Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Making It Official

This morning we loaded the bus again for the CCWA office in order to make everything official.  There, we met again with the orphanage director and notary, exchanged appropriate funds and swore that we will love our daughter forever and never abandon her.  We had our first official picture as a family and Chloe officially became a Watkins.

While this should have been an overall happy meeting, I have to tell you that I have mixed feelings about it.  Although the signing of the paperwork, picture taking, and swearing in was all good, I think it was strange to meet the orphanage officials again...in the same place as yesterday.  It had to make Chloe feel confused.  I wonder if she thought we were bringing her back.  

Chloe and the Huainan orphanage director

In addition, I truly did not enjoy the exchange of money...especially in front of the children.  While I know this is an important step in helping the orphanage take care of the children, I just felt strange.

When we returned to the hotel, we had a nice lunch and visit with Jane, our guide.  She informed us that Chloe was actually cursing in a song she was singing at the CCWA.  Although she assured us that she wasn't cursing at anyone, Jane was upset that she was doing this and told the orphanage not to use her foster family any more.  She also did not like some of the behaviors she was exhibiting, like hitting and kicking.  She said that she had seen many children from her orphanage do the same.  Basically, she said she was unrefined (like an eastern Kentucky/West Virginia coal miner's girl...no offense, her city is known for coal mining) and would need time to learn appropriate behaviors.  Tim and I decided that we have adopted Chloe, the jungle girl (like Bindi, the jungle girl), and she will need just a lot of love and direction.  She's already making great strides.

After Jane's visit and finishing lunch, we headed for the pool.  I wish I would have brought my camera because Chloe loved the water.  Although she never left my lap, she stayed and played, kicking the water and leaning over to wet her hair.  When we went back to the room, she wanted to take a bath, so I put her in the tub.  She washes herself as an old woman would, scrubbing her skin with the wash cloth.  However, I finally got her to sit down in the tub.  (I think she must have previously stood in the river, bucket, etc. to take a bath.)  She absolutely loved it.  Then, she took a nice, long nap.  We had to wake her after 1 1/2 hours.  We definitely want her to sleep tonight!

Enjoying bath time
Taking a nice, long nap
After that, we topped our evening off with our daily trip to the mall and Walmart with our friends, Karen, Jenna and Zoey.  We decided that we needed some American food, so we ate at McDonalds and then had ice cream from Dairy Queen.

Chicken nuggets and fries....YUM!

I guess loving ice cream is universal.
Below are a few things we noticed about Chloe today.

  1. She still eats EVERYTHING and wants to make sure she has access to food all the time.
  2. She likes to bring all of her toys into bed with her when she sleeps.
  3. She woke me up sweetly at 3:30 this morning, rubbing my leg, to tell me she had to go to the bathroom.
  4. For most of the day, she still did not want Tim to touch her, but the two had a beautiful moment before bed where she was talking and playing with him.  He was holding her hand, and she allowed him to change her shirt when she spilled water on it.
  5. She demanded that I carry her all 3.5 blocks from the mall tonight and sang the entire way.  I'm not sure if it involved curse words or not.
  6. I have a feeling that she will be another "fish" like her brother, Kaleb.  She wanted to get back in the tub after we returned home from the mall.
  7. I received numerous kisses and hugs today.
Tomorrow is one of our free days, so we're heading to the zoo with Karen and her crew.  It's supposed to be 75 degrees here, so it should be a nice day.

I hope everyone is doing well.  We LOVE reading your words of encouragement....Please keep them coming. 

10 comments:

  1. Those pictures are amazing, and you are fantastic, inspirational people for doing what you are doing. Chloe is the luckiest girl in the world. She just looks so natural with your family! Congratulations on your latest addition!

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  2. Looks like things are going great. Enjoy your time in China taking in all the sights and enjoying her birth country as much as possible. Don't forget to go shopping with Ann and tell her I said hello! Have fun with your beautiful little girl.

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  3. Chloe looks like she's having a blast. The tub has been issues with many children, but not for Chloe. You may need to learn that song she's singing and change a few words. Enjoy this wonderful Journey. Can't wait to read your next post.

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  4. Love this post. Love that you are getting kisses. :-) She is just precious. I'm also worried about the exchange of money. We do not want our girls to witness this. We are prepared to tell our guide to make sure they are out of the room. Our 8 year old daughter (who was adopted at 2 years old, and does not remember anything) has been seeing us do the adoption papers for her brother (2 years ago) and also now. She sees and hears things that we do not realize. And she has come to the conclusion that we have bought them. :-( Makes me so sad. One thing I do not want our girls to feel. So thanks for pointing that out in your post.
    I'm excited to follow your journey and I love reading your updates. Praying tomorrow is even better than today. :-)

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  5. Lisa, this is awesome that you're sharing your journey. I read all of your posts, even though I don't comment, so keep them coming! What a beautiful thing to witness, but must be awesome to be a part of.

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  6. Very happy for you,
    have a good day to the zoo.
    I saw few picture of Chloé on the LWB blog.

    friendly from France
    Severine

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  7. The scrubbing with the wash cloth - I totally forgot about that! Alaina did the same thing -- just rubbing and rubbing her arms and legs and body with a soapy wash cloth. How does Chloe do with brushing her teeth?

    We are all enjoying your blog - so much sounds just like our trip for Alaina. I'm sure since most adoptions are of younger kids, they don't think twice about the visiblity of the "exchange", but I know what you mean. Pretty much, it's a business transaction, which is exactly what it is.

    I had to laugh a little at that little girl using bad words! And the bad part is that you can't understand her to even correct her! Maybe your guide can "scold" her enough before you leave China that she will know not to use those words! Isn't that sad. Alaina had an amazing foster family from what she has told us. I'm sure within 6 months Chloe will be able to tell you all about it!

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  8. We are so happy to see Chloe with her family. Your older daughter is so sweet. I'm sure your arms were tire, but you waited a long time to carry her! So happy you get hugs and kisses. Can't wait! Thank you for sharing your beautiful girl with us. Beth ( mom to Kerry)

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  9. Hey Tim - Way to wear the GOLD and WHITE!!!

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  10. She is just adorable!!! It sounds like she is making a lot of progress already. I know how you feel about the "transaction"- I felt that same uneasy type feeling. I have to admit, I did find her song a bit humorous, too- face of angel, mouth of a trucker? Well, have a great time at the zoo! It's going by so quickly!

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