The Mom's Story

First, let me address the question I have received from several of you through email….Why are you so quiet and serious in the video? What were you thinking? There are several answers to the question really…I have been crying over this baby for years, and I certainly was afraid of falling to pieces on Gotcha Day, which is not unexpected, but discouraged. I did cry when we walked into the hotel room, and saw the little crib with the hello kitty pillow beside our bed (before we got her.) When we had our meeting with our local guide, we were reminded that it is not unexpected for the baby to be unhappy/mad for days. We were also given more specific information regarding Princess Peach, which indicated that she was afraid of strangers. We had already suspected that she wasn’t going to be a completely easy going baby b/c of the expression on her face in most of the pictures we had seen combined with the “sometimes obstinate” description of her personality. So, we were cautious, and didn’t want to overwhelm her with our emotion. I also knew that any words that I had for her would be in the wrong language and that might scare her further. (I also have a life long goal of avoiding hearing my voice on video, so might have also been a factor as well, but now, we’ll just pretend that’s wasn’t related.) She really liked the light-up rattle toy I had in my pocket, and that got us over the initial time when she considered becoming upset. She’s definitely a fan of her bottle, so when we produced that about 15 minutes later I guess she decided we were okay.

She has cried a few times since we have had her, several times may have been diaper related, and she has needed to communicate to us that she wanted the nipple larger on her bottle (we cut them, as they do here) which helps the rice cereal to come more easily through the bottle. So far, she is a fussy sleeper, but last night was better than the night before. We all meet with the pediatrician today, but although she has a cold, I don’t expect any earth shattering news from him. All of the local paperwork was finalized yesterday in several appointments. Tonight we will attend a special “Gotcha” dinner at a local restaurant here. We are eager to try it, because we are so open to seeing more of the culture, and experiencing more of Nanchang, but between the weather and the warnings about maneuvering through traffic, what we shouldn’t eat & drink, and the language barrier we are pretty much encouraged to “enjoy the hotel.” The guide will be able to order foods that are acceptable to a western palate, but still authentic. Foods in this province are spicy, though. Really spicy, which I am okay with, but may be a bit of a challenge without being able to drink the water. Hopefully they have big bottles of bottled water there. Well, Princess Peach has awakened, and is chilling with Daddy on the bed, and that means the need for a bottle is imminent.

Current Prayer Requests:
*Princess Peach’s congestion subsides, and that we don’t catch it.
*That we can find some solid food that she likes. It appears she has never been fed with a spoon, so we are working on that, and I don’t know if her reluctance is related to the spoon or the foods.
*That we will maintain our health, and that things will continue to go smoothly at home.