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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

HERE'S HOPE!


We have been taking a bunch of photos but will have to upload them once we get home!
Hope has been VERY quiet. Babelfish has proved itself wonderfully useful (we didn't purchase a translator) and we can communicate that way. Hope had her first experience of "surfing the web" yesterday and her first airplane ride today. I have been very "hands on" with the hugs, stroking of her hair, holding her arm, etc. I can feel that it isn't normal for her, but she hasn't pulled away either.
Due to our very quick stay in Kunming we didn't get a chance to sightsee or to try and visit her foster family, but we did call her foster family so she could talk to them (and so we could get their phone number.) Hope is never very talkative, even with people that are speaking Mandarin to her, so I think she is just painfully shy.
Hope came to us with the stuffed animal we sent (but not the photo album), some school books and a blanket-like coat in a backpack. She wore new jeans, shoes, sweater and coat. She also wore two layers of long-underwear, which I highly suspect are new but have been worn for a few too many days. I offered some new clothes that we brought from home, but she does NOT want them. I am going to take her out to have her involved in the process of buying at least a change of clothing, and then insist that she showers or bathes before changing. She wears her coat even indoors, and although she denies being hot, her "ripeness" indicates otherwise. David may be flying to Shanghai to do some business, so it may be easier for "just the girls" to take a dip in the bathtub together. :)
Hope has been wonderful in trying to "be a good girl", as our guide told us she was instructed to do. She was told that if she didn't listen to her new mama and baba we might not want her. I think that is playing into her quietness, and although it is nice to have a perfectly behaved child, I am eager to get to know the real girl underneath.
I must share one more thing! I don't know if any other adoptive moms, especially of older children, have questioned if they were doing the right thing taking their child out of a foster family and out of their culture. I was hitting incredible highs and lows the day before we got Hope! However, after seeing her swollen, red, ulcerated hands (probably due to washing clothes outside) and noticing how she responds when I brush her hair or tuck her into bed or tickle her feet, I really think that there will be many more "foreign" things for her to experience in America than just the culture. I consider it my true privilege to introduce her to our forever family and all the "perks" that it entails!
Next will be Min Zhi! Only 2 hours to go!!!
All my best,
Amy, currently in Nanning, China

2 comments:

  1. Amy:

    Use some of the bonding techniques that you read about before leaving. Try standing in front of the mirror with the girls and have them touch their body parts and you say them in English as you go. The switch and have them touch your body parts and have them name them in Mandarin. It's a touching game and learning game all in one and even at her age, it will get her reaching out to you, instead of you just touching her/them. Play as many games that you can that they have to touch you. I'm praying for you and the girls. A lot of healing over a lot of time will need to take place.

    May God's peace surround you and may he give you the right actions to communicate your desire to loves these two precious little girls.

    Kaye

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  2. http://www.nciku.com/

    Free Chinese dictionary - phrases - characters can be drawn.

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