April 4th/5th - Gotcha!

Well I know that you have all been anxious for some photos and news. It's been chaos here the past 24 hours. Now that everything is signed, sealed and delivered (quite literally), I am able to find a moment to post. I was quite suprised to find a high speed connection here in Changsha, so I was able to post many photos. Enjoy.

Our day yesterday began at 5am, a long one. We flew to Changsha via Air Shanghai at 8:30 am and after a bumpy landing at 10am were headed to the Grand Sun City hotel. Naomi was in need of a nap. The rest of our group checked into their rooms, but there was a mix up with ours and we had to wait -- the start of a cascade of events that resulted in Naomi finally falling asleep on the way to the Civil Affairs office and ended with her sleeping through becoming a big sister. We're all doing well though and Naomi is doing as well as can be expected. She alternates between being thrilled with her new role and wanting Lilah to leave. All in good time.

I recognized Lilah immediately when we walked in the room. She was fussing quite a bit and her caregiver indicated that she was tired. After a 3.75 hour car ride and meeting us, I don't doubt that. She cried quite a bit for an hour or so, and we decided to change her diaper. When we saw how full it was, we remembered that her referral said she only cries when she is wet, hungry or tired. The past day has demonstrated that the referral is quite accurate, she is a very easy going baby.

All of the babies have a slight cold and are congested and coughing. Aside from the cold though, Lilah is doing great. She's definately delayed in terms of motor skills, probably around a 6 month stage as opposed to 9 months. Nothing major though and I'm sure she'll catch up soon. She's a great eater, an easy baby and seems quite relaxed. She has an infectious laugh and is quite the charmer. We're starting to fall in love with this new little person!

Today we completed Adoption formalities and are planning to head to a store this afternoon to do some baby supply shopping. This morning Naomi and Papa spent some time together. Naomi is enjoying the toys in the baby area and we are planning to take her swimming later. She slept from 9:30pm to 5am last night, then had a two hour nap this morning. We're getting there with the sleep stuff.

Sorry for the short post, but now that I have two gals calling my name I'm sure to be shorter on details. Tomorrow our group is doing some sightseeing that we will skip in favor of spending some family time.

Hope all is well at home, we hear you all have snow! Ha ha, it's 26C here and muggy. We didn't bring enough summer clothes!

Cheers,
Karen