Our traveling day yesterday proved to be challenging and exhausting. Rachel started the day still feeling a bit sick. The rest of us were feeling pretty well recovered. Our flight was five hours. Anna promptly fell asleep as we taxied out. I thought she would take a nice long nap since she hadn’t had a nap all day. Something woke her up a half hour later and the next four and half hours were difficult. She was busy, excitable, agitated, exhausted and grumpy. She wanted to be held and carried, which was difficult to accommodate. When she didn’t get what she wanted, she started crying “I want Mama” in Chinese. We had a flight attendant who was quite concerned about her and how she would adjust to an American lifestyle. Of course, I couldn’t explain to the plane full of people that she was crying because I told her she couldn’t keep kicking the seat in front of us, which she thought was very funny. Despite being very tired, I still felt peace and calm knowing that I knew she was alright even if other people didn’t. When I was walking her on the aisle, I met a wonderful Chinese woman who had lived in the States for a year. She was really like an angel for me. She told me she was a Christian and about why she thought God had called her back to China. Her smiling face was like a light to me when we landed and everyone else was looking to see whose child had screamed during landing (her ears bothered her too). Three Arab looking men in long white clothes and long beards walked passed and said something to me that I couldn’t understand.
We were so tired when we got to the airport. I think we were all wishing we had landed in Portland. But then, like a breath of fresh air, we arrived at the White Swan. It felt like we’d arrived at a Disney Resort. The area is such a contrast to where we had come from. I wouldn’t trade our week in Xinjiang for anything, but I realized how stressful it had been when we were all so giddy for our first taste of Western food. I’ve heard many parents talk about how children coming from the orphanage will often gorge themselves on everything in sight. I’m sure my family rivaled them all as we devoured Lucy’s takeout last night! There was great excitement to walk into the bathroom and find two full rolls of toilet paper. At night, it is quite beautiful on the water outside the hotel. I’ll try to get some pictures tonight.
We met back up with Sarah Tucker and her son Jarren. He is so handsome. Anna seemed quite interested in him, but was very unhappy when Rachel had him in her lap. She took a swing at him. We’re glad her aim isn’t very good and she got Rachel’s arm instead. Both children had their medical exams today. I had heard the exams were quick and easy, but Anna’s was a bit more involved than we anticipated. It seemed they weren’t too familiar with arthrogryposis. We had five doctors examining her, talking too each other, asking her to do things and moving her arms and fingers. She was pretty upset about it. I’m sure she understood some of what they were saying about her. At one point, she seemed to be trying to show them her hands and tell them they were fine. We told her we thought her hands were beautiful. She was very happy when she could finally say good bye to them. A helpful hint for anyone adopting a special needs child with anything uncommon – bring any medical documentation you have. I think we could have saved some time if we had brought her x-rays.
Anna is having a nice nap now. We hope to take her to the pool later. Thank you for all of the encouraging email notes. We love to read them. Much love, The Aldrich Family.
