Day Two With Iris

Day two started very early for mom and dad.  We both fell asleep with Iris last night about 8:00.  We both woke up about 2:00am wide awake so we just watched her sleep,  She is a very good sleeper and did not wake up until 7:30am.  When we put her to bed she cried very hard for about 30 minutes and finally she gave in and went to sleep.  It was a very long and uncertain day for her.  She did great. Once awake we went to eat breakfast and she is also a very good eater.  Many of the foods she had were new to her and she loved it. At 9:20am our guide, Jane, picked us up and we headed for the adoption office.  There we signed some papers, had a short interview, and was asked if we still wanted her?  I can not imagine why they would ask this question but sadly to say our guide told us later there have been people who decided against adopting a child after spending 24 hours with them. In the office we met the Pierce family from Texas.  They adopted a two year old boy, Ben, and they had their meeting at the same time as us.  We had been communicating with them on skype and email but had not met them.  This is their second child from China.  Tomorrow were are going to the park with them so the kids can play.  We also met a family in the office who have adopted several children and moved to Wuhan to teach school.  They are preparing to start a "home" for older orphans who need families.  I wish we would have had more time to visit with them. Now to the tough part.  At the meeting was Mr. Yang and Mr. Ma from Iris's orphanage were there again.  This would be the final time they see Iris before they go back to Jingmen City.  We asked many questions and Mr. Yang tried to tell us everything he could about Jin Yi.  It soon became obvious that Mr. Yang was very attached to her.  He told us she has been the "leader" of the orphanage and everyone knows who Jin Yi is.  As the time drew closer to ending the meeting he started to cry and so did we.  I asked him if we could come to the orphanage someday and he welcomed the thought. We all walked together to the parking lot and Mr. Yang asked us to hold up while he retrieved a treat for Jin Yi.  He brought out a bag of treats and he handed her one, she took it and began to whimper for another.  Immediately he gave her the entire bag. We next headed to WalMart to get a bottle and snacks for Iris.  This was a adventure as Iris was getting hungry and tired.  Melissa was also not feeling well - motion sickness from the hot,bumpy, stop-and-go driving.  The bottle for Iris was a huge hurdle for us as she can not drink from a straw or cup, so we thought.  We also bought liquid yogurt and she sucked it down for an afternoon snack. We spent most of the afternoon in the room playing with toys we purchased at WalMart.  Everyone was very tired and we did not feel like venturing out.  We discovered one of the restaurants in the hotel serves a hamburger and fries so that was an easy decision. It is now 7:30pm and Iris and Melissa are sound asleep.  Enjoy the pictures. FYI - Iris is definately a daddy's girl.