Day 3

 

Dear Cora,
You have such a great personality, are so strong, and so full of life. I am starting to see the little girl that you are going to be. I love your spark and energy. You cannot sit still; always trying to figure out what is going on and taking control. You are so smart; learning English after only a few days. You are a perfect fit for our family and I am starting to see that you may soon be happy with us.

We got up early today so we had plenty of time to make it to our Civil Affairs appointment to finalize our adoption of Cora. It was very hard to wake Cora because she had such a bad nights sleep. I was very surprised when she woke up and decided that I was her mommy and Auntie Cheryl should not touch her anymore. It was great that Cheryl was able to comfort Cora, but I am so happy to be able to hold her.

It has been a long time since I have carried a child and tried to make a plate while keeping her hands out of everything. I feel like I have never done this before. I am so out of shape! Thank goodness for Auntie Cheryl. She helped make all of our plates, ran for new things for Cora to try, and still found the time to eat her breakfast. One thing that I can say is that with all that Cora has been through she really loves to eat.

Returning to the Civil Affairs office was a huge worry for me. I can tell that Cora is tolerating me because she knows she has no other choice. She watches everyone and every now and then she leans as if she hopes they will take her. She wants to be held but she wants to sit by herself. It breaks my heart to see her this way. I worry that as soon as we walk in the building that she is going to break down again. Amazingly she was very quiet but she does OK. I sign some more papers, take a pledge to care for her as if she was my own and give her all the rights of a child that was born to me, and take some pictures. Now it is official, Cora ShuYan is legally our daughter.

We already had our bags in the taxi so we could leave the Civil Affairs Office and go straight to the train station … we were on our way to Ningbo. My goodness, how I dislike train stations. I have never traveled by train in the US so I have nothing to compare them to. Going down steps with two suitcases and carrying a child to have to go up again just does not make since to me. Poor Cheryl, trying to take some of my luggage to help me and me having a hard time carrying a child and pulling my suitcases. Thank God that a young man took pity on us and helped with our bags. I am not sure if we would have ever made the train.

On the train to Ningbo we finally got to see some of the real Cora come through. She is almost always distracted by food. She seemed fairly content looking around and picking at the snacks we brought with us. She wants to eat trail mix, well at least the M&M’s out of them. She wants one after another and must do it by herself like a big girl. She ends up with most of it on the floor, her lap, and all over her seat. Many people are not real happy seeing this. There is an elderly man sitting behind us. He keeps playing with her. He speaks a little English and asks about Cora. He is the first Chinese person that tells us they are happy that we are adopting a Chinese child. He is very grateful that we are loving and caring for her. This child never stops moving and is getting hard to keep happy so I start picking her up over my head and dropping her towards my face. She starts laughing like crazy. This is the first time we have seen her smile much less laugh. I cannot get enough. We are now totally the center of attention but for the first time I do not care. This is the child the ayis at the orphanage described to us.

We are excited to finally be in the city that my daughter has spent her whole life. We are hoping to see her orphanage but we are starting the think it is a bad idea. Cora is having such a hard time adjusting to us. We will make that decision when we know if Enmei will even allow us to visit. We are very happy to finally be at The Crown Plaza City Center Ningbo Hotel; our home for the next few days.