This morning we spent a few hours touring the city. Guangzhou is a very ancient city. We started at the Buddhist temples. It was beautiful. People come to pray or the guide said talk to the Buddha for different requests or reasons. There was different Buddha's for different things. They burn incense before they pray and it smelled really good! :)
We then headed to the Chen Academy. Honestly, I am not a big history buff and we were having a hard time with Mayleigh and it was tough to take in everything our guide was telling us. I believe Chen was a famous family and this was the place they gathered for different events. Ha! That is about all I got! :)
After that we headed to a nice Jade shop. Jade is very popular here and for the Chinese when they wear it, it means good things, strength, and protection. A lot of times parents give their children jade jewelry to protect them. Our guide had some on. I LOVED the cuff bracelet but had to resist the couple thousand dollar price tag. But decided on a circle pendant that I would wear and then pass to Mayleigh at some point. Wanted something special from China that we could have. This way we can both have it.
After a little downtime in the room we had to go work on paperwork for getting Mayleigh's visa. Then it was off to Mexican for dinner. Yep, mexican. Kinda weird having Mexican while in China! :) A girl we are traveling with had set up a dinner with a bunch of adoptive families. Some of the families were in other provinces the first week and then everyone has to come through GZ to get the Visa so we all meet up eventually. These are families that we all have been talking on FB and now finally got to meet. It was a fun dinner.
Its been a tough week....I think everyone knows that by now! We are continuing to try and show Mayleigh our love. She started off the day pretty rough. Crying a lot and refusing pretty much all food at breakfast. During the tours we pulled out the french fry things she loves. Food she likes kind of brings her out of her shell. She was interacting with a friend on the bus by handing her food. She was pretty content eating. UNTIL they were gone. Then its like she cant cope anymore. So then she goes back into hidding. Hides her face and sleeps. She still has eaten very little and this thing is tiny. She needs to be eating!!
Two good things happened today. Very small baby steps! She has been reaching out to Jeff. I am so glad, but sad too. Wish she did that to me. But hey, one of us is better than neither of us! She also showed signs of jealousy. We were walking to our hotel and I was holding M. A mom in our group is here without her husband and she was having a hard time with her daughter. She was running away so Jeff carrried her. When M saw that Jeff had another girl in his arms, she whimpered and reached for him. We thought those were two good signs! We laugh because all the other adopted kids love Jeff.....except his own daughter! ;) How could they not love him....he is such an amazing Dad!!
I know she is going to open up to us and see how much we love her....just wish I knew when.....In the meantime, I just pray we can continue to show her our love. Im going to be honest, sometimes its tough.
Adoption is tough. It's wonderful, but tough. I knew this and now it is a reality. But I have faith that it will all be worth it.
Hall of Buddhas. (small group...now there is some fertility buddhas!! :) Sorry, inside joke! :)
Lol!! We dont get why they bundle their kids up so much but have no problem letting their tushy hang out? Split pants!! :) But hey, these kids are WAY easier to potty train. And you know how much trouble we have had! ;) I guess I just needed split pants!
Chen Family Temple
Dinner with other adoptive families....all the mamas and their new babies! :)
Erin, This is WONDERFUL!!! Remember attachment comes before bonding.... And sounds like she is attaching!!!! :) :)
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Carmel and B'Elanna