Let's Talk About Arwyn

Hey Ya'll.  Well I'm remiss in my posting duties!  Tonight we are in Guangzhou, Guangdong in the SouthEastern part of China.  I am hanging in the Starbucks listening to Louie Armstrong and really missing home but glad to be here and thankful for Nathan, Noah and Arwyn.  We arrived in GZ on Friday night around 8:30 after a short flight from Guiyang.  I want to tell you about Arwyn, or at least a little bit about her, tonight.

I'll start with our first meeting.  Last Monday, after 3.5 years of waiting, the director of the  Tongren Social Welfare Institute along with one of the teachers, walked into the Guizhou Center for Adoption Affairs with a confused but smiling little girl who instantly won our hearts.  She was introduced to us and pretty much came right to us (which concerned me just a little - but now I think all is well).  Right away the paperwork started and our guide and the adoption center folks worked on that while we all got acquainted.  Arwyn right away seemed as if she was beginning a grand adventure and was happy to be with us. 

I remembered the picture album we sent to her and asked for it.  Luckily the orphanage director remembered it and gave it to her (it is often forgotten so I was thankful for this.)  We began looking at it with her and gave her a couple of more things to occupy her while we worked on our portion of the paperwork.  She was so pleasant the entire time and looked so big (thanks to the many layers of WOOL she was in.  Of course, it was VERY cold that morning, so I was glad she was dressed warmly.) 

We then had the opportunity to ask questions of the teacher about her and her habits and what she likes and doesn't like.  They seemed very fond of her and her of them, which is a good thing.  I have to tell you, Arwyn is SO healthy compared to so many children that come from orphanages and foster care - I don't mean just in terms of China, but the US, parts of Africa, Asia, all over.  The care of the children in the orphanges in China is SO much better now than it was 5 years ago even, thanks in part to the donations made by adoptive families. 

We have folks in our travel group whose first children came malnourished, had scalps covered in boils, were covered in bugbites.  Not to say that does not still happen here....you still here of a few orphanages that do not provide adequate care for the children....but out of the 10 families in our travel group, all 10 children seem well cared for (they came from 8 different orphanages)

Back to Arwyn!  She has the most incredible spirit and she loves us so much.  The days have been fairly easy with her.  We have been wearing her in the sling quite a bit ( not small feat as the girl is heavy!).  Yesterday we finally bought an umbrella stroller as we are getting tired of  carrying girlfriend everywhere, though she loves it!!!!  Actually, we are still wearing her part of the time as we understand the importance of touching her and caring for her to facilitate our bonding. 

She is picking up English very well. She is really lacking in her Chinese.  We thought this was due to her cleft issues, and largely are.  However, what we have realized is because of her cleft the orphanage workers more than likely allowed her speech to develop on its own without correcting her pronunciation.  Judging by the English words she is already saying, I am guessing that once she is in speech therapy, the mechanics will come easily. 

Arwyn is so independent.  She is not used to adults doing everything for her.  Part of me wants to be sure to not curb that independent spirit but I also want her to know that we are here to love and help her.  We have put on her shoes almost everytime they were needed and I dress and undress her, but she can do that and more on her own.  I can tell you that she can do things that Noah could not do until he was 5 - all due to having to do everything herself.  She also is a clean freak, which Nathan is thrilled about.  If anyting is out of place, she immediately puts it back.

She is one of the silliest children that Nathan and I have ever seen.  She has these faces she makes at us.  Though I felt like we were doing great as a  family and one on one bonding with her, it was not until the past 2 days that things really clicked.  While waiting for our luggage on Friday night (I had her in the sling), she was making faces at me.  She had been making these faces at us all week, but we had no idea what she was doing.  I finally started making them back at here and she laughed hysterically.  She had been waiting all week for that reaction!  She and I stood making these faces over and over again for 10 minutes while waiting for Nathan and Noah to get the bags.  We both laughed and laughed.  People around us were staring and laughing as well!

Then, yesterday, we were finally able to get her down for a nap (thank God!).  She was so rested and last night was the first night she went to bed with no fears and no tears.  We made a huge breakthrough on that one.

We are both so amazed that this kid has not been with us forever.  I think that most of us adoptive parents have many fears surrounding our adoptions.  Are we making good decision?  Will we be good parents?  Will we meet their needs?  Will we be able to attach???????  Every fear melted away when that little girl walked in the room.  We are so happy with her and she seems to be happy with us.  Noah loves her and she him.  In fact, Noah was probably the first thing she said after "mama" and "baba." 

Well, I'm exhausted and want to get back to my book - The Lost Symbol.  I'll try to post more in the next couple of days.  I want to share my thoughts on Guiyang here as well while they are still in my mind.

Have a great night....see you in 8 days.  (Someone make me some sweet tea.....PLEASE!)