Ending our stay in Hefei

Today is Friday March 6 in this part of the world, tomorrow we will board a plane for a 2 hour ride to Guangzhou where we will complete the final steps so we can bring Sarah home. It will be a very interesting flight and I can't help but think of the long flight home we still have. Sarah just does not sit still, even for a 20 minute bus ride. She thinks she is so funny now that she learned to throw her toys, I asked Todd if he knew what cussing sounded like in Chinese as we may hear a bit of that on our flight, I can just see Sarah hitting some poor gentleman in the back of the head with one of her toys. Hmm better rethink what toys to take on the plane.

I thought I would take a minute to share some more experiences that we have had. First, back at the civil affairs office the day we met our children. Each of us were in our own corners of the room trying to talk to our children, give them toys and feeding them cheerios. Sarah was crying and I looked in the back corner of the room where Lu Jia Sheng was, the little two year old boy who was being adopted by Aaron and Chris, he will be known as Noah. He was looking over at Sarah and he suddenly gave his new parents back the toys they had given him and grabbed his dad by the hand and came over to where we were. I thought oh how sweet he is coming to comfort Sarah, but he only paused by us for a moment then he still holding on to his dad's hand walked to the doorway, let go of his dad's hand and ran out the door. Chris said quick get him he's trying to make a break for it. They went after him, he had gone looking for his nanny and came back a pretty sad liitle boy after not finding her. Amazing to see him now, I watched one time as Chris was talking to someone and Noah bent his head as to be in front of hers and said mama to get her attention, he wrestles with his older brother Dominic and he and his dad are the best of buds. The first morning at breakfast he ate 5 bowls of congee rice and I don't know how many pieces of watermelon. The kid can pack it away like no other. One morning after having just finished breakfast they stopped by our table and you should have seen the look on his face as he watched Chelsea eating rice crispies. You would have thought he was really hungry. He is Mr. Personality, we think he is so funny to watch. He is a very busy little boy.

Then there is Chu Chao Yang,now know as Kallie, she is two months older than Sarah and from the same orphanage. She is so tiny, she wasn't walking or moving much, uttered no sounds. Her mom said she thought she must have been left in a corner of the orphanage. But yesterday we visited a memorial hall and as we were walking around she took her moms hands and walked and today at breakfast Dave said she had started talking and was really coming out of her shell. So great to see her progress.

Then there is Lu Fu Mei who will be known as Chelsee, being adopted by Karyn and Al, Karyn is travelling with her sister Patricia and her daughter Julee and Patrica's son Garrett. They are a close family and all show so much love for Lu Fu Mei. Once Lu Fu Mei's orphanage clothes were changed and her hair taken out of the ponytails they were in she looked like a new girl. She has lots of hair and it comes down to her shoulders. She had such a hard time but to see her now. Yesterday while we were at the memorial hall we stopped at a little giftshop inside. It was very tiny and only a couple of people could fit inside, so while Todd and someone else was inside, the rest of us were waiting just outside and chatting with one another when Lu Fu Mei started saying something in Chinese, Karyn asked Michelle to translate what Lu Fu Mei had said. Michelle came over and listened and started laughing and seemed almost embarrassed to translate and then said Lu Fu Mei had said, "You Fart?" Karyn was mortified and asked why she would say that when Garrett spoke up and said, "I bent down next to her and blew on my arm." We were all laughing so hard and thought it was just hysterical. Karyn was relieved that there was a reason she had said that and wasn't just going around asking people if they had farted. Too too funny. It is so great to see the progress of these children and to watch each day as their personalities just shine through.

Sarah is so much fun. She laughs, smiles and plays and has now let Todd hold her and also Chelsea, she plays games with each of us and just goes and goes and goes. She is very quiet and reserved when she is around other people and doesn't let others see the smiles and laughs that we are getting from her each day.

It is interesting to see the people look at us, Michelle made a card for each of us to wear that says we are here from America to adopt this child, we love the Chinese people, culture and heritage and we promise to love and care for this child. I have shown the card to a couple of curious people and they read it and give me a thumbs up. Other people smile at you as you walk by and then there are some who seem to glare as they see us, not seeming very happy we are here. I have gotten in trouble now 3 times for those little ankles showing. If Sarah wouldn't move around so much maybe they would stay covered. :)
Today we received a great gift, it is a disc of pictures that the people at the orphanage put together that has several pictures of Sarah and some of her friends, what a treasure to have this, I am most grateful.
So, if any of you have any suggestions on how to entertain a really busy 18 month old on a plane I would really appreciate it.