China – Day 4 (Shijiazhuang) – ADOPTION DAY!!
We were scheduled
to meet Sydney for the first time today at 2 PM. However, the
anticipation for that moment began a little earlier, as we had an
appointment at the notary office at 9 AM, after which we went back to
the hotel to wait...and wait...and wait. After the experience we had
with Madelyn where we barely had time to put our bags in our hotel
room before she was placed in our arms, we weren't quite ready for
the nervousness and anxiety that comes with sitting in a hotel room
waiting for it to be 1:30 PM.
Of course, the
time did eventually arrive. We went to the office where we were to
sign all of the papers and finally meet Sydney, but unfortunately,
after the papers were signed there was MORE waiting, as Sydney's ride
was a bit late.
Then, after what
seemed like an interminable amount of time, there she was!
She clutched
fiercely to her caregiver and wouldn't let go at first. When she was
finally put in Tricia's arms, Sydney put on a brave face and visibly
held back her tears. After we heard the stories of how hard she
cried when she left the Blue Sky Healing Home, we were expecting the
worst in terms of her reaction here. While clutching a roll in one
hand (exactly like Madelyn!) and a stuffed animal in the other, she
eventually broke down into uncontrollable sobs. She did her best not
to let us have eye contact by turning her head away from us and using
her stuffed animal as a barrier. When we got into our vehicle, the
sobs turned to sobbing and Sydney tried to lunge away from us and
back to her caregiver. She spent the entire car ride back to the
hotel screaming and trying to climb away from us. It was
heartbreaking but also good to see the emotions pouring out of her.
When we got out of
the car and started walking into the hotel, Sydney's curiosity got
the best of her and the tears suddenly stopped as she went into high
alert mode, taking in everything. Once up to our room, she was quick
to begin playing with her stacking cups (which we are convinced is
the ultimate adoption ice breaker – it worked wonders with Madelyn
as well) and seemed very comfortable sitting in Tricia's lap for a
while.
She eventually ate
some rolls and we tried to give her some milk, but she wasn't
drinking it out of the straw (as we expected). We tried in a hard
top sippy cup, but no luck, as she tried to bite down on the lid. So
Troy went across the street and picked up a soft top bottle from the
store, which helped a little more, but Sydney was still struggling to
use it.
So, one last trip
over to the store, this time with Sydney with us, so she could pick
out the bottle she preferred. Afterwards, we headed to KFC for some
dinner (the only restaurant within close distance to our hotel).
Sydney clearly did not like the mashed potatoes (they came out of her
mouth as fast as they were spooned in), but loved her chicken
nuggets, holding a bite in each hand and then putting it in her mouth
one after the other. She drew a lot of attention and smiles from
fellow diners. We SO wished we knew what they were saying to us –
several of them kept talking even after it became clear that we
couldn't talk back to them.
We ended the night
back in the hotel room. Sydney was fine with most of the nighttime
ritual such as diaper change and pajamas, but the crib was a game
changer. The screaming restarted and she pushed our hands away from
her again. We tried letting her sleep on the bed and laid down with
her, but it didn't help. Finally, she soothed when Tricia rocked her
baby style. She allowed us to put her back in the crib and even
reached out once to touch our hands gently before going to sleep.
She is currently sprawled on her back, sawing logs clutching the side
of the crib for dear life and hanging on to the doll we gave her.
Even through all
the sadness and fear, Sydney's individual little personality shone
through today. We are pretty sure she is a snuggler when comfortable
and the way that she treats her baby doll with hugs and tenderness
touched us to the core. She loves to look at the pictures we take on
the camera and point repeatedly to each one of us: Mama, Baba, Jia
Hong . . . Mama, Baba, Jia Hong. She is not using any verbal words
at all, but she seems to comprehend these three words when we say
them. The orphanage caregiver told us that she is not saying any
words other than Mama, which seemed a bit curious to us. She walked
a few times when set her down, but she preferred to be held the
entire evening. She is very tactile and likes to touch everything by
gently running her hands over it to explore. We are so excited to
start slowly peeling away her protective layers and see more of
Sydney Jiahong!
