Today we had some free time in the morning, so we went walking around Wangfujing and then after lunch we went to do the adoption registration with the 3 other families. We also met a family with another agency who was adopting a 13 year old boy, whom WenLiang knows. She tried to talk with him, but he was quite disinterested in her. :0) Our guide was needed by another family the entire time we were in the office, so we did everything by ourselves! The official was very nice and personable and enjoyed chatting with all of us. We could pretty much understand and convey everything we wanted to, but it was nice to have the 2 older girls there to clarify when necessary. The best part of the day was when they asked WenLiang if she agreed to have us as her family and she responded, “Tong yi, wo feichang tong yi!!!” at the top of her lungs while bouncing up and down with a smile. Translated, that means “I agree, I really, really agree!” She grabbed my hand a few times today and we held hands while we walked. She is one squirrelly girl though. She is constantly in motion and we had to chase her down a few times. She reluctantly listens if we are insistent, but it takes a few repeats. :0) It doesn’t help that the director told her yesterday that we would give her whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it. (That, she said in front of us yesterday after making her cry when she tried to force her to hug her new sisters.)
After dinner tonight we went to the pool. WenLiang was really psyched to go, but once we arrived she was terrified. At one point, she got up the courage to go in and then quickly regretted it and started crying. I took her over to the “hot tub” which we have dubbed the “luke warm tub”, and she settled in for a while and watched the others. I feel I need to give you all a visual here. The pool is located just off the main lobby. In order to enter the pool, you have to wear a swimming cap. We were all feeling a little squirrelly tonight, so we put the caps on in our rooms and trounced down the hall to the elevators. We then marched out of the elevators and across the lobby to the pool entrance-flip flops, floatie rings, swim caps and all. Thank goodness no one had a camera handy. There are just some things that should not be captured on film.
Afterward, we played a little beach volleyball in the elevator, you know- just to get the kids nice and wound up- there is so much room in the average elevator for that sort of thing, and then paired them up for the showers. The shower in one of our rooms has some miscalculated measurements so the water hits the backsplash and runs all over the floor. Within about 15 seconds there were screams and squeals to be heard all over the 8th floor. Nina had wiped out and Anaia was running naked all over the room. What exactly made me think I was up for raising 6 kids???? And why does the Lord keep giving me the spicy ones??? :0)
After mopping up the floor and wrenching the shower head down, by the grace of God I didn’t break it, I left Michela in charge of the room and went to borrow a pair of hair trimming scissors from another family. When I returned, WenLiang allowed me to cut her bangs- which were driving us both crazy. She squirmed quite a bit, but she trusted me and we got the job done, at least well enough for now.
Last night she gave me her stuffed mouse to sleep with- but tonight she wanted him back. She is helpful, offering to help me when she sees me trying to fold the clothes or straighten things up a bit. Tonight she portioned food for Dave and I, trying to take care of us. We learned tonight that anything that touches the table is off limits and needs to be immediately thrown in the garbage…no matter how far away the garbage can is; yesterday we learned that if we try anything new and we don’t care for it, it must be immediately removed from the plate and also thrown in the garbage as well as that a soup can be made out of just about anything…
Things are going really well. Michela and Lexie are priceless and are enjoying helping the other families. Nina is being INCREDIBLE, we are soooo proud of her and where her heart is right now. Sophia is her bubbly self and Selah is holding it together- although WenLiang is quite afraid of her! ;0)
Good night from Beijing!
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