Our first full day as a family

Yesterday was our first full day with our new daughter. That is the last time I will write "our new daughter." Even though her name is now officially Katelyn (Katie) we cannot yet refer to her as that yet. Her foster family nicknamed her "Bin Bin." We are choosing to keep this nickname at least for the time being since she speaks no English so "Katie would get no response. Mostly we are keeping it because it is so darn cute and fits her perfect.
About our day; we started off the day very well. Bin Bin woke up in seemingly good spirits. She is potty trained for the most part. This part amazes us. She goes potty when we want her to. In China, they train these little kids to go on demand. They hold them over the pot and then whistle in their ear which is rewarded with a little tinkle sound. It works! She is very cooperative with getting dressed and going places. She was obviously well cared for and taught discipline by her foster mother. We were told that the foster mother called the orphanage in the morning because she was so worried about how Bin Bin was doing. After getting dressed and fed, we took a short bus ride back to the Welfare hotel to complete the Chinese adoption paperwork with the welfare department. While there, we were able to talk to Bin Bin's caretaker with her orphanage who has know her since she was found in May of 2008. Bin Bin lit up when she saw her. (see picture) From this meeting, we gathered invaluable background information that we can share with Bin Bin when she is older and curious about her history. Two items that we were not expecting but are grateful to have are; a photo album chronicling her life at Yulin First Social Institute and the clothes and blanket she was found wrapped in when they discovered her alone in the marketplace. We will cherish and preserve these two items for her to have when she is an adult. After the Welfare hotel we took another short bus ride to the notary office. When we left there to go back to the hotel, we held in our laps our officially adopted child. The last step is to get her a Visa through US immigrations then we can bring her home. That process will occur next week in Goungzho. Back at the hotel, we ate some lunch and just hung out with Bin Bin for a couple of hours. At about 3 pm, the bus came back and we took another short ride to Walmart. Yes, I said Walmart. I wanted to go, not necessarily to shop, but to see firsthand what a Chinese Walmart was like. The one in Nanning is in an indoor shopping mall and is three stories tall. It pretty much had anything that you would want. It was extremely busy as we have found most places in China. We were told that one of Bin Bin's favorite activities was to go to the supermarket with her foster mom. At the end of the trip we think that she must have seen something or someone that reminded her of her foster mom because she became withdrawn and started pushing us away. We could tell she was grieving the separation from her foster family, but this was the first time she physically shut us out. We let her have her moment and she came back around. The rest of the day we spent hanging out at the hotel getting to know each other better. However, Bin Bin seemed sad all evening. I think she is tired of playing with us and wants to go to the comfort and security of her own home. We are so grateful to the foster family for loving and caring for her so well yet it breaks our hearts to see this little girl so obviously sad to be away her foster Mamma and Babba. In time we know she will feel the same way about us. We just need to let her work it all out.