Today was a LONG day. We had to stay in our hotel room this morning to wait while my coordinator (David) took all of my important paperwork to the American Consulate.....if there was a problem, I would receive a phone call. When the phone rang my heart jumped out of my body....but, it was just David telling me that all of my paperwork was fine.
We had our group picture at noon.....Caroline doesn't pose well with big groups...but we made it. Then, at 3:00 we traveled to the American Consulate to take the oath. This was the culmination of such a long process and it was very emotional. I doubt that I will be able to talk about it without tearing up. Adoptive families stood, raised our right hand (most of us were holding our children) and repeated the oath. At the end I cried like a baby because Caroline is now truly mine. She is absolutely my daughter. *tears in eyes right now*
At 5:30 we went on a River Boat Cruise on the Pearl River in Guangzhou. We didn't really enjoy the food, but the cultural experience was fun The big story here was when the food came. Caroline was sitting on my lap because there were no 'baby' chairs. They brought a traditional Chinese bowl and spoon with noodles and rice. I started to feed Caroline but she took this spoon and started to feed herself.....she then took the bowl off of the table. I tried to put the bowl back on the table but Caroline became hysterical. She evidently thought I was taking the food away from her. We ended up putting the bowl in her lap. She then ate from that bowl for the rest of the evening, barely getting any rice or noodles on that spoon. I tried to help scoop rice on her spoon. We all realized that this is how she was used to eating.....probably given a bowl of noodles or rice and told to feed herself. Then, they probably took the bowl away from her when she was still hungry because she wasn't able to get much food on that spoon. I think that this particular type of bowl and spoon reminded her of her life before adoption. Learning more every day about this precious girl. I love her so much.
2 comments:
Taking the oath at the Consulate is very emotional indeed. I think you are right…it is a release of all your emotions at a major milestone in your journey. Congratulations!!
I dare say Malia has that same turquoise dress.
The story about the food makes me want to cry! What a beautiful Mommy she has that will allow her to take her time with things and will cheer her on every step of the way. I agree about the rest of the food, though. Seeing actual poultry and fish heads on the buffet was not in the least bit appetizing.
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