Meeting Lia

In our referral, Lia was over 2 years old (25 months) but only weighed 18 pounds, and was 30 inches tall. A really LITTLE cutie. All the medical information looked good. It took exactly 2 seconds to decide to say yes. We opened the BIG envelope and peeked at the little 1 1/2 square photo and we both knew this was OUR LITTLE GIRL. We did take the information to our pediatrician to review. We went the same day and had the acceptance letter notarized and mailed it back to our agency.

We traveled 2 months later. We flew China Southern from LA to Guangzhou. We upgraded to Premium Economy. The service was GREAT!!!! They spoiled us. The flight was long - 15 hours - and seemed like an eternity. Our connecting flight from Guangzhou to Nanchang, Jiangxi was to leave at noon (a 1 hour flight) and we were supposed to get our babies that same day at around 3 pm. However, the noon flight was cancelled and we had to take the 6 pm flight!!!! The babies would get there before we would!

After we arrived in Nanchang, we took a bus to the Lake View Hotel (about 45 minutes + 15 minutes when the bus broke down!). We arrived at the hotel at 8 pm and the babies were all in the lobby waiting. It was mass chaos. They called names and handed us our babies. Our guide announced "take your stuff to your rooms and be in the restaurant for dinner at 8:30 pm". The babies were hungry. The nanny's had not fed them since they arrived at 3 pm!!! We had not had dinner or a shower for over 40 hours! So we ran up to our room, changed Lia's clothes

Lia did not cry at all when they put her in my arms. She was totally expressionless. There was NO reaction at all. This really alarmed me! She let me change her clothes and was limp! When I put shoes on her feet - she looked at them and smiled. We stood her up, but she didn't seem to know how to walk - at 2 years old! So we carried her to the restaurant. When she saw all the food - she was so excited. She started laughing and grinning from ear to ear! She ate so much food it was incredible. Chicken, beef, fish, pork, vegetables, rice, etc. She would not let us cut up anything. The food was served family style and she just reached over and grabbed handfuls of what she

wanted. She would not use the sippy cup. She wanted my glass. And she knew how to use it without spilling. After dinner she got down and walked backed to our room. She kept stopping to admire her new Nike sneakers, which were 2 sizes too big. She walked like a baby, but mostly because the shoes were SO big. (She is still wearing them 8 months later and they are STILL too big - but she LOVES them!)

We then gave her a bath. She was scared to death of running water! And she was terrified of the toilet! I gave her a very quick bath and she screamed at the top of her lungs! But, she was VERY dirty. It took several baths before she started to look and smell clean. And, she was SOOOO skinny! Her arms and legs were very thin, you could see all her ribs, and her stomach was distended. That was the most heart wrenching part of the whole trip seeing her so thin.

The good news: By day 2 she loved her bath, loved to flush the toilet, (and even used it to poop!), she ate so much by day 10 her ribs barely showed. By the time we got home, she was already a totally different child than the one we saw on day one.

We went to breakfast at 6:30 am. Lia was in heaven... more food. Once again, she ate everything! She wouldn't drink milk at all. But she drank apple juice and orange juice. She ate mandarin oranges - she knew how to peel them herself! They were so tiny, about 1 1/2" in diameter. She was very careful peeling them, separating them and ate about 5! She was a neat freak! If one drop of juice got on her high chair tray she pointed and said "AII YAAA!!!" and wanted me to clean it up immediately! She did not drop one crumb of food. The food was

so precious to her she ate every crumb. And, she wanted food to carry around with her at all times. I brought cheerios in a small plastic container with a lid. She carried that and chop sticks everywhere. Yes, she ate the Cheerios with her Chopsticks!!! Everyone thought that was funny! Our guide said even the Chinese each Cheerios with a spoon.

Oh, let me back track a bit. In the restaurant the first night, we had beautiful porcelain chopsticks to eat with. The waitress would not give Lia any. So she used mine - and they were real long. When we went to leave, she clutched the expensive chopsticks in her hands and refused to let go. They would not let us leave the restaurant unless we gave the chopsticks back!!!! I could not get her to let go. Her grip was so tight, her fingers were turning blue. I offered to BUY them, but they didn't understand, and we couldn't find our guide.

Finally, one of the waitresses took pity on the situation. She went and got a set of cheap wooden chopsticks from the take-out counter! She talked to Lia in Chinese and convinced her to trade. Lia let go, smiled, and took the much shorter wooden chopsticks from her. She used those same chopsticks the whole 2 weeks. We washed them while she slept at night!!!

Back to day 2 (hint: another reason to "get in shape is coming") We arrived at the Notary (Judge in China). We had to leave our strollers on the sidewalk and walk up 10 (Yes, 10!!!) flights of cement steps to get to the Notary! The building was vacant, had no heat, no lights, etc. It was cold outside (40 degrees F). The building was dirty and very damp. The steps were VERY steep. Lia would not let Daddy hold her yet. So I had to carry her all the way up. I had to stop 1/2 way to catch my breath. I also have back trouble and I really struggled. The Judge was sitting at a card table on a folding chair. It took about an hour for the whole group to finish. This is where you sign the papers to start the final adoption and hand over lots of cash!!!!

~ Meeting Lia ~