The Transformation

What an incredible two days. To see the transformation of Huai Qing Luang to little AiLi is just amazing. Two days ago she left the orphanage for the first time in 19 months. They dressed her (and the other four little girls from the same orphanage) in matching red outfits for the two hour bus drive to Hefei. It was her first car or bus ride. Her nanny brings her into a room filled with people who don’t look like her, talking in languages she’s never heard and while whispering soothingly into her ear, hands her to me. Understandedly she is afraid and cries and tries desperately to keep her nanny in sight. She really cries when the nanny slips away and won’t make eye contact with either of us. She cried herself to sleep in Daddy’s arms on the way back to the hotel. It was there that the transformation began. She was comfortable right away with Ira.. It took a little longer with me, then Susan was allowed into her circle and finally Marilyn. It is very obvious that she has spent most of her time in her crib as she is transfixed by her hands and has a sad, low monotonous kind of moaning cry that breaks your heart. She has little interest in the toys we brought so although the orphanage information indicated she liked to play with dolls and toys, it’s clear this was not the case. She doesn’t know how to play yet. I gave her two of the little demitasse coffee spoons that were in the room and she hasn’t let go of them since. She even sleeps with them! She’s trying to clang them together like Daddy does but can’t quite get that together yet. She is super alert and takes in everything with her eyes. She’ll try anything once. Even a goldfish that she almost choked on because mommy didn’t know she hadn’t yet learned to chew. Another first was being spoon fed. 19 months old and everything she ate was still coming through bottles. We started with rice cereal which of course she is familiar with and then introduced prunes and bananas. She eats really well and God forbid you take it away before it’s all gone. She loves her tub as you could tell from the pictures and pretty much loves any physical contact including getting dressed and diaper changes. Developmentally she is all over the map. Motor skills wise she’s probably only at 7 months or so but yet she is almost walking, in fact walking with us holding her fingers is her favorite physical activity. She also enjoys taking walks in her stroller. Everything she sees is new to her and she quietly takes it all in. She pays attention to the Baby Einstein videos and is starting to focus a little on the pictures in the books when I read to her. She laughed out loud today and it was the greatest sound in the world. All in all she’s quickly coming into her own and has come so far in just two days. Needless to say we are thrilled beyond belief and we never imagined the joy we would feel from our parenting experiences.

Karen, the new nanny (just joking)