Saturday, December 1, 2007

Meeting Harry's Mei-Mei

We are now parents for the second time. We went to our agency's foster care center this morning and met Xiao-Ling, our daughter. She is with us now, looking at the photos on our camera and playing with her mom as I type this.

We took a van from our hotel to the center after breakfast. When we got there, we looked at the kids coming out to greet us - and then our daughter saw us from the doorway. Her eyes lit up, she ran over to us with a big grin and practically jumped into my arms as we fell to our knees. After she gave me a big hug, she turned to Jacquie and did the same, all the while jabbering in Chinese that her "mama" and "baba" were finally here. Like her mom and dad, she has been waiting for this day for a very long time.

We called Harry at his aunt and uncle's house and he delightedly exclaimed, "I can't believe you got my baby sister!" She said into the phone, "wo eye ni, guh-guh" ("I love you, big brother") and we could hear him melt halfway around the world. He can't wait for us to come home.

The center staff threw a party for the kids, all nine of them. By the time it was over, the kids were all smeared with cake and the room was gloriously messy. A good time was had by all. She led us upstairs to the room she shared with several other kids, although she refused to admit that her crib-like bed was hers.

It was, however, somewhat bittersweet - our hearts went out to all the kids there and we wanted to bring them all home. When we left after about three hours, Xiao-Ling was literally telling us to hurry up, she wanted to go with us right now. As I put our bags back together, adding in some photos and a kids' backpack given to her by the staff, one boy pointed at me and said "baba." He wanted to know why Xiao-Ling was able to get parents this day and he could not; my heart almost broke.

But now we are back in our hotel room. She was not pleased to see the roll away bed - like her brother, she would rather sleep in our bed than her own. We are talking with her and learning all about each other. We already know she's a neat freak, cleaning her face and tidying up at every opportunity. She's even done a pretty darn good job at brushing her teeth. (Are you reading this, Harry?)

We also know a few very important Chinese phrases, such as "wo ei leh" ("I'm hungry"), "wo kun le" ("I'm sleepy"), "wo yao niao-niao" ("I need to go to the bathroom") and "wo d'ye-d'ye" ("I can do it"). We're connecting almost moment by moment, but now it's time for a nap. More, including photos, to come.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Well......I am sitting here with tears in my eyes looking at the picture of your beautiful daughter. I wish you could bring me home a child with you....but since you can't.....can you get me a Starbucks mug from there ( I collect them). Please tell Mei-mei that her Aunt Karen is looking forward to seeing her again. I love you all!!!