A Great Day In Nanning

Last night was a good night and our girl slept all night.  We had to wake her up this morning b/c our guide was picking us up at 9 am.  When I woke her up, she cried for "mama" and it was really very sad. We managed to get her dressed and took her down for breakfast.  She really perked up at breakfast and ate a ton!  She drank milk and OJ from a cup, which we were thrilled about.  She ate tons of fruit and congee.  She grabbed a banana off the buffet and ate the whole thing and it was so cute to see the mushy banana all over her face.  All three of us thought she was pretty funny.  I held her at breakfast and Jason and Tai both fed her the congee.  Tai was thrilled to finally get to help do something.  He felt pretty special.  It was a good bonding time for all of us.   After breakfast we drove to finish all the final paperwork for the adoption and I am happy to say that is official - and she is now officially ours!!!
This morning when we woke up it was raining and we were afraid it may be bit cool.  We were worried about not having enough clothes on her (b/c we got scolded numerous times with Tai for showing too much skin) so we decided to put her in pants and a little sweater jacket and socks.  Of course by the time we ate it was no longer raining and HOT and HUMID...uggg...  when we got to the  notary office all the other families there with new babies had on adorable sun dresses.  Sheesh we felt like idiots as our baby was beading up with sweat.  I felt like a dumb mom and immediately started stripping her down.  But like Jason said, if we didn't bundle her then we would have been scolded.
After all the official stuff was done we had our guide and driver drop us off at McDonalds for lunch.  We went mostly for Tai as it was a rough and boring morning for him.  All the offices we went to were not air conditioned and it was so hot and we did a lot of sitting in hot buildings all morning.  After lunch we hopped in a cab for the hotel.  This was actually the first cab Jason and I have done in China as we were not brave enough last time.  Plus our guide Jenny last trip was with us literally all day- honestly don't think she would have let us take a cab.  Anyway, it was quite an experience to say the least.  I can not even describe the craziness of traffic in China.  Unless you  have been here before you can not imagine how scary it is.  Besides the fact that they have no car seats, they have no seatbelts. And they just drive in whatever lane they want too, regardless of who or what is there.  I told Jason I wanted to take some video but we decided it would make us sick.  We hung onto our kids for dear life and were thankful we made it back to the hotel intact!  Not sure if we will risk the cab again.  When we got back Tai immediately threw up.  Poor guy, I think the extreme heat followed by McDonalds then the crazy cab ride with no AC was just too much.  So we decided after nap it would be best to just stay at the hotel.  What a great decision that was!  Ali woke up in a great mood and we got lots of fun play time and we got lots of smiles!!!!!!   We really needed this day to just be a family and get to know each other.
We seemed to have turned a corner with our girl!!!  We even got her to take her shoes off this afternoon and that was a huge step!
She is so tiny and dainty and she is such a snuggler.  I put her in a 12 mo onsie and it is a little big.  She is a bit taller though b/c the 12-18 mo jammies are almost too short. She loves to be held and loves the Ergo!  Huge thank you to Amy for lending us that at the last minute.  It is a life saver and she loves it and so do I.  Tai never would have let me put him in something like that, so it has been fun to get some snuggle time.  When I put her in it, she starts to talk.  I have no idea what she says, but she certainly likes to tell me she is happy when I snuggle her in.  She has such a quiet little voice so I am the only one that usually hears her talk in it so that is kinda fun for me, it's like our little secret:)  She is also really warming up to Jason and they got in some good play time and bonding today.  He really loves his little girl and it is so sweet to see them together.  Jason has kinda been OK taking a step back and letting her bond with me.  It has worked out great b/c Tai really needed some TLC too - so we have had a man on man coverage over here.  But this afternoon, she really started playing with him and it was fun to watch.  They were playing with Tai's airplanes and flying them all over the hotel room.  Tai and I had some play time, which he really needed.
The other fun thing that happened today was our visit from the Grace and Hope social worker Paul.  Alice was in foster care and sponsored by Grace and Hope and so he stopped by to bring us a CD of her pictures and her reports.  He would go visit her every 3 months at her home and then do a write up.  We haven't looked at the pictures and reports yet, but we are thrilled to have them.  Paul was such a neat man and we are so blessed that we were able to meet him.  We will forever be grateful to not only Half The Sky but also Grace and Hope. Both of those organizations really played such a huge role in both our chidren's early years.
We have been calling her Shufeng (prounounced Shoe Fong) until this afternoon.  We have started calling her Ali.  She doesn't really respond yet, but Tai is so happy to finally call her that.  He has been so confused with the entire name thing.
Both the kids were sound asleep tonight at 8 pm which was so nice.  I need to post some pics for ya'll so you can see how precious she is!  Tommorrow is a shopping day! Yippee!!!!!