Gotcha Day!

(Caution! This is a long post! I am using this as my personal journal, so I have included everything. Proceed with caution.)

Let me just start by saying that now I know why Qi Fu (Emmett) was tied to his crib in one photo!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. So, let me back up to the beginning...

March 24, 2009 was the most emotional day of my life. It was like getting married and having babies all in one. It is hard to describe how I felt, but let me just say it felt like an emotional whirlwind inside my head and stomach!

I finally fell asleep around midnight and woke up about 3am because I was so excited and nervous. Our day began with a gathering of the 5 Holt families in the hotel lobby at 5:30 am. We were then taken to the airport and were soon on our way to Nanning where we would meet our children.

I have to digress here and tell a little bit about our flight. It was a very unique experience that I do not want to forget. First of all, the 11 of us were the only Caucasian people on the plane. I think this was my first time being a true minority...I kind of liked it. The other passengers were very curious and friendly to us. I really enjoyed watching them. It was the loudest plane ride I have ever taken - people were standing up and yelling to people across the plane, laughing and gesturing as they settled in. And no one payed any attention to seat belt signs - they moved around whenever they wanted and when we finally landed, people were up and getting their stuff before the plane even slowed down! Oh, the shock of it all!

After landing, we met our Holt guide, Jane, who is a local of Nanning, at the airport. She is very kind and most helpful. She explained to us the procedure for getting our children and what we needed to prepare ourselves for. We had 2 hours back at the hotel to get ready and eat lunch.

Now, let me tell you about Nanning. Nanning is in the Guangxi Province (pronounced "Gwan-see" we found out after all of us had been saying it wrong for weeks). Guangxi is where all of our children are from. Now, this is what I expected China to be like - older, more gritty and rural than Beijing. (Beijing is a very westernized metropolis like NYC and caters to English speakers. It is very modern and elaborate. The area we stayed in was like 5th Avenue - only cleaner and nicer!) In Nanning, very few locals speak English and we have to do a lot of pointing and gesturing to be understood when Jane is not around. It's actually quite fun!

We had our first lunch in a restaurant across from the hotel. It is nicknamed "The Baby Restaurant" because there are babies painted on the front and it is where adopting families often eat. The food was really good (oh, by the way, we can say goodbye to any westernized food for the next week), but I learned after 2 meals there that I do not want to eat chicken while here. Every part of the chicken is used in the food - fat, gristle, bones, and all. I really don't like that. But, the beef and shrimp are yummy. Maybe I'll even get brave enough to try some of the other "sea food" available. We'll see...

After lunch, we were off to the civil affairs office to finally meet our children. Can I just say, I was so nervous that my hands were shaking and I don't think that has ever happened to me before! When we got off the elevator at the CA building, our children were standing in the hall with their nannies. They took one look at us and all started crying and running away! We were taken into a room to wait for them to be brought in individually, but we could hear them outside crying and one (we were told) kept saying "I don't want to go in there!" Of course all the moms were crying by now and we were all nervously laughing and joking. Then, after a brief welcome, they were escorted in one at a time to be met by their new families. Qi Fu was the third one brought in.

I went up to Qi Fu and handed him a car as I smiled at him. He took it with a smile and then turned around and walked away! I guess he thought I was Santa or something! But, after a few moments he realized what was going on and began to cry with all the other children. It was the saddest thing to hear - all these little people wailing and terrified! Qi Fu's nannies stayed for a few minutes. They had a bag of items from his foster mom for us (Jane translated the conversation for me). She gave us some extra clothes, diapers, a package of his favorite crackers, a photo of them with Qi Fu, a letter for us (which Jane will translate later) and his foot braces (which he hates and I don't blame him because they look torturous. They said we do not have to make him wear them. We can wait until we visit our doctor at home and get her recommendation. Phew!!!) Then the nannies left and we were on our own.

Poor little guy cried and cried. I could distract him for a few minutes by taking him to the window to see the cars and the elevator. But, it was the red balloon we blew up that made all the difference. He loves that balloon and has carried it around all day with him - I really hope it doesn't pop any time soon!

After a little while, he would let me hold him and comfort him. It was really adorable, he wanted his tears and nose wiped every few minutes. They said he likes hugs and that is true! He would let me and Hannah hold and hug him. Eric was a different matter. He didn't want Eric at all. (Of course most of you know little kids LOVE Eric and always go to him, so it was a bit of a surprise. Maybe the red hair did it?)

Eventually, it was time to go back to the hotel with our children. Qi Fu was so cute because when he heard we were leaving, he started to help clean up the toys in the room! By then he had stopped crying and was resigned to his fate. He walked with me to the bus (his little walk is so cute - he has a slight limp, but trust me it does not slow him down!). He climbed the bus stairs (which were huge) with my help and went straight to the back seat and snuggled up in the corner by the window with his balloon. On the ride he did not want us to touch him. He kept pushing us away and glaring at us. But, when I began to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" he sang along in Chinese! SO CUTE!!!

Once we got back to our hotel, his curiosity and naturally cheerful disposition got the better of him. As soon as he walked in our room, he plunged in. We began with stickers (which I put on his forehead and he proceeded to put on all of ours) and then it never stopped! He played with EVERYTHING and began laughing and talking. Our really big breakthrough came when I gave him markers and a coloring book. He took out the markers one at a time and would pull off the cap, scribble a bit, then put the cap back on and place the marker in a neat little row on the desk. He had a hard time taking off the lid and putting it back on at first, so I showed him and every time he did it on his own we would cheer and he would giggle.

Since I know this is super long and you may be getting bored, I will list a few things we learned about Qi FU on our first day:

1. He has been taught very well and is very neat. He put his shoes in the closet with ours when he saw them there and always cleans up. He knows how to do most things for himself and seems to follow rules very well.

2. He learns very quick! He has already began to mimic our words correctly and even started using sign at dinner when he wanted more food. It is quite amazing to witness!

3. He LOVES water. Seriously. I have NEVER seen a child love water as much as him and I already have 2 water babies! The first time he went potty and needed to wash his hands, he stuck his hand under the faucet and squirted himself in the face. He laughed hysterically and kept repeating it over and over. Then when we went to the lobby, he saw the fountain and I had to catch him before he dove in! I did let him splash in it a bit until I got some stern stares from the locals (bad mommy!). And last night after dinner we gave him his first bath and you would think we were at Disney World. He loved it that much! (They usually recommend not changing your child's clothes or bathing them for at least 24 hours, but with Emmett we knew he would have no problem as long as water was involved!)

4. He loves his veggies! Hopefully he can influence Lilly a little bit.

5. He did indeed have surgery on his little feet a couple months ago - he has the scars to prove it. We are waiting for more information to be sent over to us to take back home to our doctors.

6. He is a great sleeper (so far). He curled up with Hannah on the bed and was out in minutes. He did not want to be in the crib, so we let him fall asleep in the bed and then moved him. He has been asleep for about 11 hours now. We don't know how he will do when he wakes, but I suspect he may cry when he realizes we were not just a dream!

7. He is a BUSY little boy! Perhaps it is all the excitement, but I do not think he stopped for 10 seconds since we got back to the hotel. He loves to go on walks and ride the elevator.

So, that sums up our first day with Qi Fu. You may be wondering why I am not referring to him as Emmett yet. The reason is because we have not started calling him that yet. Over the next few days we will make the transition. Until then, he is our little Liu Qi Fu...