Day 7

We all got a good night's sleep the night before. We woke up about 5 am, so that is good. Ruthie slept in a King size bed with Kris and Anne, and she took up most of the bed. She slept sideways, she slept upside down, she was all over, and we were on the edges of the bed. She also kept smacking Kris on the back in her sleep. Not sure why, but I'm guessing that is not a good sign...:)

She was pretty disoriented when she woke up. She took a good hard look at all of us, and seemed to be thinking "Oh, It wasn't a dream."

After a bit, she warmed up enough for us to go downstairs to breakfast. She lit up pretty well when we got there. She is a good eater, and we're glad about that. We had fun while we ate, because we taught her to clink glasses and say "cheers." She laughed at that and wanted to do it again and again.

We've also discovered that she really loves looking at her reflection. Our hotel elevators have a mirrored ceiling, and she has had a lot of fun looking at herself.

After breakfast, we went to the same office as yesterday. We had to finalize and notarize some adoption paperwork. We were pretty nervous, because we knew her nanny and the orphanage director would both be there. We thought she might melt down again.

As it tuned out, she did great. She clung to Anne even when she saw the nanny, and didn't cry at all. When the director asked her, "Who's got you?" She told them "Mom and Dad." She also said she loved her siblings. She loved the van ride there, and was really excited to see bikes and scooters. That is convenient, because there are about 6,000 bikes and scooters per block here in China. After we registered her and got the official paperwork, we went back to the hotel. We had some more fun, dancing together. She really seems to have a fun personality. She's talking to us, even though we can't really understand her. We did get her to repeat a little bit of English, and it is fun to hear her say things. 

(Random side note: As I'm typing this, the kids are watching TV. Elliott is interpreting for everyone, telling the other kids what is happening on the TV show they are watching. After a few moments, Hannah said, "Wait a minute. How do you know what is going on? They're speaking Chinese!")

After eating a snack in our room, it was time for her nap. She and Anne napped together, while the rest of us hung out in our adjoining room. When she woke up, she was again pretty withdrawn. But, after a bit, she warmed up again. We decided to walk down to the pool to see what she might think of that. She seemed excited enough, so we went back to our room and got our suits on. She let Kris hold her in the pool for a bit, and she loved seeing Elliott and Calla swim under water. She got surprised by another person splashing near us, though, and that was the end of swimming. She sat on the edge of the pool and was very quiet. She seems to have two basic moods: giggling and chatty, or stunned silence. 

After swimming, she was pretty quiet for most of the afternoon. She is clingy to Anne, which is good, we think. She also likes watching TV. Or, more to the point, she likes being in control of the remote and flipping around the channels aimlessly. Finally, everyone settled in to coloring in coloring books, and that was a fun, satisfying activity. She really enjoys the kids, which is great. If they weren't with us, I'm not sure how she'd be doing.

One thing I forgot to mention from yesterday was our trip to the grocery store. At the mall attached to our hotel, they have a small market. We went there because the other couple who is adopting told us they had goldfish crackers there, and we thought those would be appealing to her. And, our other kids love goldfish. The market made us laugh because they were having an "American food festival." They had a big display at the front of the store, with canola oil, canned chicken, Snapple, and Budweiser. We got a kick out of that.

We ventured out to a restaurant for dinner. We used our Google translator app to look up how to say "steamed rice" in Chinese so we could order it for the kids. Surprisingly, it worked.

Ruthie had fun using the mall's escalator. The kids taught her to say "Whee" each time she got on. We walked around the mall for a while, just killing time and being out of the hotel room. It is a bit of a two edged sword, though, because when we are out, people stare at us. I don't know if it is a cultural thing or what, but people have had no qualms about staring, pointing, and talking about us. I suppose we need to get used to it eventually, and right now there are a lot of reasons for people to stare at us, but it still stinks. Anne and Hannah are at that point in the culture shock cycle where the newness has worn off and they are ready to go home. The staring doesn't help. It's difficult, but we are praying that God gives us all the stamina we need for the rest of our trip.

After dinner, we had a pretty mellow evening. Ruthie was feeling pretty sad, and just wanted to lay with Anne. It is hard to see any of your kids cry, but especially one where there is a language barrier. But, we know it is a process, and we are grateful for the progress we are experiencing. She has repeated some English phrases, and she even called me "Dad" when she wanted to get my attention. It's the little things...:)