Nanchang Day 10

Our first full day with Zoe.  She slept all night in her little crib in our room, and didn't cry at all - much to our surprise.  She ate a big breakfast at the hotel and then we hung around for a few hours.  Our guide Jenny took The Man and Zoe and I to several government offices to turn in money and forms, and when we were all done Zoe was officially ours.  Hooray!

I will post pictures later.  For now, a few observations about Zoe:

She is very passive.  I don't think this is her true personality - I think it is a reaction to the trauma of leaving everything she has known to come to this strange place and these strange people.  Still, very passive.  If you lay her down, she lays there.  If you sit her up, she sits there.  She begins to open up when Z-Man plays with her - she loves stacking rings and stacking cups.  But when we went out in the van to the offices, she shut down again.

She had no reaction beyond a mild frown to seeing the head of her orphanage again today.  That tells me that she really didn't know the lady, and that the car ride yesterday was not her favorite memory.

She will feed herself if we set food right in front of her, but seems to be used to being fed bite by bite.  She can't seem to drink from a sippy cup or a regular cup, but they said she only takes a bottle at night.  It is a struggle to get enough liquids into her.

She likes her Mama - she looks to me for comfort and reassurance, and lets me calm her down when she is upset.  This is an amazing blessing.

She doesn't seem to be feeling her best - her chest gurgles a little when she breathes sometimes (not a wheeze) and she occasionally coughs or sneezes.  I'm watching her temp (currently normal) and her breathing, and I have antibiotics ready if needed.

She loves Z-Man.  She has even talked to him a bit - gesturing to toys and babbling.  And Z is great with her.  He brings her toys and stacks them with her over and over.  The other boys are good with her, too, but Z is really awesome.  She is most "herself" when she is playing with him.

So far she will eat just about anything we bring to her mouth, but she does know how to shake her head "no" if she doesn't want any more.

I see now why some of her medical reports say she has two toes and some say three - her little foot has a normal big toe and then two little toes kind of stuck together.  We're calling it 2 and a half toes.  A side note - No. 1 Son really wanted a sibling with interesting digits, so he is very happy with her little foot.

I realized this evening that I don't know if she can crawl or stand, or even roll over.  She sits great, and she lays down, and she hasn't done anything else.  It's kind of nice to have a non-mobile little one who stays where you put them, but I'm sure this won't last long.  I haven't wanted to push her during this bonding phase, but soon I will try to figure out what she can do.

She is a chunk - great chubby thighs and little rolls at the neck.  No worries that she didn't get enough food.  So very glad about that.

I am enchanted with her.  She is beautiful and sweet and I am sure there is a spunky little girl inside this passive little princess.  I've seen glimpses, and I can't wait to get to know the real Zoe.