Happiest Gotcha Day Ever!

Our day started with a buffet breakfast, exchanging a large sum of money, and a walk through a market area near our hotel.  Our Gotcha time was in the afternoon.  We were the first family to arrive at the Civil Affairs office.  Before we knew it, Han, out guide, had us come closer to the room where the kids were playing.  While another family was meeting their kid, we could see LaoLao.  She waved back when we waved at her and smiled at us.  Once she walked out, she was all smiles.  She seemed very comfortable with all this.  Unbelievable!  There were 7 other families getting their kids.  There was plenty of crying.  LaoLao was very interested in the room and all the other kids.  She frequently walked to go check them all out.  On a side note, her name is pronounced more like LoLo, with a long O.

We had some My Little Ponies for her which she quite liked.  We showed her how to comb their hair and she caught on quickly.  She liked combing our hair too.  We were letting her make the first move, and the first one she went to was my dad, Poppy.  She sat in his lap, tried to touch the spots on his shirt, and combed his hair with the pony comb.

An older boy, 10 years old, a friend of LaoLao's from the orphanage, came along for the journey today too.  He was quite a crack up, trying to avoid getting his picture taken.  When I got one with my iPad, he promptly took it from me and deleted it.  Even orphanage kids know technology!  He was able to play math games..addition and multiplication games on the iPad.  I don't know if his file is available, but someone needs to adopt this kid!  I told him we'd come visit on Thursday, and we'd bring our electronics. 

After returning to the hotel, we hung out in the hotel room a bit.  LaoLao loved the sippy cup we gave her.  She has held it all light long.  She knows how to suck, but keeps lifting it up like a bottle, which doesn't work for sippy cups.  Regardless, she hasn't let this cup go for more than a few seconds all night.

We went for dinner at Happy Hour at the hotel's Executive lounge.  LaoLao ate everything we put in front of her: dumplings, bao, fruit, etc.  We gave her a cup with a little water in it to see if she could drink out of that.  She could.  We were also able to quickly teach her the sign for "more" so she could ask for more water in her cup.  She picked up in the sign quickly.

Back in the hotel room we put on jammies.  She was clearly tired, sucking her thumb for the first time.  When I suggested in Cantonese that it was time for bed, she burst into tears.  She was easily calmed, though, by looking at pictures from today on the iPad.  She fell asleep watching Rio2 with Mia, but she woke up again when I moved her.  Now I am waiting for her to fall asleep so I can.

What a day!  Here is just a few of the hundreds of pics taken today.