Waiting for Molly: PROUDLY INTRODUCING OUR DAUGHTER

As of yesterday, Molly has been with us for one month.  Here is an overview of the past 2 weeks, since we returned from China.

 

Molly had a rough first week in Arizona.  She saw her pediatrician, Dr. Chiles, on Monday, 6/16, for her first general checkup, and although it was a relatively benign office visit, she was frightened and cried and cried.  Then on Tuesday, we took her to our dentist because of her extremely loose top front teeth and her unwillingness to even let us come near her with a toothbrush.  Dr. Pam brushed her teeth and took x-rays (another fun experience) and referred us to a pediatric orthodontist.  Thursday, we had to take her in for a chest x-ray and lab draws for necessary tests that Dr. Chiles had ordered, which were both very upsetting experiences for her as well.  Then on Monday, 6/23, we met with the orthodontist who did another set of xrays of her mouth, and determined it was necessary to extract her two top front teeth. (Yikes!  That was rough on all 3 of us, even though the procedure was done in less than 10 minutes.)  She seems to be much happier and in less discomfort with those teeth gone, but it was not a fun week for her. 

 

We left Arizona for Montana on Thursday, 6/26, and now we are all in Montana for a week and a half vacation.  Molly has met the horses at Cris and Mike Dolon’s ranch, has experienced her first rodeo (she was stunned by bullriding, but somewhat intrigued by barrel racing), and owns her first pair of cowgirl boots.  Cris and her daughter, Casey, made her a welcoming poster with a singing balloon, and Casey gave her a bunch of toys, so it feels like home to her.  She also got to go over and meet our neighbor, Mel Mooers, and stomp around on his decks. 

 

She also got to hang out at the Hamilton airport Monday night, 6/30, while Daddy did some touch-and-goes around the pattern.  It was really interesting watching her getting the concepts of airplane on the ground, airplane in the air, and Daddy in airplane waving to her as he taxied out, watching him take off and fly away and land and take off again. She would call out “Da’Dee” each time he went by, and get really excited when she spied the airplane coming into sight again.  Upon his final landing, however, she screamed in terror as we started out walking toward the flying machine.  No way she was going to get in that thing! 

 

She seems to see Montana as her second home, and, in time, we hope she will grow to love coming back here.  Today, 7/1, we are awaiting the arrival of Uncle Jim and Katrina and Inge from Bozeman.  We went down this morning and tromped around in the pastures, and Molly decided she liked hanging out in the truck better than being up to her armpits in scratchy weeds.  It’s amazing!  This little girl who was in China a month ago, was climbing in and out of the bed of a pickup this morning, calling to her border collie. 

 

When Molly is swinging in the swing on the front porch here at the cabin (one of her happiest times), she sings a little song in Chinese that includes "Pian Pian" (her best friend at Yangjiang SWI), other names, “Mama,” and goes on for several verses.  It's a beautiful little song that goes on and on for an hour – or for as long as we will swing her.  Last night we bought a recorder so we can record the song.  We really want to know what she is saying.  Once we get her singing recorded, I'll try to download it onto the blog. 

 

 

 

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We arrived home Friday evening, and are still tired after nearly 28 hours on airplanes or in airports.  Despite occasional meltdowns (by all), it was still a fairly easy return trip.  And things are going extremely well here at home.  I still can't sleep as nighttime at home is daytime in China, so instead I stayed up all night Saturday night and  downloaded the first batch of pictures in the photo album.  More to come. 

We have Molly -- and she is truly ours, complete with tantrums, silly games, giggles, and protests at naptime!

 

We met her on Monday around 2:30 p.m. at the Central Adoption Bureau, here in Guangzhou.  When we walked in, the room was empty, except for one little girl peeking around a pillar.  Our CHI guide, Simon, said "That little girl almost looks like her -- but she's too young.  I guess she just looks like her."  We all agreed that tiny little girl could not be our Molly because the updated pictures from just a few weeks ago showed a seemingly much older girl.  Well, as you may have guessed, she has recently had her hair cut again, and she looks like the August 2007 pictures and nothing like the May 2008 pictures.  She is a very small little girl. 

 

The nannies had prepared her well for our arrival.  She came to us with shy smiles, but readily accepted our taking her into our arms.  Mrs. Tan and Mrs. Wong from the orphanage had driven 3.5 hours to bring her, and they were very willing to remain with us while we all got acquainted.  She was smiling and snuggling up against us while we all sat and visited for about a half hour and, when it came time for Mrs. Tan and Mrs. Wong to leave, she readily waved goodbye to them.  By contrast, as we were leaving the CAB, another couple were meeting their daughter, who was screaming in terror, and kicking her new parents, and threw a toy into her mother's face.  We felt extremely fortunate that our experience was so positive. 

 

That night, in the hotel room here at the White Swan, she went through about 30 minutes of heart-rending sobbing & crying, calling "Ayi, Ayi" for the nannies.  And we just sat with her and let her grieve without attempting to distract her.  She slept through the night, but we didn't, because we kept wanting to make sure she was doing ok.  (Also, we're still on Western time and the middle of the night here is the middle of the day at home, so we tend to wake up at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., anyway.) 

 

By Tuesday, she was happier, but would have periodic bouts of quiet withdrawal.  Simon took us for necessary appointments for the adoption, so i