Actual Time: 9:30 am Friday morning, Nanjing
What a beautiful child we have! She is a dream and a half. Calm, quiet, loves to play, loves her baba big time, giggle monster who loves to be tickled, loves to eat (oh my... time to get a third fridge, me thinks!), does not wake up well from naps and needs to slowly greet the day while looking at photos from the orphanage. Her sadess time is in the morning when she first wakes up, and sees us. We think she misses her friends horribly and so I have started giving her the photos of the orphanage staff and friends, and within 5 minutes she is telling us about the exploits with her and Mingxi - they seem to have been quite the couple! She loves wearing pretty things, and I have of course been obliging her :o) Our lovely guide Juliette exclaims every morning how beautiful Anmei is and you should see the lovely smile that comes across her face when she hears it. Baths are going well, and her skin and hair are lovely and soft - she has extremely thick hair, and our guide Juliette has exclaimed at how shiny it is. She smells like a baby, with the pudgy folds of a well loved child. The orphanage obviously treated her with love and kindness, and taught her many things (we often hear her singing nursery songs, counting to 5 in Mandarin and just jabbering away with much seriousness!).
We unfortunately could not visit the orphanage, nor her finding place. It seems that the orphanage is moving and that the road to it is under construction and hence its very difficult to get to it. The staff did take a full camera of pictures and reassured us that it would give us a good idea of what the orphanage was like and be a good keepsake for Kaitlynn. They did invite us back for a future visit.
On the flip side, the pollution is so thick here its constricting. We went into the mountains yesterday (Mausoleum) and what a good thing that was to do. The cold weather has arrived and you would thing that would help the pollution lift, but it actually makes it stay. There is a constant haze now, that blocks the sun - think of Blade Runner and you have a good idea of what the future holds for this lovely city... so sad.
The people are very curious about us, but they keep their distance. I am quite the center of the looks and some days its a bit harder than others. I am glad I brought my sunglasses to cover my eyes and give me some privacy!
We are a bit sad to be leaving Nanjing, one reason being that we must leave our lovely guide behind, Juliette (BTW, Leanne, Juliette extends a "Gros Bonjour" your way and speaks often of Taotao's exploits and his lovely and infectious disposition). She must stay in Nanjing to greet another family that arrives Saturday, and we fly off to Beijing having all the necessary paperwork done and in our hands. Like I said, Juliette is a joy to be with and she has taken us to a variety of lovely restaurants that have helped my poor stomach calm down. We have discovered the real Nanjing thanks to her, and she has brought Anmei out of herself on a couple of occasions... how special Juliette is, words fail me. We will miss her horribly when we set off tomorrow.
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4 comments:
I am so glad to hear that things are going well , see I told you you could do it ,enjoy your time in beijing,
Colette
ymguqpfzAhh, I was wondering if it was the same Juliette! Ma bouée de sauvetage, tell her! LOL! She just loves children and brings out the best in them. She had Zhi Wei (the other little boy from Taotao's orphanage) chanting songs and repeating colors and types of cars in mandarin when he was bored. She is so fun, and very kind. She also took us to great places to eat, and even called ahead to restaurants to order so that the food would be ready when we arrived. A sharp contrast to the foodless, break-less horrors of our Beijing leg! ;D Say hi to Juliette from Taotao too... tell her he is doing great and turns two years old on Saturday!
How wonderful your sweetie Anmei sounds. Your love for her just rolls off the blog page. She sounds well-loved and smart as a button. I am glad you have photos of her little friends to comfort her, and show you aren't horrible strangers who will make her forget her past... I think it is so important the kids feel that their past caretakers and new parents form a continuity. So sad you couldn't visit her orphanage.
I can hardly wait to see her all dolled up. And maybe she can talk to Taotao and he'll be happy to hear mandarin, not massacred by his mama!!
Enjoy your trip! Thanks for the updates!!
Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us. I can't wait to see pictures.
How wonderful for you two! What an amazing first week you've had bonding with your little missy. So, so glad that dad could be there too right from the beginning. Even though he has to leave early, at least he'll be a familiar face at the airport when Anmei arrives in Montreal.
Imagine, you got a girly girl! How cool is that. Bring on the mega shopping for pink and frills. She has lots of hair too :-0. You'll be a pro at 'loo-loos' before you know it.
Congrats again and enjoy Beijing. I HATED it the first night we were there, but loved it by the second day.
Dawn
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