7:00 a.m. Our wake up call woke us promptly at 7. Today was
the first day I had Mylin take a bath with me. I got in the tub
(in my suit) and I made sure the water was just right. Pete
had the honor of presenting the naked beauty to me in the tub.
She has the cutest little body. Her head is the biggest part
of her and below that everything is petite but chubby. The
first day when I undressed Mylin to change her I saw
something kind of strange. Her little front and bottom diaper
area had oval shaped scars on them. They are totally healed
but the difference in color pigment is what caught my
attention. At one time she must have had a severe case of
diaper rash. I even wondered at first if she had some kind of
surgery but now I think it was just terrible diaper rash that
left some scaring. She looked so straight at me, directly into
my eyes as I changed her that day. I looked into the innocent
eyes of a little girl who's world changed in an instant and
there she laid uncovered searching my face to see if she had
any reason to be afraid. I forgot just how intimate being a
mother is, how a baby locks on you, smells you, listens to
everything you say, and how a baby reaches into your eyes
with his or her own eyes to meet you soul to soul. It is a truly
awakening feeling in a woman to be needed this way. I
covered her up quickly after that first diaper change to give
her time to get use to me caring for her and undressing her.
But today's adventures began in the big bathtub. As Pete
handed her to me she began to whimper. Soon she was crying.
I rocked her and held her close and gently spooned water
over her saying "Boo Coo Baby, Boo Coo" which is what
Chinese mothers say to their babies like the Americans "Shhh,
don't cry." She did relax some and instinctively that little
thumb popped into her little mouth to provide the security she
has obviously relied upon in the past. I washed her quickly
and worked some Johnson's Baby Shampoo into her hair with
record speed. Pete stood by ready to rescue her when
needed. I rinsed her off and Daddy swooped her up and
swaddled her in a big, thick towel. When her eyes are open
she often looks like a round faced Eskimo baby, especially
when she is wrapped up around her head. When she is
sleeping she definitely looks like an Asian baby. When she
wakes up her sleepy little Asian eyes are absolutely adorable!
Today we dressed her in a one piece pink sleeper. She looks
fabulous in pink. Actually I haven't found anything she
doesn't look fabulous in yet. But her dark black hair and her
lovely skin surrounded by pink are baby-riffic!
8:30 a.m. Went to our Best Western Wuhan's breakfast
buffet for the first time. The food selection was impressive.
There is lots of fresh fruit, cereals, several kinds of eggs,
fish, rice dishes, several meats, many breads and rolls and
many Chinese traditional foods. I am finding meats to be the
hardest thing to enjoy here. The meats taste different for
the most part; perhaps they are processed differently or they
use different spices. I look forward to the bacon because it
is the meat most like ours. Mylin loves food. She will eat an
unbelievable amount of food if allowed. We learned in
adoption class that many adopted children have issues with
overeating. I am already being thoughtful about using food
cues around her to re-wire her brain like, "Oh Mommy is full,
I'm done." I guess it makes perfect sense that if you have
longed for food, eating can become a self-protective
race...maybe the food will be gone again. What is so sweet on
this day is Mylin is learning to kiss us. As I remember my Ben
doing when he was a baby, Mylin kisses with an open mouth so
you get a kiss ring on your mouth each time. When I give her
food she chews it then leans in to give me an appreciative kiss.
I think she is pairing kissing with eating because that's one
of the times we are very close face to face. You haven't had a
kiss until you've had one like My My's. After the circle kiss
she pushes her forehead hard against mine and smashes her
nose into me too. She loves skin to skin contact. I sang her
"Baby Love" today and she smiled and waved her little arms.
"My Baby Love, my baby love, been missing ya, oh I love kissin
ya,... Each and every night and day, my Baby Love!"
3:30 p.m. Met with the Chinese officials to receive the final
adoption decree. I guess this is what my friend Jana calls
"Gotcha Day!" We met in a hotel conference room with tables
in a open rectangle. All the babies and their families came to
receive the finished adoption decree and receive the blessing
of the Chinese government. We were called up one by one by
our baby's Chinese names. They had a photographer there to
take pictures. We shook the officials hand and got the
official paperwork. As far as China is concerned Mylin Marie
is officially our baby and our future ! There was great joy in
the room and a feeling of relief in all of us who had worked so
long and travelled so far to find "Baby Love." The pictures
below capture some of this awesome experience. If anyone
out there is considering adoption, I want to tell you something.
Only you know the cry in your heart for a child. It is worth
every penny and all the paperwork involved if you have that
need in you. The Chinese have a saying, "The journey of a
thousand miles begins with one single step." I truly believe
there is a child in need for every soul aching to be a mother.
Start with one step, and just keep walking... toward love.
Evening: More adventures this evening! Pete and I went out
shopping with another couple named Brian and Cindy and their
daughter Ellie (Eleanor) into Wuhan City. We covered our
little girls up and went out on foot. Pete and I rented a baby
stroller from the hotel. We walked to a department store a
few blocks away. The department stores all have heavy
drapes covering the doorways (kind of like car wash curtains
in America but nicer fabrics) and you have to push them aside
to walk into the store. This is a cold day in Wuhan so many of
the sales people on the entry levels are wearing coats. The
store is beautiful, very similar to Marshall Fields. The store is
many levels high and full of sales people. We ask where the
baby clothes are and we are told the 7th floor. I am so happy
to have Cindy with us because she speaks Chinese. When we
get to the baby floor, Cindy is a great help to me in getting
what I need for Mylin. We both bought our babies the same
darling pair of black soft leather shoes with Velcro closures.
We bought Mylin the most beautiful lime green puffy soft
outfit with Chinese animal characters on it. Tomorrow she will
have something new and warm that fits her! I can't wait to
see her in it. After shopping Pete and I went to Pizza Hut
where two other couples were eating for the evening. I was
so happy to eat American food. Mylin absolutely loved the
cheese and the crust. We also ordered a great ice cream
treat. Pizza Hut here in China serves a lot more foods than in
America. I think we tired our Princess out on this adventurous
day! It is so much fun to walk along the store fronts, all little
shops, and look at there merchandise and barter with the
people. The streets are absolutely lined with open air shops
that are about thirty feet deep at most. When the shops close
for the day they lower a door much like a garage door. The
smells in the streets are the smells of different vendors
cooking food they sell out of their little shops. Many of them
cook right on the street. There is one meat that they cook
that smells like a horrible pungent, old pork to us Westerners.
It smells like the swine barn at the Great Minnesota
Get-together.
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Pretty in Pink!
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Busy little hands and mind!
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Diane and Mylin with new friends baby Ellie and Mama Cindy Lu
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Diane Mylin and the Chinese Official who formally presented Mylin to us.
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As far as China is concerned ITS OFFICIAL - Mama, Baby and Baba
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Kiss for Baba?
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