Gotcha Day!

Today was the day we have been waiting for.  It was a very emotional and truly amazing day.  We arrived at the registration office about 9:30 and the first few children were already there.  I had no idea how choked up I would feel just watching the other families receive their babies.  For one of the first couples it was their first child and they have been waiting a very long time and watching the joy on their faces was so touching.  (Their little boy was one of the ones who really kicked up a fuss with his caretaker also in tears.)  We have 13 families getting 14 babies in our group (one family adopted two children).   We knew Leah would be one of the last ones to arrive because of the distance to travel to her orphanage.  Pretty soon lots of kids had arrived, and it was a scene of total chaos.  We kept watching and waiting and taking pictures for everyone else.  By 11:00 every family had their baby, and we were still waiting!  Jer was pacing by the door, a guy in our group Paul was acting as lookout with our camera, and then she finally arrived!  At that point I couldn't hold back the tears...hence the ugly cry face in every picture!

Leah is beautiful.  We are so blessed to have her.  She is every bit as cute and sweet as she looked in her pictures and then some.  She arrived bundled to the hilt as usual.  She had on a huge snowsuit which turned out to be layered over a boys' blanket sleeper and a huge princess undershirt.  All morning at the registration office I kept pulling her jacket down to see her mouth and check out her cute little face.  Leah was very calm and didn't cry at all.  She just looked around with big eyes at everyone.  She let both Jer and I hold her with no fussing.  The orphanage workers who brought Leah were not the girls I've seen in pictures, and I don't think they ever really directly cared for her or dealt with her but I was still a little disappointed.  They basically gave her to us and were ready to leave.  After kind of answering a few questions through our guide they were ready to go.  The one lady did snap a picture of us with Leah right as she handed her over.  We had to ask them for a picture as they were walking out the door and then they left and never looked back.  The one lady in particular seemed 100% detached from Leah and didn't say goodbye or look back once.  I guess I just expected them to seem like they cared like some of the caregivers we saw that morning.  

After signing a few documents it was time to go.  We did get back a few toys we sent Leah, the photo album of us we sent (which looks well used!), a few random hats, some of her local formula and a few diapers, and the disposable cameras I sent in her care packages.  One of the cameras had only a few pictures taken, but the other had them all so I'm excited to get them developed when we get back and get a little glimpse into her life before we came.  One the bus on the way home Leah sat on my lap facing us and stared directly into our eyes the entire trip.  She is so cute!  She started to get really sweaty, so I stripped the big parka off of her.  Once we got back to the room we made her a bottle and changed her into a new diaper and onesie.  After that she really started to open up to us.  She smiled a lot and was very playful!  Her overall condition seems pretty good--no diaper rash or problems like that.  She wasn't very clean and didn't smell good but nothing major.  She does have a really snotty nose and sounds cruddy, but it doesn't seem too serious.  We skyped my parents for the first time since we've been here, and she was darling playing with the computer and hamming it up the entire call.  They are so excited.  I can't wait to skype with Jer's family and the boys in the morning--they are going to be so excited!  We gave her a bath which made her cry a little, but she seemed to really enjoy being toweled off and dressed.  Leah's arm looks about like we thought it would.  She has an elbow joint and about 30% of her arm below that and uses it a lot.  That is really a non issue for us.  Her development in general is also about what we thought.  Her size and development are both significantly delayed, but we have no reason to believe that she won't start to thrive now she's with us.  For her size she actually has a little chub on her.  The 9-12 month clothes I brought fit pretty well.  If you were to just see her you would think she's a healthy baby maybe only 9 months old or so.  She is sitting, and she can stand with support.  It's obvious she's never spent much time on her tummy which probably explains why she can't crawl yet.  We've also realized that she doesn't really know how to feed herself.  I don't think she's really been given that opportunity.  She had fun today at dinner playing with and attempting to eat little cereal treats at dinner--obviously something you'd expect from a much younger baby.  She has started making lots of noises and babbles mama--even the way she sounds when talking or crying sound like a younger baby.  Jer and I have both been so happy with how well Leah has responded to us--she loves Jer and seems to think he is so funny!  She has cuddled into us and accepted our kisses, but it doesn't really seem like she is used to that yet--it's more like she's laying against you because you're there.  We are going to work to build her trust and help her feel safe and loved.  Today truly was one of the most amazing days ever.  As we cared for her and walked around the rest of the day I would catch a glimpse of myself carrying this tiny, beautiful dark-haired baby, and it almost seemed unreal.  It could not have gone more smoothly and as I speak Leah is sleeping peacefully in her crib.  She looks like a little angel.  We are so grateful for the gift of this beautiful daughter!