Gotcha Day!

We left at 8:20 this morning on a small bus with another adopting family from the US and our guide. We arrived at 9am and were told to sit around a big table and wait. Seconds after we sat down, a bunch of ladies came in and I hear –“ this is your baby.” We look up and there she is, in her traditional Chinese jacket. Oh, wow! This is it! We jump up grabbing our cameras! She is given to us with her caretaker saying “Mama” and pointing to me. She looks curiously at Tom and I as we hold her and say in Chinese to her that we are her parents and that we want to hold her. We were amazed that she wasn’t crying…then the caregivers left and the hysterical crying started…after awhile one of the ladies who clearly loved her came in and took her from me to comfort her and it was nice to see how sweetly they interacted…Elita had been loved all this time! The kind lady was scolded by another lady from the orphanage to give her back to me and she did…about 5 minutes more of crying while we signed papers, passing her between us. Then the cry changed…ah – a tired cry, I noticed (proof that I AM her Mama!) so I snuggled her up against my chest singing, and she fell asleep. Sweetness! She slept through more paper signing and then awoke right before her seat-beltless bus ride in Daddy’s arms. We had to wait awhile for another family to handle some more paperwork…about 40 minutes more on the bus. She snuggled Tom for awhile and then sat right up and started talking up a storm, copying our lip buzzing noises and having a blast…she has a TON to say (she gets that from her Mommy!). She mouthed some snap pea crisps (her brothers’ favorites), sucked down a cold bottle, and played happily with us like she’s known us all her life…SO PRECIOUS! We got to the hotel around lunchtime and she walked (yes, she walks well!) into our room and just started checking things out, all the while talking and just as pleased as can be! I went into the bathroom and cracked the door and she cried and ran to me and gave me a big hug, burying her head in my chest…proof that bonding has begun. I said Mama and she repeated me. It was a gift! I changed her clothes since she was in multiple layers of baggy clothes like they dress kids here in China…you could barely find her in there. She is so brown and soft and sweet…definitely the best tan in the family, and little, but not too skinny! She ate yogurt, sucked down water from a sippy cup (yay!) and I put her in the packnplay with some toys, hoping she’d fall asleep…Tom and I watched out of the corner of our eyes while we uploaded pics…she dropped the toys out, the blankie, took off her socks, put her pointer finger in her mouth, and quietly went to sleep. Wow! We are MUSH! She is so cuddly and fun and we’ve only been with her a few hours. My heart is still beating quicker than usual…has all day. She is a gem and she is ours…and I think she knows it! Off to a walk to WalMart with our group…time to get diapers and formula…this should be interesting.