A Gift to Us (May 9 & 10)

Before we received Bronwyn, I was quite eager to visit the SWI she had been in for care.  Now, we were given permission, but we decided against going to the orphanage. Our guide is managing 15 families here (not just FOI) and so she is very busy. She couldn't come with us, it would be over 6 hours of driving in one day and no one would meet us in Baoji.   The orphanage director gave me photos of B in care, with the other babies, in front of the orphanage sign and with the caregivers.  We were given 2 opportunities to ask questions of the caregivers and director, as well as several items from her year in care.  The director also gave us his email address so that if we have any questions later on, we can still ask and he will answer.  He was such a kind and friendly man.  He seemed to really love little Bronwyn, and spoke to her gently several times. I have chosen to be content with that.

The last two days we did quite a bit of touring. 

I’m relieved to say that this crazy traffic doesn’t even faze me anymore.  Although, after several different taxi rides, Dean and I think we notice a difference between the older and younger drivers.  The older guys are not as aggressive – the ride is smoother.  They still zip between pedestrians and slip in and out of traffic, but the picking up speed and slamming on of brakes isn’t so strong.  We have experienced that the younger taxi drivers drive like they are trying to win some sort of race.  To one driver we kept saying loudly in English (because he would understand us better if we were louder???) “We are not in a hurry.  Slow down a bit.” 

The drivers also talk on their cell phones a lot.  I’m not sure who they need to chat with so often, b/c if their wife or kids know they are at work – who keeps calling them?  The taxies have been stick shift, so the driver holds his phone with one hand and shifts and steers with the other as we zoom along.  They are extremely capable drivers, because we have all said we could never drive out here.

There are no seatbelt laws (or even seatbelts for that matter) for backseat passengers.  Neither are there any car seats.  So little B is loving sitting on my lap, watching all the busy-ness out the window as we drive.

In the last couple of days we have visited the City Wall (way more interesting than it sounds!) and the Wild Goose Pagoda (way less interesting than it sounds!).    We also spent a few hours at the Terracotta Warriors museum – which was really awesome.

Bronwyn is so good – she hangs out in the carrier.  She wants to always face in to me, though, so getting a good picture while I’m holding her is a little tough.  She has become a little eating machine, and I feel like I am feeding her snacks all day long.  We are running out of stuff that I brought to Xi’an, so it’s a good thing we are headed back to Beijing tomorrow.

She has allowed Dean to hold her as she fell asleep once, and a couple of times, if he’s feeding her something, she has sat on his lap.  Other than that, unless she has been asleep at night, I have been holding her.   Her breathing starts to speed up, and her little brow wrinkles if I start to set her down.  Tiny fingers grab for my shirt or skin and immediately she lays her head down on my shoulder.   So long as I am holding her, she is becoming braver and more outgoing.  She is starting to enjoy the attention from strangers – even waving at them and grinning (all while the arm around my neck is squeezing her body close to mine).

Bronwyn’s third night with us was really hard here. We went to a Chinese opera house to have a special dinner and musical show.  We got back to the hotel at 9:45 in the evening. She fussed and whimpered. She hadn't napped much b/c we'd been touring.
On and off from 10 till 1am she began to wail. Her cry is so soft and sad even when she just doesn't want me to put her down. But this was something else. I couldn't help but cry quietly along. She just was so incredibly sad. If I laid her down it escalated, so we rocked and walked and hummed till she finally fell asleep around 1 in the morning.
I don't really know this little baby yet, but if one of my others had been torn from everything familiar and was crying like that... I could just imagine what she was feeling.

She woke up a very happy baby, and is full of smiles. 
She just LOVES to eat, but her little body is having a hard time adjusting to new food and plenty of it.  After a bottle of prune juice and a full diaper, she is so relaxed and back to humming as she plays with her toys on the bed. 

We get stopped many times by curious people.  When they read our “adopted daughter” sign they are always so happy and give us the thumbs up.  Today several people stopped us and asked to have their picture taken with us and our baby.  They played with her cheeks and Dean gave them Canada pins.  They seemed to love it. 
Local people in the markets and on the street are quite bold to stare, smile and chat about us.  They are also very calm about walking up and taking B’s little hands or stroking her cheek. 
“What country?”  they point at us and ask. 
“Canada!” we proudly answer.
“You a good person!”  a few people have said. 
“Good luck to you forever!” another lady shouted.
“Lucky baby.  She a very lucky baby.”
I guess if they don’t have families to adopt the children from their SWI’s they see us as doing something wonderful.
I usually kiss B’s little head, hold her close and say, “We love her!”  I wish the language barrier didn’t make it difficult to explain.  I would like to explain that we are the blessed ones.  We are the “lucky” ones, as they put it.  And Bronwyn is a gift to us.