Kylie is Offically our Daughter

Thank you for your beautiful notes after our last blog. It really means a lot to us to have our friends and family following our journey with us.

Today began a bit early with appointments back at the Provincial Adoption building. We had our official photo taken of Paul, Kylie, and me and then meetings with two government officials. They each reviewed all of our documents and information then asked us a series of personal questions. Nothing too intense, so that was a relief. Jackson was with us and as charming as always, so the officials (both woman) warmed right up to us. After our second meeting, we received our final approval and now Kylie is legally ours. However, we can not travel with her yet as she needs her new documents and a visa. I think that is why we will be in China 9 more days.

Kylie had a bit of a rough night in that she was very restless and I don't think she slept all that soundly until early this morning. The orphanage director had told us that she tends to hit her head on the mattress as she is nodding off...perhaps trying to fight sleep. Well, after she fell asleep sitting up, and us settling her in flat, she seemed to be ok for a short while. I finished up a few things and headed to bed. I woke up a couple of hours later to the sound of her pounding her forehead in her crib. I was successful in soothing her for a bit, but then she would start the bumping again. It wa spainful to hear her doing that so I finally picked her up and snuggled her in with me. She was very restless, but I found if I put my hand on her chest, she would relax and go back to sleep peacefully. I didn't end up sleeping all that much, but I don't think I would have anyway being so full of this new life with us I am finding it hard to sleep.

When she woke up this morning, she just opened her eyes and looked at us for a while. No crying yet. We dressed her and took her down to the breakfast buffet (incredible breakfast here at The White Swan!). She did not want anything to eat, but when we came upstairs, she downed her first bottle. So glad we are getting something in her. She was wonderful at the appointments today though we did see her first cry. She got very restless again so we gave her another bottle and she fell sound asleep in Paul's arms. She slept the whole bus ride home and is still asleep. Thinking she is taking about a 3 hour nap, so that is good.

I can feel Kylie opening up slowly. When she first woke up this morning, she was still unresponsive to my touch and even pushing me away at times. We are going to give her the space to let us in when she is ready. She does look so intensely at me, then turns her head away quickly. But, I can see and feel her slowly getting used to me. When we returned to our room after our appointments, I spent some time on the bed with her. She was playing with her cups but when I approached her, it seemed like she wanted me near. I then lied down and sat her on my tummy. She played with her cup, but then reached out to my hand. After that, I bent my knees up and she leaned back and fell asleep. All small steps, but that's how it has to be for now...on her terms.

If all goes well, we may go out to the pool when she wakes up to have a little family time in the water. (There are two pools here...one lap pool and one shaped pool with a waterfall at one end...very pretty!) You can see more of the hotel and the pool at their website: www.whiteswanhotel.com

The hotel is beautiful with a tall waterfall and Koi fish pond inside. The past two mornings we have sat by the pool for breakfast because Jackson loves it so much. The fish are giant!

The hotel sits right on the Pearl River which we can see a bit of out of our room's window. It is beautiful and interesting as many old types of fishing boats and barges run along this river. At night, the area lights up a bit and we can see coloful ferry boats going up and down the river. We may try to do one of these boat rides later in the week.

The area is full of small shops and restaurants, lots of place for us to explore. We hear you must bargain for good deals, but that it is expected. I'll be giving it my best, though I'm not so good at it.

We had our laundry done at a nearby shop yesterday that allows us to use a free stroller for doing our laundry there. We also received a "Going Home Barbie" in our room from the hotel which is a blond barbie holding an Asian baby.

The hotel is full of Caucasian people with Asian babies. They are all so beautiful and you can feel all the love here. We had the opportunity to meet one woman at the Provincial Office today who is adopting a beautiful and sweet 7 year old girl. When we were waiting for our elevator in the lobby there yesterday, we had seen her come in with her orphanage group. It brought tears to all of our eyes to see this young girl (all dressed up in a pink dress) coming to meet her parents for the first time.
She was so graceful and timid and we saw her reach for the girl's hand next to her. So many touching stories here and such a world away from the comforts and family we all have at home.

Well, I think my baby may be waking up. May be time for us to head to the pool. On my next blog, I am going to try to catch up on the sightseeing we did in Beijing before we headed down here so that you can see the other interesting places we visited.

Happy day everyone!