During the night, Ava slept fitfully and squirmed and rocked most of the night. She awoke a little standoffish, but quickly cheered up at breakfast. Her favorite food seems to be hard boiled eggs (minus the yolk). She ate three eggs and a yogurt and became our chatty, smiley girl again.
Side note: the yogurt here is amazingly good. It is very smooth and more runny than back home. It is lightly sweet and lacks the "sour" flavor of American yogurt.
After breakfast, Todd left to visit Ava's orphanage and Ava and I played in our room. The decision to not take Ava for this visit was an extremely difficult decision to make. On one hand, she could say one last goodbye to her friends and caregivers. On the other, it could cause Ava a lot of heart break in leaving her orphanage family behind for a second time.
I don't know if we made the right decision, and I may never know. I do feel sad that I was unable to visit and hug the women who have loved Ava for the past three years. I will think of them and will pray for them for the rest of my life.
Todd described the visit as overwhelming and very emotional...but not in a bad way. Ava was dearly loved by her nannies and the orphanage director. In fact, she loved her bath time there...so maybe we saw less fear and more deep grief last night.
As for her shoes, the children are not required to wear shoes but the nanny told Todd that these are her favorite shoes. Again, there may be grief involved with removing her shoes. When we take them off to change clothes, I hand them to her so she knows we are not taking them away.
She opened up to me today... Letting me hold her and giving me spontaneous hugs and smiles. She also showed me her naughty side. I had to break out my Chinese to scold her for hitting.
At dinner, I learned Ava is an incredibly smart girl who plays us like a violin. Our guide had her scarfing down broccoli and noodles. It is hard to know when to insist Ava do something and when to let things go. The language barrier makes this much more difficult. Ava has a large vocabulary but in Chinese.
I do not know how anyone could make it through this process without a lot of prayer, love, and support. I can feel everyone's strength holding me up.
China, at least Changsha, is very different from what I expected. The city is very large like New York City. And while the people hustle and bustle and cut in front of each other, no one gets angry. We do get stares, but we have yet to see any other Caucasian people with a Chinese baby. So that's understandable.
The people here are very conscious of their resources and are careful not to be wasteful. The signs in the hotel room encourage conservation. There are also people working non stop to keep the city beautiful. You do not see litter and the park's plants were carefully groomed. It is obvious the people here have pride in their work.
Below is Ava's favorite nanny:
Ava's bed
A playroom
Todd has been hit with tummy troubles. He informed me that dinner was not nearly as good on the way back up. Yikes.
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