Day 7

Ok, I spoke too soon about the well slept nights. Aili had a rough night last night. At about midnight she started whimpering. I didn’t know if she had a bellyache or what was wrong. I touched her face and her hair. It was all wet. She was crying. I’ve read about this many times.

Adopted children will grieve for the life they’re leaving behind. She’s been so stimulated for the last six days she hasn’t had time to think about it. But in the still, quiet night it all came out. She whimpered, crying softly for hours. She is not used to being consoled. She is not comfortable (yet) with having her hair, back, or arm rubbed. She takes my hand and removes it. But all night, our bodies snuggled together, my arm around her, the only thing I could do to console her is to tell her over and over again, “I love you. We love you. We will take good care of you. I promise.”

We had plans to go to a Buddhist temple and to a museum today with the other couple and their daughter. I thought we’d have to cancel since Aili and I hadn’t really slept and didn’t know how long this grieving session would last. At about 6am she started bawling, all out crying. This went on for about 15 minutes. After getting her to drink some water, she finally settled down. Raleigh had awoke and was trying to console her too. It was very sweet. After a few minutes she was fine. Fine like the whole night didn’t even happen. So we went to the temple and the museum and had a very nice time.

The temple is over 1000 years old and holds three of the largest bronze/gold Buddha statues in China that represent past, present, and future. We also toured an old school that is over 600 years old. It was absolutely gorgeous with intricate stone and wood carvings. Aili and Raleigh weren’t super impressed and enjoyed running around on the lawn in the nearby park much better.

We came back to the room for a nap. None of us got much sleep last night, especially me and Aili. I thought I would fall out, but all I could do was lie there staring at my beautiful family thinking THIS is true happiness. How did this child find her way to us and us to her? I couldn’t imagine a more perfect match. Adoption is a huge leap of faith, and boy we certainly are being rewarded. Thank you, God.

This afternoon we decided to walk over the bridge off the island to check out the local environment. Whoa. We walked through an area that was selling primarily dried goods such as beans, nuts, roots, and things that we’ve never seen before…like bushels full of dried seahorses. We kept going and walked through a pet area where dogs, cats, birds, fish, turtles, etc were being sold as pets, not consumption we don’t think. The street ended at a larger street which was a huge mass of humanity strolling about and shopping. Tons of people walked the streets. It was quite an experience, but it got kind of overwhelming and so we headed back to the island for a slower pace.

We again ate at Lucy’s and had a nice time and Aili was in her super happy mood. As we headed home she started to enter her nutty time where she acts like a loon before bed. It’s awesome and hilarious. Laughter, hugs, kisses and sleep followed.

Tomorrow (Monday) we have a free day with no appointments and no set sightseeing tours planned. We’ll probably just chill out on the island and try not to spend any money. Yeesh. Then Tuesday we go to consulate to get Aili’s visa. Only a few more days until our trek home. So excited to get going!