Tuesday, November 24 by Joy

We have had quite a change in the last 32 hours. When we got to the Civil Affairs office yesterday at around 10:00. Taylor was waiting for us with her nanny. She was walking around and I bent down to talk to her. Her nanny let her know that I was her Mama. She let me pick her up without crying. Our guide had to do some paperwork so we sat on a couch and just held her. We had brought some lollipops so we gave one to her. We also fed her goldfish crackers, teddy grahams, and Cheerios. Her nanny said that she had gotten carsick on the two hour drive there, but I think it was because they had a winter coat, sweater, and pajamas on her and she got overheated. In China they think that young children need to wear tons of clothes to stay warm. The baby car seats are flat because they probably couldn't even bend the babies to stick them in a sitting position in a car seat due to the fact that they look like the Stay Puff marshmallow man. We only had one little time of crying due to the fact that they made us take the lollipop out of her mouth to get a family picture for the paperwork. The four children who were in our meeting room did not really cry at all. I have seen many blogs where all the children were really crying, but I think my mother's prayers were answered. She said that she didn't know if she would be able to handle being in the room with babies that were crying. We gave the orphanage director and the nanny some presents and then they left. Taylor looked for them after they left and tried to walk to the door. She really didn't react today when she saw the orphanage director. We discovered when we got back to the room that she hates to be undressed or to get her diaper changed. That is the only time she cries and it is more like a whimper. We did notice that pretty much her whole backside is covered with Mongolian spots. This is a birthmark that Asian children get. It looks like she has bruises all over her hands, arms, back, and buttocks. They will probably fade and disappear in a few years. Taylor is a very laid back child. She likes to play. She laughed for the first time this morning. (Although her dad taught her to throw toys which made her laugh. She now thinks she can throw any toy.) She likes music and tries to sing when she is happy. She eats anything we give her and tries to use a fork and spoon. She is starting to want to snuggle with us. We haven't attempted to give her a bath yet because I don't sense that will go well since she cries with a diaper change. She will look if I call her QingQing (pronounced ChingChing). We are blessed with a wonderful daughter. Taylor went to sleep at 7:45 last night (Monday). At 4:00am Stefan was awake and it woke me up. Shortly after that Taylor woke up. She didn't seem to want to go back to sleep even in bed with us. We ended up giving her a cup of water and some cereal puffs. She didn't drink her bottle last night so I think she was hungry. I heard my mom and Jordan talking in their room. They had been awake since 4:00 am also (although they went to sleep around 7:00). I went to sleep the latest at 10:00 so I really should be the most tired. Today we had to go back to the Civil Affairs office to finish our adoption in China's eyes. We had to have a 24 hour guardianship period to make sure that we wanted to adopt her. We had to answer questions that we were asked by the Registrar and the Notary. We had to sign paperwork and then stamp our thumbprint over our signatures. She is now officially our daughter. After we were finished there, we went to Carrefour. It is kind of like a Walmart. We bought several books for Taylor that have pictures and then Chinese and English words for the objects. We also bought some snack foods. Our most important purchase was an umbrella stroller. We think Taylor is around 24 pounds, but she is very solid. I am not used to carrying that much weight around. After Taylor took her nap today (no nap yesterday-according to the orphanage schedule she sleeps from 12:00-1:30 every day.) we went over to the mall that is diagonally across the street. It has outdoor sections and indoor sections. It is 10 stories high. Six are above ground and four are below ground. Each level is not that big. There was a cool children's store on the fourth floor that had a baby play area (you had to pay). We ended up getting Papa John's pizza for supper to take back to the room. We are corrupting our daughter. Yesterday we fed her Burger King chicken tenders and french fries, chocolate, and ice cream. Today it was pizza. She eats anything we feed her except for the chips I tried to give her today. She didn't want anything to do with those. We just got to hang out in the hallway with two other sweet girls that are being adopted. Taylor was sharing her toys with E. who is D. and C's. child (the family from our agency that we are traveling with). Tomorrow the plan is to tour the city with our guide, Nancy. I am not sure exactly what we will see.