She’s Here!

We met Cate at 9:45 this morning at the Civil Affairs office in Nanjing. We arrived, by bus, at a nondescript building, but my heart skipped a beat when I read the sign that said the building is used for international adoptions and marriages. We walked into a room. There sat the nannies, babies in their laps. Steve spotted Cate right away, dressed in layers and layers of clothes and bundled in a blue winter coat. Her nanny recognized us too and pulled out the little photo album, pointing and saying "mama" and "baba." Cate smiled when she saw the book. But she did not smile when her caregiver placed her in my arms. She cried. And cried a heartbreaking cry that was filling the room all around us as the babies were placed in the arms of their new parents. In the midst of all this, our facilitator was coming around with paperwork for us to review and sign.

We all tried to help her, but nothing worked. She kept her eye on her caregiver and finally I walked back over to her because I could not take the heart wrenching sobs and just wanted her to find a moment of comfort. The caregiver reached into her bag and handed her a bag of "hamburger chips." She rejected them, but a few moments later began to calm down and eat them slowly. There was such chaos and sadness and joy in that room.

I will write more later. I must get back to her now. She is tired and starting to look a little teary again after a day of silence and just checking us out. Needless to say, we are overjoyed that she is here with us and anxious, already to be home with friends and family and back into a routine.