Gotcha Day

Today was a really long, really good day.  We started out by meeting Nomes at Wee Care.  When we got there she was all dolled up with a bow in her hair waiting for her big day.  After such a sad day yesterday, she wasn’t especially thrilled to see us at first.  After a while she warmed up to Seth but it took until later in the day for her to warm up to me.

The kids were all sitting in a circle having some learning time.  When we were seated, one of the workers explained to the kids (in Cantonese) that Nomes was going to go home with her mommy and daddy.  To wish her well, the kids all sang a few of Nomes’ favorite songs.  As per her usual, she stole the show with her silliness.  After her songs, the worker said a prayer and by this time the worker was having a difficult time since she was very emotional.

After the prayer, they gave Nomes a battery powered candle that Seth helped her take around to each child in the room and wave goodbye to each one as the group sang the “Barney” (I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family…) song.  Then she did the same with the workers.  It was so emotional.  When she was through waving goodbye to everyone she was taken to each room of the child care home.  She said goodbye to her bed, goodbye to the kitchen, goodbye to the potty, etc.  And then we left Wee Care for her last time.

We took her things (a suitcase bigger than our largest bag) back to the hotel and played for a little while.  Then we went for a dim sum lunch.  If I’m being honest, it wasn’t our favorite food but I didn’t think it was bad.  I liked the char sui bao and sponge cake.  And there was another dish that I can’t identify that was pretty good also.  When we got there Nomes was cranky and crying a lot.  I paced with her and sang songs until she fell asleep.  After we ate, we took her up to our room.  We were supposed to meet our social worker after an hour and a half to take Nomes to the park.  When that time came, she was still sleeping.  Seth called and asked her to come a little bit later.  We still had to wake Nomes up to meet our worker.  She woke up sad, but calmed very quickly.  This week has obviously been hard on her.

The weather was perfect and sunny, and Nomes loved the park.  Our worker decided that since she was doing so well, she’d leave us for the day.  We got Nomes something to eat and then we played for a while and gave her a bath.  She loved the bath!  She really enjoys washing things.  If you give her a washcloth or wet wipe she will clean everything in sight.  So it wasn’t surprising when she scrubbed and scrubbed at her arms and legs and toes (she’s very thorough).

We went back out for a walk at the park after we got her in her pajamas.  She loved being outside.

We looked at the flamingos:

Watched the men play what appeared to be checkers

Looked at some turtles

And then we headed out onto the streets to find some dinner.  We didn’t find it here! We found a bakery and picked up buns and cake and Seth got the noodles he’s been living on from 7-11.  Nomes ate very well for us.  She even tried drinking some milk and juice.  Then she played with Seth’s phone, brushed her teeth (and made us let her brush ours too), had a prayer, and went to bed.  She fussed for a minute or two about bed but then when Seth told her firmly that it was bed time (fun gow gow) she sat down and accepted it.  In a minute or so she was making silly noises and in another couple of minutes she was out.  That was way easier than we expected!

Nomes is such a funny girl and she has Seth wrapped around her finger already.  Who else could get him to sing “I’m a little teapot” in the middle of a crowded park?  No one else, that’s who.  She is very smart at communicating even though she doesn’t use any words we’ve recognized yet.  She signs “more”, “okay”, “shoes”, and “please and thank-you” (for her they are both the same sign).  She is learning to sign “mami” and “papi”, and she shows actions for whatever song she wants us to sing with her.  She tried saying “papi” and “mami” today and she can get the first part down.

She is starting to be more at ease with us.  Today she made huge strides.  She also was hitting herself less.  We think the hitting is a sign of anxiety for her.  When she spills or when she’s frustrated she does it.  She did it a lot when we first met her.  It was extremely concerning to us, she did it so much.  Now I feel confident that it’s something she can learn to change over time as she gains more security.  She is a joy, downright hilarious sometimes, and we know you all will adore her too.

More photos will be up for family and friends on the protected page.