Hanging in the Province

Now that the paperwork is done, all we have left to do in the province of Jiangxi is wait for Phoebe's Chinese passport to arrive. That leaves lots of time sitting around the hotel. Today we had a big group outing to-- of all places-- Walmart, which even Mark and I preferred to staring at the four walls of our room.

Phoebe is coming out of her shell beautifully, and is full of giggles and games. I think we underestimated her physical abilities; she can sit up on her own, and today stood by herself for about 15 seconds. I think she'll be walking in no time. She has also started to protest appropriately, like when I took away the watermelon that she has gnawed down to the (?unwashed) rind. And she wailed at the doctor's visit yesterday, a nice sign that she can react and express fear.

We are very fortunate (and quite unique) to have documents from Phoebe's time in foster care, with an update every month since two months old. We have measurements, developmental milestones, and eating habits. I just brought the papers down to our guide for translation of the "comments" section and learned all sorts of things, including the key information that "When you put her down to sleep, she will cry, so you have to hold her until she falls asleep." Great! Now we know.

She weighs 11 kg! That puts her at the >97th% by the Chinese growth chart, with height and head circumference around the 75th%. We have a very big girl, with chunky thighs and big cheeks. She eats everything we give her.

We had a surprise Skype date with my parents this morning, our first without Miranda there. Phoebe did a wonderful job of entertaining her grandparents, bending backwards for kisses from daddy, peering at the screen, and turning the pages of her book. Really, I can't believe how lucky we are. I was so prepared for attachment issues, medical problems, crying, the infant grieving process. Phoebe does call out for her "big sister" whenever she gets sad, but those moments are short-lived. She is just a joy, and we are so, so happy.