It's official!

Autumn is officially our daughter. She had her consulate appointment yesterday. We completed all of our paperwork, and how awesome that we did not have to go! All I had to do was sign for Shiyan to go for us! We did not have to do anything! We now have her abandonment certificate. It is so sad that this precious child was abandoned. We also have the clothes she was wearing and her admission pictures taken at the orphanage. She was also wrapped in a hello kitty blanket, and we have this too. These items, her only connection to her real family. She has an amazing story. Once the paperwork is cleared, then Autumn takes her oath to become a US citizen- obviously she can't do this so we as her parents do it for her. This ceremony was today. I was SOOOOO worried about how she would do. It was a 30-45minute busride to the consulate, and then a lot of wait once there. She was a perfect little angel. She loves to ride the bus. I guess that she is amazed at all of the sights- she has never been out of the orphanage, other than her quarantine for chicken pox. Anyway, she did great! No fuss whatsoever. In fact, she was so happy! Even better, on the busride back, she took a bottle for mike, actually 2 bottles, they were small. Once we arrive in Chicago this week, she is officially a US citizen!! YEAH!! She is doing so much more. She is crawling up into my lap now to get some loving and is offering up some hugs. She reaches for both of us too. She is such a sweet girl. She is also more vocal - we can't understand it, but she is vocal. She is not walking, but will walk when she is in the crib and can hold to the sides. She has started to crawl too. Her nanny said that she stopped crawling a while ago when she started to walk. I guess she is regressed and will get back to walking. She is doing a lot more every day that passes.
As for us- Mike and I are doing great. We are thrilled to be coming home the day after tomorrow. And as a treat, I also had a mason jar full of sweet tea and lemmons tonight!!! Never did I think I'd find that in China. HEAVEN!

Turned a corner-

AUTUMN BEFORE THE DINNER CRUISE
Here is Autumn with the "GUANGDONG BABIES" all from her province. We took so many pics like this, Autumn would not look at the camera. Ezra her buddy is right beside her, the other little girls Emily and Natalie.

Finally, after a week, things are somewhat "normal." Well, for living in a hotel room and eating every meal out, I guess normal. Autumn has gone back to drinking from the bottle. She just started last night. I think she is getting more comfortable with us and this is why? We have let her sort of take the lead, and not pressure her to drink too much. She did 5 oz last night, and 6 this morning. She also took another 4 ounces during the day. She is eating like a champ. And what goes in, comes out too. Mama is happy. She is starting to really show some personality and can get quite cranky when she does not get her way. She HATES a diaper change. Most changes, it takes both of us to get a diaper on. She also let me trim her nails. She gave me a nice scratch on my neck today, so had to be done. She also understands "no." She is getting a lot more active in the crib. She was trying to chew on the side rails, can't be good with her lip. She understood No, and seemed to pout a little but stopped.
We took a dinner cruise last night, she did pretty good. The papa john's pizza was great! Towards the end, there was some entertainment which the kids enjoyed. It was a good distraction. We are finding that children have very short attention spans, especially ours. We hope that everyone at home is doing well- especially Ronnie - hope you are healing well from surgery. Hang in there- can't wait to see you all soon!

And she finally smiles!

Last night- finally got some smiles and laughter from her- it has continued on through today. She is pretty fussy, but is smiling more. She is pretty comical at times. We have had a lot of fun just playing. She is eating much better, in fact, the last few feeds, this has hardly been an issue. She ate an entire ladle of wheat oatmeal and a sausage link at breakfast, for example. She is still not taking the bottle though. Overall, I'd say things are some better. We are going on a dinner cruise tonight, and having Papa Johns pizza! Yes, they have it here. We can hardly wait. The weather is better, very hot. I just went out to buy more diapers, and locals are walking around in masks. I am not sure what kind of air I took in, can't be good. The smog is terrible. I have had a cough for the second day now. Shiyan has spoken to Autumn's orphanage director again, and we have found out the she took the majority of her meals in the crib- she stood while being fed. They also added sugar to her formula and her water. Chinese formula is much sweeter than what we have- it must have been like syrup. Needless to say, we have not done this, and perhaps that is part of the problem? She also fed herself her bottles in the crib. We have tried this too, but did not work. Anyway, here is a new pic of her wonderful smile. Enjoy, and I can't wait to see everyone very soon!! This week!!! :)

More Pics

Grandparents requesting more pics, so here you go. The one of Mike, Autumn and me is at the Chinese restaurant we went to, and the bucket of eels, evening special. Yes, they are alive and I assume you can pick the one you want. Our dinner was conservative, but delicious nonetheless. Other pics, Autumn at various times. There is one with her touching her toy with her last three fingers. She does not use her index finger, just the last three. She can, and we have seen her grip using the index, but no touching or pointing. She also had a mad screaming fit about 2pm today. I was in the process of preaparing her rice cereal, and turns out, feeding her made her better. She took it all, and some extra pear purree. Along with some left over formula and pedialyte. Still no bottle or sippy cup though. It is the best she has eat yet, so I will take it. The marks on her arms and face are from the chicken pox.
We also learned, thank you Amy, that the formula we brought for her is on the recall list. Not sure if it will make a difference, but while we are here, going to do only the Chinese formula. We don't have much of a choice. I will purchase enough to take with us and try to transition her at home. HOME, can't wait to get there. Enjoy the pics-

Today's update.

I think she may be doing a bit better. We went with our group to an authentic chinese restaurant last night. Shiyan our social worker here, is so wonderful. She wants so much for us to have a good time. She had everything arranged for us- the meal was served family style, and there were about 3-4 families per table. Our group is so supportive. Everyone is aware of the hard time we are having. Most of the kids are doing well. You can really see the difference in the children from orphanages vs. the kids from foster homes. There is a 3 year old with some delays as well. There are others having the eating issues, perhaps not to the extent that we are though. She was fussy about the entire time we were there. But easily calms I think. When we got back, she took about 2-3 tablespoons of rice cereal, and ounce of her vit. c liquid, no fuss. It was amazing. She still refuses a bottle though. We are just doing the best we can.
We took her to the payroom this morning. She played more today than she has yet. Ezra is another child about her age. He was fostered. He seems right on target with where he should be and is all boy. I think that Autumn enjoyed being around him. He will be in Knoxville, so hopefully, they will be good friends for a long time. Autumn did smile twice for me today. I almost cried. I will try to post more later.

Separation Anxiety?

So we've had Autumn since the 19th. She does not smile, does not laugh, and feeding her is pure torture, for her and me. It takes two of us to hold her down to get it in. Last night, she took about 1/2 ounce from her bottle and then it was like she realized what she was doing and refused the rest. We got it in her with a syringe though. She opens her mouth and takes it. Swallows, then screams. I just don't understand. Same with food. Shiyan thinks that she is depressed and it is a trust issue, ie she does not trust us yet. Shiyan thinks a little more TLC is all she needs. I cuddle her as much as I can, and so does Mike. We are using the strap on baby carrier (thank you so much Debbie Crain for this!!!) She likes it. Anytime we are holding her close, she seems content. She does not smile. She does not laugh. This transition I know is hard, but how long will it take her? Otherwise today, a little bit of a cough, no temp. This is very hard. In a lot of ways, I feel like I am a failure to her. She really is so precious, I just wish I knew how to make this all better for her.

Mike's initiatiation to what prunes can do!

So yesterday, Autumn did not eat or drink but about 2-3 ounces. That's it. She took about 1/4 container of prunes, washed down with about 1/6 ounce of water. Then, our social worker came. Shiyan is so awesome. She brought prune juice and pedialyte. It took Mike holding her, and Shiyan holding her head, and a lady downstairs came an talked to her in Cantonese (her native language) and we finally got about 4 ounces of formula in her with a syringe. She turned flips, cried, and screamed, fought us to the end, but finally got it in her. She is dehydrated. Shiyan thinks she has a major case of separation anxiety and depression. So lots more TLC and hopefully this will get better. She went to sleep no problem. (probably tired from the fight) This morning, still would not take a bottle, but we got about 5 1/4 ounce of formula with the syringe. She took about 5 forced bites at breakfast and lastly had a major wake up stinky diaper and during breakfast, finished what she started. Mike was a good help, but certainly allowed me to do the changing. I hope things will get better for her. I hate force feeding her. She loves to walk- so going to strap on the baby carrier and take her to Starbucks.