A Visit to the Orphanage

We had a great day today, although it was very long and exhausting.  We started out down at breakfast as soon as they opened at 6:30.  Audrey had once again slept great in her crib all night and we had to wake her up to get ready.  She loves the steamed buns and then she really starts eating faster when she reaches the pork in the middle! 

Steve picked us all up and we headed to the train station.  It was raining today...sure didn't slow down all the crazy motorcycle riders...

They drive absolutely crazy here. It looks like you're going to be in a collision with a bus, vehicle, pedestrian, or motorcycle rider about every 10 seconds, and everyone just honks constantly! The train station was very neat. We went from Changsha to Chenzhou City, where Audrey's orphanage is  located.

  It was really neat to see a lot of the countryside, lots of hills and rice fields...

Amy was also able to explain a lot to us about China. She's been very interesting to talk to. Audrey slept most of the time on the van ride and on the train. Still being very still, quiet and serious with us.

Another van picked us up from the train station and drove us to the orphanage.

First they took us into a room where they had all the paperwork on Audrey laid out for us to look at. These will always stay on file there... Then we entered the hall where all of the baby rooms are. We had no idea what reaction we would get from her. She was quiet, the nannies immediately reached out for her and she went to them, still not much emotion... That's her main caretaker standing by her old crib...

It didn't seem real that we were actually standing in the room that we had seen in so many pictures, and it was really hard to believe that this was her home up until just a few days ago. This little boy had recently moved into this crib right next to Audrey's. He was happy to see her!                                                                                       and so was this little boy...

lots and lots of babies everywhere...
It was heartbreaking to see all of these kids, but good to hear that many of them are in the process of having files prepared to be adopted.

The nannies made her a big bowl of what she was used to eating for lunch and they fed her. You could tell how much she was loved and how great they are with the kids. These ladies were so caring and happy.  It was really great to meet them...

This young lady has been Audrey's main caretaker for the past year. She was so sweet! She said that she was very emotional about Audrey leaving because this was her first job as a nanny and Audrey was one of her first babies to care for...

We were able to ask her any questions we wanted and Amy would translate for us. So then we started to learn all kinds of stuff! We had been told weeks ago that she could drink from a straw, but we had tried from day one and she wouldn't do it. So they said, yes, she can! They got out this little bottle with a straw and guess what? She immediately drank the whole thing!

Then we told them that she wouldn't stand or walk for us and guess what? They put her down and she had no problem walking for them! It was totally amazing how much of a changed girl she was in her familiar surroundings! You could tell that she felt very safe and secure there. They said that this little boy was her boyfriend. Said they would walk around together holding hands! He came over to her and grabbed her hand and they walked -- so sweet! He was the happiest, most social little guy... Hunan province is known for their spicy food and the Chinese people say that the girls from Hunan province are "spicy". So they said they would tell us some of her "spicy" behavior. They said that her and two of the other girls would sometimes wake up and stand up in their beds and shake the beds to make them bang together and then throw all of their blankets out of their cribs!      

Then they said that this little boy they call the "snack stealer" and whenever Audrey

 had a snack and saw him coming, she would run away and then crawl real fast under a bed to get away from him because she figured out that he doesn't know how to crawl and she would be safe under there!  It was so funny to hear them telling these stories.  They said she is very smart and she can be stubborn, but she is also very sweet when another baby is crying and she will come over and bring them a toy.









We went to the playroom and she handed out dum dum suckers that we had brought for the kids, and even gave one to the "snack stealer"...

 
We then headed out to go to the dining area for the staff, and they fixed us a delicious lunch.  She even walked down the hall holding Aaron's hand...

 It was great that she loved the nannies holding her, but then she also had no problem coming back to us.  This is the director of the whole orphanage (Helen).  She stayed with us the whole time we were there, and Audrey liked her a lot.  She fed her some fried rice, which we have found that Audrey loves...

 and again, her nanny feeding her...

Had to say goodbye to the chef who apparently knew Audrey and loved her also...

We then went back to the playroom and all the kids were down for a nap, except this little girl who they said doesn't take naps.  They said she was another one of Audrey's closest friends.  We sat in there with Amy and Helen for a long time and the girls played.  Audrey acted completely different with toys that she was familiar with.  It was so great to see her actually playing with all the toys instead of barely touching the ones we brought for her.  She was interacting with her friend, they were even stealing toys from each other.  We were also able to ask Helen lots more questions about the orphanage.

I also had to put another layer on Audrey.  It is very cold in there, and everyone keeps coats on.  I could tell the director didn't think I had her dressed warm enough, and she was very relieved when I pulled out another jacket.  Although Audrey is very skinny she has very long legs, so all of the pants I brought her are too short and I could tell they didn't like that bare skin showing!

And Shannon -- here is all the new play equipment you purchased that they said was just delivered 2 days ago -- very nice!

Audrey cried just a few seconds when we left, then fell asleep on the van and on the whole train ride back.  Other families say that they feel like doing this visit somehow gives the kids a little bit of closure and that usually they kind of turn a corner after this.  We hope so!

We stopped at McDonald's on the way back for dinner and Audrey had her first McDonald's french fries and chicken nuggets!  She loved them!  Of course, still holding onto the last bit of nugget in each hand the whole way back to the hotel.

We are so glad we went today, it was really priceless information to gather about her first 2 years of life!

We had just a little time to play before bedtime, but Audrey was interacting a little more with the toys we brought her and we even caught her with a little smile!
Tomorrow will be a more laid back day with some local sightseeing.  We need it!