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Our Trip
November 30, 2001 - Day Twelve: Cough, Hack, Sniffle, Sneeze click HERE for Day Twelve Photos Question
for Ms. Foster's Classroom: What are some fun things that you
do together as a family? How does your family take care of one another
when they are sick? Paige's comments: We've pretty much been running on adrenaline and Diet Coke since about two weeks before we left on this little soiree, and it's finally caught up with us. That bug that Ann's been battling for the past three days has osmosized itself over to my little corner of the ecosystem and I woke up this morning with a headcold. Sophia, whose had a runny nose ever since we retrieved her in Changzhou, is spiking a temp and her normally sunny disposition is fair to partly cloud with occasional showers and downbursts. But, if you're going to be laid up in bed, do it at the Hilton in Nanjing. It'll be interesting to regroup with the other ACAA families tomorrow night in Guangzhou and see what their accommodations were like in their various provinces, but this place is China Chic. Since we stuck close to the ranch today, I'll update you on some Sophia Stuff. Food-wise, she's digging eggs, congee (a Chinese rice hot cereal thing), orange juice, fish, and applesauce. Oh, and pudding. She LOVES the pudding. To help her get her mind off her fever, Ann pulled a tiny pudding cup from the mini-bar and she just about forced it out of Ann's hands as she scarfed it down. Yesterday she tried some Haagen Das that I got at the Hilton's deli. We're not sure yet what her lactose tolerance is, so we played it safe and just gave her a taste. Seemed non-commital about it. There are a few orphanage-related behaviors that have begun to pop up. Something that we'd read about and noticed off the bat, was that she sometimes slaps herself in the back of the head with both hands, which is something institutionalized children do to soothe themselves in the absence of having a caregiver. Another thing that she does that stems from having the first 11 months of her life devoid of one-on-one attention is that she'll get down on all fours and rub her forehead vigorously on something soft. Kind of sad when you think of it. She doesn't seem to know what a kiss is, or what it means, so we're trying to ease her into that kind of stuff. She is affectionate and will bury her head in my shoulder, and she loves to stroke our hands gently. Also, and this is a little weird, the back of her head is flat on one side. Apparently from laying in a crib for most of the day for ten months. My suggestion of kneading it back into shape like clay was met with shock by Ann. Supposedly it'll "pop out". If not, I'll start prepping her early for the grade school nicknames. Tomorrow John is going to get us at 1 p.m., take us to an art museum, and then we have a 3:50 flight to Guangzhou. Looks like about two hours. This is going to be her first time in the air so this should be interesting. We got her Peoples Republic of China passport today, and in Guangzhou, we start the myriad of paperwork on the American end of things. We're at the China Hotel, which is supposed to be huge and luxurious. Ann is already planning on a massage in their spa, and I plan to spend lots of hours at the outdoor pool with Sophia, soaking up the tropical temps. Bye
from Nanjing! Ann's comments: Today was supposed to be a day of sightseeing and no paperwork. Paige and Sophia ended up sleeping most of the day, and I repacked our suitcases and took stuff out to ship back home that we won't use for the last leg of the trip. When Sophia wasn't sleeping one of us was entertaining her, watching her explore the toys we brought for her, and/or reading to her. She is easily amused and each day finds new things that she thinks are funny. I think it was really good just to spend a day connecting with one another in the hotel. When we've been sightseeing, we haven't had that much time to really focus on one another. It seems like there's always someone who wants to hold her and entertain her. We didn't leave the hotel at all. Ate all of our meals downstairs at the buffet. It's excellent. Breakfast is always an omelet and roll for both me and Sophia; lunch is vegetarian sushi, bread, and cheese; and dinner is sushi and whatever vegetables are available. Sophia also eats fish. Paige has a lot more options at all the meals. Seems like everything is made with seafood or meat. I remember Ann Harens saying at her baby shower that she could spend hours just watching her daughter. At the time I wondered how in the world someone could do that. Now I find myself wondering where the afternoon and days have gone this week because Sophia has been all we've focused on. Paige and I were talking about how slow the first week of the trip went (not in a bad way…it just seemed really long) and how quickly this week has gone by. I finally understand what Ann was talking about…and I agree. It is pretty amazing to watch a child so intensely taking in the world. I wonder what she's thinking. What she's fascinated with. What she'll remember. Paige also was saying that he is ready to go home just to get Sophia and us all on some sort of schedule. It's been so different each day that we don't feel like anything is predictable. It's hard because Sophia had a schedule each day - now everything has changed. Tonight at dinner we saw the gentleman with his daughter who was also adopted from the same orphanage as Sophia. I asked what floor his daughter was on since I only saw the infants on the third floor. He said the second floor has all the school-age children. He said when he went in to see that area it was clear that many of the children would never be adopted. I asked if they all had special needs. He said, "No, there are some who have special needs. Most of them are just older…like 6-8 years old." I can't even imagine spending that long in an orphanage…let alone not having a family to go home to at the holidays…to call to talk to…to know that they will always be there. It was a sobering experience to see the orphanage. I don't think the image will ever leave my mind. There's a non-profit that does work for the Changzhou Social Welfare Institute. They built a playground for the kids, redid two infant playrooms, and painted different sections of the orphanage. I'd like to go back and so some work there someday when I save some money. Ideally Sophia would go along. Paige and Sophia are watching Bruce Springsteen in concert on t.v. Sophia is bouncing to the music. She's also been fascinated with making sounds (banging cups on different surfaces and listening to the different sounds). Perhaps some of the musical instruments come out when we get back home. Tomorrow we're flying to Guangzhou in the afternoon. We'll see the other families on Saturday when we do the medical appointments. Not sure what's on next week's schedule yet. Oh, and I almost forgot. We've been trying to teach Sophia three
words: Sophia, Da-Da, and Ma-Ma (all the Chinese people say Ma-Ma
when they pass Sophia back to me). We both heard her say a couple
of times Da-Da after we said it. She's also understanding the connection
between her name and who she is. |