She's a Thumb-sucker!!!

What a day!

It's a little before 10 PM here. My sister is sound asleep. Libby Doodle Doo is sleeping in her crib sucking her thumb. I'm exhilarated and dumbfounded and amazed at the monumental events of the last 18 hours.

Here's a recap.

We left Hong Kong at 11:15 this morning. Several of us almost missed our plane because Ben our guide kept us at the hotel until after 10AM giving us helpful hints and -- by the time we hit check in, passport control and security -- the lines were wicked long.

My sister and I were hoofing it for the last 10 minutes and got at the gate as FINAL BOARDING was flashing on the monitor. About 5 of the 15 families boarded after we did, many of them had to run through the airport to make it in time.


The flight to Nanchang was uneventful. We passed through immigration, gathered our bags and went through customs. And then we had to squeeze through a gauntlet of hundreds of screaming teenagers who were crowded at the reception area in hopes of catching sight of some famous celebrity who was arriving at the same time we were. Now I know what the REAL Angelina Jolie must feel like. Gosh it was awful, really claustrophobic.

One by one each family passed through the tunnel of teenagers and met up with our guide De. After my sister and some others went on the adventure of their lives -- using their first squat potty -- we went outside to the bus. It is COLD in Nanchang. I'm talking WISCONSIN Cold. I expected the temperature to be about 50 degrees. I swear it was below freezing. The sidewalks to the bus were wet and a little icy in places. A bone-chilling sleet/rain was misting from the sky.
And then we got on the bus for our 45 minute ride. An UNHEATED bus. I kid you not -- I could see my breath. During the ride De and his translator told us what to expect this afternoon. Check into hotels, unpack, meeting in his room at 3PM, meet the babies at 4:30 PM at the hotel reception area. So the babies were coming to us at the hotel.

We got to the Jiangxi hotel at around 2 to 2:30. Went to De's meeting, handed over our various gifts, gave our money for the orphanage donation and waited. I had to get some money changed before 4:30, so I went down to the lobby at 4:15 and as the elevator doors opened -- whoosh -- there were about a half dozen nannies carrying babies -- OUR BABIES.

I had my video camera in my hand, but didn't have it turned on. By the time I turned it on, the elevator doors had already shut. Had I just seen my Libby Doodle Doo? I didn't know, but my heart was racing (turns out I had).

I rushed back to my room after exchanging the money, gathered my stuff and headed for the 5th floor reception room -- video camera turned on and ready to go.

I entered the room to a cacophony of sounds and sights. Nannies with babies stood around. De had already matched 2 families with their babies. He called for family #3 -- they weren't there. He called for family #4 -- they weren't there. He called for family #5 -- THAT WAS ME.

I passed the video camera to my sister and dropped all the other stuff I was carrying in my hand. It wasn't the slow, formal hand off I had expected. My eyes darted around the room to see which baby was being brought to me. Then I saw this perfect angel, bundled in a blue snowsuit, coming to the front of the room toward me. Suddenly the nanny plopped the baby into my arms.

And Libby Doodle Doo was mine.

She's lovely -- with a sweet angelic face, a round head (the back of Zo Peep's head was as flat as a board), sweet little Dumbo-like ears, and 2 teeth (with more ready to make an appearance). She stared at me for the first few minutes as other families were being created around us. And then she started to scream. My this child has the lungs on her. I was pulled back to my first meeting with Little Zo Peep. She screamed until her face turned purple. She never stopped screaming for days. Was I in for another crying marathon?

The short answer is NO. Libby Doodle Doo has cried off and on since that first encounter -- but not non-stop. Once all the families had received their babies and we got our instructions from De, we went back to the room.

I had my sister undress Libby Doodle Doo as I filmed. Here's what my little Pillsbury DoughGirl was wearing -- 1 pair of fleece snowpaints and a matching fleece jacket, socks and fleece lined moccasins, a white cotton sweater with matching pants, a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of split pants. She probably lost 5 pounds once all of those layers were off.

We then checked her over head to toe. She has really chapped cheeks, a little bit of heat rash in her armpits and the worst case of diaper rash I've ever seen. My poor baby is SOOO Red and has some very scary looking lesions. I cleaned her up and put on some Flanders Buttocks Cream -- a brand I discovered with Zo Peep that worked wonders with her. I hope I have equal success with Libby.

After we put some pajamas on her, we tried our first bottle. She seemed so excited -- until it went in her mouth. She clearly was not impressed with what we presented her and started crying. We then offered her applesauce and Cheerios -- she accepted both with enthusiasm.

Libby Doodle Doo was Very hungry. She wolfed down both in no time flat. Then I made some rice cereal while my sister went to the store with other parents for food and bottled water. When my sister returned she told me that the other parents were not having trouble with bottles. She rejiggered the ratios we were using and we tried again. Again she rejected it. Finally, we cut an "X" in the nipple to increase the flow. Eureka! She took the bottle.

Once Libby Doodle Doo was satiated, the 3 of us joined a few other families in the downstairs restaurant. I didn't have much of an appetite -- but Miss Libby Doodle Doo decided she wanted to eat some congee.

After dinner, we came back, changed her diaper and put her to bed (30 minutes later than her usual sleep time). She fussed off and on for about an hour. After a while my sister turned off all the lights and eventually my little one fell asleep.

I promise to post more pictures tomorrow. Blogger is giving me some problems (as I suspected) here in China.