7daysweek

Monday, December 13, 2010

We have Jia Wen!



We met in the Civil Affairs building at 10am, but Jia Wen had not yet arrived.  Another family was waiting in the same room, so I asked some questions and found that their son was also from the Shenyang orphanage.  In fact, I had a photo of their son that I showed them and promised to email to them.  We ended up waiting until about 10:30 or later before we heard that the children had arrived.  The little boy (also age 3) let out a cry when he saw his family and Jia Wen then followed his lead.  When I came around the room to her, she was very frightened, screaming, clutching her nanny.  After the nanny set her down,  I crouched down near her with Maimie.  She was very upset and shook her head no with the tears still coming.  It was quite some time before she ate the candy offered to her and the stuffed pig.  She then took stickers from me, and still would not let me touch her.  Finally, it was time to have our family photo taken.  The nanny took her to the area to be photographed while Steve and I sat on the stools.  They plopped her on my lap and cajoled her with one of the princess stickers we brought.  She allowed me to hold her finally without screaming or crying.  In a few minutes, we were told it was time to go.  Before leaving, the kids started feeding her the cheerios we brought.  Let's just say it's good to know she can be bribed with food. 


She quietly sat on my lap in the van on the way back to the hotel. She would not respond to our Chinese or Grace's Chinese at first, but I could tell she was understanding us.  She feels like a cinder block.  She may be as heavy as Maimie already.  She had a lot of layers, too, though.  Our driver said yesterday it was -13 degrees and tomorrow it is predicted to get to -24 degrees.  So, needless to say, we are pretty much thankful to stay in the hotel just to stay reasonably warm.  
Once in the hotel room, Jia Wen sat on the bed with us.  She ate cheerios, put stickers on the front of her sweater and on everyone's face.  She looked through a picture book and tried to imitate the words as I read them to her.  We taught her to sign "more" and she tried to say it as well. Then we got out a photo album with photos of her and her friends and surroundings at the orphanage.  She got very excited and started telling us who the photos were.  She called many of the little boys ge ge , which is chinese for brother.  It was so sweet.  She started pointing to photos of herself and saying Jia Wen.   I'm not sure what was up with the report that she was unable to speak, but I'm confident she will be speaking after some speech therapy. 
She has fed me cheerios, lets me kiss her, etc.  She is equally at ease with all of the kids and has been playing with them all afternoon.  She spilled water on her shirt and I debated as to whether she would be okay with having her shirt changed.  I grabbed the one that matches the shirt Maimie has on today and showed it to her.  She let me put it on her and just smiled and smiled. Now she is offering hugs to all of us.
I guess overall, even though the start was a little rocky, God is so good.  We are very encouraged.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

I have been following your blog for awhile...and I woke up in the middle of the night remembering that you would probably getting her during my middle of the night...so i prayed for you guys...I will continue to pray for y'all. blessings!

Serving the King said...

Oh my gracious she is GORGEOUS!!! Congratulations momma!! Can't wait to see more pictures!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Praise the Lord! We have been fervently praying that Saidie could hear and speak! She is adorable! Just can't wait to touch her! Hope Maimie remembers to give Saidie a hug and kiss from Grandma! Our love to each of you and know Saidie will feel the love radiating from each of you and will settle right in! God bless you!
In Christian Love,
Grandma & Grandpa

Lisa S said...

Congrats to all, what a huge day in your family's life! There are few moments in life that compare to seeing your child's face for the first time, whether at birth or by adoption. Hope you had a great day and will rest well tonight. It's -13 windchill here today, too ... so it's just like home for you! haha

Donna said...

Congratulations!!

Paige said...

Congratulations! I was thinking and praying for your family last night! She looks great and it is awesome that you are hearing some speech!

Christy said...

I am soooo thrilled it is going so well. Hard at first but she seems to be getting use to you now. I will continue to pray for you. I cant belive in a month we will be in the same building you were in getting our little 3 year old from Fushun!! It looks soooooo cold there-- wow!!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!
God bless you all with the words, thoughts and ideas that you will need to continue to make the transition. Loved the picture of Maimie giving Sadie the sippy cup!!

You aren't missing great weather here. it is -1 F with windchills below zero, so we understand :) Seriously, those temps you are reporting are Celcius, right? so minus 24 is not quite zero here?

Can Mikaela use her Chinese? What a good reinforcing of what she is learning.
FYI: Jonathan will be here until the 29th in case you really get in a bind with getting something across to Sadie in Chinese :)

Love,
The Kochs

Adrian Roberta said...

Oh Monica, just jumped over from RQ. What an emotion filled 1st day. It's 2am your time right now, I hope your new family of 7 is fast asleep.

~Roberta
http://berzenji.blogspot.com/

sunny smiles said...

What can I say but "Praise the Lord"!

Amy said...

Praise God! So thrilled to see how things are going. She is beautiful! Bless her heart...her whole world is turned upside down. I cannot imagine how that must feel. Only God can give these little ones peace. Pray that she is covered by that as she lies down to sleep tonight. Trust Him for wisdom as you strive to bond and attach with her. Know that we are lifting you up back here in the US! Looking forward to your next post!

Blessings,
Amy Arnold

Unknown said...

We are so thrilled to hear that things are going well. What a praise that Saidie is talking some! god is so Good! We will continue to pray for the transition with your precious new little girl. Can't wait to see her!

Lisa S said...

Oh forgot to tell you ... Beverly will be here in Tremont with us until Jan 2nd (she arrives tomorrow night!) so if you need someone to help talk to Saidie, I'm sure she'd be glad to help. Her mom is from Beijing and dad from Hong Kong ... so she has all the nuances of both Mandarin and Cantonese you would need! It was too costly to fly back to China for Christmas, so she's spending the 3 weeks of her break here with us in Tremont.

Unknown said...

Congrats! Congrats!
Kelly
from www.wearegraftedin.com