China day 6 {adoption day}

What a sweet thing to wake up to.

Lucy slept so well our first night together. But mama didn't. I just could not wait to wake up and play with my new daughter. I found myself wanting it to be 7:00 am the whole night! Andy kept waking up and telling me I needed to go to sleep. Funny how he had to watch her for awhile each time he woke up too :)

Tuesday was adoption day. We had to be in the lobby by 9:30 am to meet our group and head back to the Civil Affairs building, where we had just been the day before. We had to wake up our little bean at 7:00 in order to get ready, skype with Nana and DanDan, scarf down breakfast and get there on time. Lucy is such a sleepy-head! She takes her time to wake up and needs a moment.  But she slept a good 9 hours, and I am so grateful.

Once at Civil Affairs, (yes, the poochy lip came out again on the bus) we went into the playroom where Lucy had been waiting on us the day before. I wondered how this might make her feel but it didn't seem to phase her. We waited our turn to have a picture taken and then meet with an official to answer some questions and sign on the line. She officially became our daughter! Woohoo!

The group of families we are with are so wonderful. Each of them have a different story and it's so neat to be a part of each others' special time. Complete strangers, brought together by adoption. We have made so many incredible connections throughout this journey. This week we are making 4 more! Rebeccca, our super efficient, detail-oriented guide is on the left. We are so thankful for her - she's doing all the thinking for all of us!

Next, we headed up to the 9th floor of the building to answer some more questions.

"How is she doing?" (amazingly well)
"Are we satisfied and do we want to continue with the adoption?" (absolutely!)
Etc. Etc.

 

We all got back on the bus, poochy lips and all, and came back to the hotel. Lucy's normal naptime is from 12:00 - 2:00 so I'm working on figuring out where her lunch schedule fits in. It was past her naptime but we decided to fill her belly first. Noodles it was and she ate like a champ.

After nap (which went extremely well), we stuck to the room and just played together. She loves to play "stacking cups" with Baba and thinks the beach ball is pretty fun too. She's slowly warming up to him and starting to let him help dress her, feed her, etc. One of these days she'll realize he's the best thing since congee and be at his side all the time. It's so wonderful to see him love on her. Lucy can tell her Baba digs her pretty hard.

She's starting to smile more and more. We've heard some laughs too. Still such a quiet child with not much to say. Perhaps it's because she knows we won't get it anyway :) She has said "mama" and "baba" several times and knows who is who.

Before skyping with Grandma and Grandpa, we decided to walk around the hotel a bit. Andy said the orphanage staff mentioned she loves to be outside. This hotel is amazing and has such beautiful scenery, so it's great for a little one who likes the outdoors.

This bridge is just outside the dining area. Lots of big fishies swim around underneath. Lucy thought that was pretty neat but kept her distance.

 

She is such a mama's girl right now and wants me to hold her all the time. I'm trying to find the balance between making up for lost time and encouraging her to do a few things on her own - that she is safe and we aren't going to leave her. Fine by me to take it slow. I just love, love, love all the cuddles she is giving me. And she lets me kiss on her constantly. She even learned to wave bye-bye to Baba and blow him a kiss.

                                           

It's only day 2 but so far we are seeing a happy, snuggly, sweet, sleepy-headed little girl start to blossom. She has already given us unbelievable joy in just 24 hours.

She's got one killer of a smile that melts this mama and baba's heart. I'm so happy she's letting us in.

Lucy Hope, you are forever our daughter. Happy Adoption Day to you, sweet one!