Jason.  She loved shaking her head no whenever he asked for her to put one in his mouth.

 

We are going to visit a drugstore later with Sarah to pickup some of the donations and maybe look for some cute Chinese accessories or clothes.  She came with some adorable hair clips but I kid you not that two of them look exactly like the playboy bunny logo.  I'll have to post pictures later.

 

Best of all, Sophie went pee and poop on the potty!  They said she'll tell me but I just sat her on it and voila! 

 

Okay, I'm going to FINALLLLLLY post pics.  Everyone keep your fingers crossed that this works because I still can't figure out why the VPN isn't working and whenever I email it gets rejected.  Here we go..........