AnnaWen Mary Chun Sampson...

… is ours. Everyone over 3ft tall were up by 6 this morning, though I was in the shower just after 5. Damn time travel. We organized and went to breakfast. The breakfast buffet is included in our hotel and I’ve heard rave reviews about it. It lived up to expectations. There was a whole wall of food – Western and Chinese. I finally got to try the beef noodles I’d heard so much about and they were awesome! Wen isn’t eating much, she had a few mouthfuls of rice porridge, then preferred to transfer spoonfuls from one bowl to the other, or from her bowl to ours. When we moved things away from her to discourage that, she threw utensils. But she did it all with extreme cuteness.

After breakfast we collected stuff and headed with the other families and headed to the Civil Affairs office. We met with the notary, the orphanage director, the guides and some other intimidating looking people. The nanny slipped AW another Campino, and I bit my tongue. She was happy to see her nanny, but stuck close to me at first. Later while we were all sitting and waiting for the process she went to the nanny and the officials and played with them, but came back to me easily with a smile. We signed papers, pressed fingerprints and OuYang, Chun Wen became AnnaWen Mary Chun Sampson. Yippeee! She talked quite a lot with the nanny and other Chinese people here and it was very cool to hear her. They kept asking her a question and she’d say something rote and they’d all laugh. I’d love to know what it was.

We headed back to the hotel, regrouped and went out to a department store that had a grocery in the basement. I purchased a bunch of bananas, 4 bottles of water, 2 drinks (coke, juice), a package of cookies, three juice boxes of milk, 2 cans of beer, a package of M&Ms… for less than $10. How’s that for shopping? I also bought Wen a pair of grey sneaks with pink trim – the shoes she came with were too small and I hadn’t brought any with me not knowing her size. I think she likes shoes, just like Tink… she loved trying on the different shoes and prancing around to see what fit. Steve found a few DVDs; Beauty and the Beast, Lady and the Tramp, a couple of Mickey movies and a box set of some Chinese character all in Mandarin.

We’re back in the hotel vegging for a few minutes. Not sure what the plans for the afternoon are. We want to get out of the hotel room to avoid sleeping so we sleep better tonight. We may do more shopping or just walk around the city. I feel a real need to organize – to research what there is to see and plan out when we could see it as not to miss anything. I know the travel folks have organized a day at the museum, zoo and some parks but there are a few things I want to see but haven’t found out if they’re reasonable or not. I also really want to visit the orphanage. We’ve been told we’re not allowed to go in, but I’d rather drive by and take pictures of the outside than not go at all. I also want to visit her “Finding Spot”, and have asked the guides to help me try to find the person who found her two and a half years ago.

AnnaWen is doing well. This morning she woke up a little trepidatious. (I *think* that’s a word) She wasn’t thrilled to see that we were still here with her. She sulked and whined and teared up a bit. It took some jumping and goofiness on our parts to bring back a smile. She also showed us some passive defiance – she sat floppily, needing to be propped against the pillow to sit up. There were few smiles and no words, no real interaction at all except hesitant eye contact and watchful scrutiny. While it was not nice to see her upset, I felt better as (from what I’ve read) that is a healthier reaction than the gleeful, indifferent clown we saw yesterday. She seems to be preferring Steve, has reached up to him several times and said “Baba something something something… “every time he left the table. Both of us have gotten kisses on request and both of us have received a hug spontaneously. Her favourite game right now is “Where it go?” wherein she hides or eats something, shrugs her shoulders and puts her palms up and says “Where it go?” and laughs. She loves the beaded snake A&A gave her at the shower, and we’re working on not throwing them. She’s doing so well.

N


With her nanny and the orphanage director.


Our first Squatty Potty siting!


Wen sucks on her middle two fingers. Apparently at some point someone has told her not to as she'll use her other hand to cover up the crime.


Pretty girl and her wawa.


All dressed up for Adoption Day.


Being cute.


Ink on our fingers, and making her footprint on the documents.


Signing papers...


With Baba and her book.


This pretty girl is OURS!