Sleeping soundly

Wow. What a day. Neither Kori nor I slept well, and by the time we got up, it was clear that Kori was feeling really awful. She started taking Cipro, and I stuffed my system full of Immodium. After breakfast, we met up with the Roths and our guide, Mary, in the lobby. We rode in the hotel's van to the Jiangxi Provincial Adoption Office, and walked up a flight of stairs. Mary led us down the hall to a room with two babies and about 5 Chinese adults.

I saw the Roth's baby and thought at first that it was Xiu Dan. The other baby was too chubby to be our little peanut. Nope. The chubby one, dressed in a lavender jumpsuit-type thing, was ours. She was holding on tightly to a man who turned out to be the orphanage director. The other ladies referred to him as Ba-ba, or Daddy. The officials asked to see our passports, and only after they had carefully cross-referenced them with our paperwork did they let us hold the babies. 

Xiu Dan held on to the director with an iron grip, and started wailing uncontrollably when I took her in my arms. Inconsolable for hours, Xiu Dan spent most of her first few hours sobbing. At about 1:30, we took a late lunch, and Xiu Dan was doing better. We fed her little pinches of bread and a few small pieces of fruit. She didn't take a bottle, and wanted nothing to do with rice cereal.

After lunch, Xiu Dan started to perk up. The boys actually got her to smile a couple of times. Speaking of the boys, they've been wonderful. They're absolutely, totally, head over heels in love. Chien said it's the best day of his life. They can't stop kissing her; they absolutely adore her. She wasn't too sure about them at first, but it's clear that she really digs having two silly brothers.

We had to go out again at about 3pm for a few more official meetings; notaries and administrators and such. We went to a supermarket and got a few more supplies, and had a great dinner of steamed dumplings. Xiu Dan loved the dumplings. Kori and I are pretty exhausted. Kori feels a little better, but she's still nowhere near 100%. Xiu Dan is now sleeping quite soundly on the bed, flanked by her big brothers, who are listening to their bedtime stories.

Here's what we know about Xiu Dan so far:

•  She doesn't like drinking from bottles. We had to cut the nipples (on the bottles, or course) pretty radically to get her interested at all. She much prefers cups.

•  Xiu Dan received great care. She's healthy, she's certainly not underfed, and she seems to be used to being fed by hand. 

•  She's a bit clingy. She likes to be held very closely, and she doesn't like to be put down. She may be a bit high maintenance in this regard, at least at first. Probably won't be ready for the church nursery for a few months.

•  She likes to grab things. Noses, glasses, mouths, eyes -- whatever she can reach, she'll grab.

•  She has teeth. Four that are completely in, two that are most of the way in, and a mouthful of little nubs that could break through at any time.

•  She can't walk. Her legs are strong, and she can stand with assistance, but she definitely can't walk. That's good: Kori really wanted to see her first steps. We don't even know if she can crawl; she won't let us put her down long enough to find out.

• She's perfect. Plus, she has the most adorable smile, and a sideways smirk that always makes me laugh. 

Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers. I can't wait to bring her home.