handsful

More pictures, less words today!  Above was our first glimpse of what a smile from Lainey would look like. This was taken on Wednesday.  You can compare a more recent one down farther in the post…

You know how EVERY packing list mentions bringing stacking cups for your child to play with?  LISTEN TO THEM…they have been her very favorite toy.  Especially the large green one, her most favorite.

See what I mean?  She loves the green one!  This was taken on Thursday.

THIS is a happy girl!  We were playing on the floor, and we could see her changing, becoming more relaxed and happy.  Ahhhh….

Here is a picture of me posing with the news woman from yesterday…She told Randy that he had a very beautiful wife…I like this girl.

1st french fry!  We had stopped at KFC and brought food back to the hotel room to eat after our garden excursion.  She’s checking it out here, but let me just say the girl is gonna love american food…

This was taken on Thursday night, the last day of Chinese New Year.  Oh, and the fireworks started that day at 6AM!  Yes, we awoke to what sounded like gunfire.  Quite a wake-up call.  This is a shot from our hotel room window.

This was taken on Thursday night…now, that’s the true Lainey smile.  Her eyes disappear when she smiles, just like her momma.

No chance she’ll have a bad hair day.  Double brushing is the way to go!

Friday morning…We have breakfast in the hotel dining room everyday, and this is our favorite waitress.  Her name is Kathy (they all take on American names for their work).  She always comes up to Lainey to talk to her, even though Lainey never looks at her…until, that is, Kathy walks away and then she looks at her.  Shy little thing.  Even though Lainey is opening up with us, becoming more comfortable, she is still very reserved with all strangers.  On the first morning we were here, Kathy brought Lainey a small pink rose.  If you’re ever at the Sofitel hotel in Hefei, Anhui, you should find Kathy!

Today, we had our orphanage visit.  It was a 2hr drive there, in a van that sounded as if it had 4 bolts holding it together in the craziest traffic we’ve ever been in.  Oh, and no seatbelts.

This is the orphanage.  It’s new, having been built in August, 2007.  Lainey would have been in the old one for about a year, and here about 6 months.  It also houses a senior citizens hospital.  The orphanage is on the 4th floor.

This is (we’ve been told) Lainey’s favorite nanny, Miss Jun.  She is the head nanny of her room.  If you remember the pictures that we received from another traveling family a while back, it was Jun who was in the pictures with Lainey.  They do rotate nannies every few months, so I’m not sure how long she’d been in Lainey’s room.  They do that, I’m told, so that the children don’t get too attached to a particular nanny.  Lainey was content to be held by several of the nannies, but did not reach out for them.

This was her room.  The bed closest in the picture was Lainey’s and she shared it with the child farthest from the camera.  The other child must be new.  Can you see the ropes that are tied around the children’s waists and tethered to the crib?  They are there to keep them from falling out.  It’s wrapped around their middles, where there is much padded clothes and doesn’t hurt them.  I’m told that they pull out a carpet on the floor during playtime and let them play.  We arrived close to lunch time and they were waiting to be fed.

This was at the end of our visit.  The orphanage director is far left, then Jane our guide, Lainey and I, and a few other nannies coming to see Lainey.  The director is so very nice…we asked if anything was left with Lainey when she was abandoned and she said no, but then went back to a room and came back with a couple of toys that had been in her baby room for us to keep.  How sweet is that?  We brought a special book for the director and her nannies to sign.  Jane has translated these for us, I’ll try and remember to post their sweet wishes for Lainey in another post.

Lainey’s police report said that she was found on Nanhu Road.  The old orphanage was on this road, so we can be just about positive that she was left at the gate, so she would be easily found.  Here we are, in her finding spot.  Yes, Lainey, we’ve found you and we’re never letting go.

A shot of Bengbu city…it’s a very poor town.

On the way home from Bengbu…has a saltine cracker ever made YOU this happy?

Took this from the backseat on our ride home…she’s sitting on Randy’s lap.  I’m sorry, but she’s just beautiful.  We’re biased, we know.

I bet you’d like an explanation for this pic, huh?  Well, today is the day after the last day of the Chinese New Year.  Which makes it the 16th day after CNY began and Jane told us that is a very lucky day to be married. In fact, we must have seen 3 different wedding processions during our drive to and from Bengbu today.  We noticed that they were decorating for a wedding at our hotel this morning, and I told Randy I’d love to see the bride and groom.  When we were headed to the dining room to order dinner, we saw the couple standing at a receiving line just outside of the reception hall.  Randy and I stood way back, out of sight (we thought) and he aimed for a picture.  An official looking guy in a suit with a pink corsage motioned for us to leave. Just then, the groom rushes over and says no, it’s okay and asks us where we’re from.  He then walks us over and poses us with them for a picture!  Randy gave some guy our camera and then cameras started flashing…ours, theirs, the official photographer, etc.  It was amazing and funny at the same time.  I’m sure the bride thought “what in the world is my new husband doing??”. :)

Well, that does a pretty good job of catching you up.  We are in absolute awe of how Lainey is doing, she has blossomed in these last 2 days.  Granted, with the giggles and smiles we’re getting (tons of them, by the way) we’re also seeing a bit more “fits” and anger at times, but we’re learning ways to help her deal with this and know that in time she’ll get a grasp on her emotions.  It’s still so early in her time with us, and we couldn’t be happier with her than we are right now.

In the morning, we head to Guangzhou!