It's Official

Well, we've been parents now for 30 hours and so far everyone has survived. Of course, Hannah already has us wrapped around her little finger. We just can't get enough of her!

This morning, we went back to the adoption center to do the paperwork to make the act official. We pick up her passport on Monday. We both had to place our thumbprints on the official document. Hannah's right footprint is on the document as well (see picture). We have also include a snap shot they gave us of the location where she was found. We didn't expect to get this at all. We had an official family photo taken and then had everything notarized. One of the notary's official questions was "do we want to give her back?". I told him that Andrew won't even put her down so there is no chance of us giving her up!

We have discovered that the only time she cries is when she is hungry. She has taken 4 bottles today and ate more solid foods than I did. We are still trying to get the hang of all getting to eat together (or finding time to eat at all for that matter). We actually did make it to dinner tonight as a family- a big step for new parents- and she had pumpkin, tofu, rice congee, and watermelon. She likes to get fed from chopsticks instead of us putting things in her mouth with our fingers. She is not yet picking things up and feeding herself. Eating definitely is not an issue- she must be our child!

We did have one concern about her... she did not have a wet diaper for 16 hours. The doctor in me was getting a little nervous because she even went through the night without urinating. Children here wear split pants and are taught to pee on command. Good thing we found out from the orphanage nanny that her signal is a whistle. When Andrew realized how worried I was, he suggested we put her over the toilet to see if she would pee on command. After whistling and tickling her tushie, she went in the toilet! We could not believe it. She has since started going in her diaper though, which is a HUGE relief to me because I can't whistle!

We made it through her first bath tonight. She didn't love getting her hair washed, but tolerated the rest of the bath quite well. You could even say she enjoyed it. Of course, we have a million pictures of her in the tub. Andrew is either holding her or the camera at all times.

She has been sleeping well today. She took 2 naps, each for 2.5 hours and she is now asleep (hopefully for the night). She has a cold so she was up coughing a few times during the night last night. She is so darn cute though that didn't mind waking up with her despite our exhaustion. Neither of us has slept well on this trip- the jet lag, my being sick with a cough, the anxiety has made for not much sleep. I guess it was good practice.

Tomorrow is a free day. No appointments or official business. We're looking forward to spending the day playing with Hannah without interruption. Like I said, we just can't get enough of her!

Michelle