Gotcha!

Monday was Gotcha Day. The day we would get to meet Seraphina for the first time in person. A day filled with nervous excitement, wondering how our new daughter might react when she sees us as well as how we would likely react when we met her.

As usual, Angela and I were up before dawn. I'm not sure if we're having a hard time adjusting to the new time zone or if the events of the next few weeks just have us jittery (probably a little of both). In any event, we began getting ready around 4AM which gave us time to chat with our boys back home for a bit before heading down for breakfast. We shouldn't fail to mention how thankful we are for friends to look after our children while we are overseas to adopt our 4th. The Riders, Cannons and McCormicks have been most generous in opening their doors (and hearts) to watch after our kids. While the kids (and us) are not totally happy about being apart for two weeks, we could not have asked for better friends to get them through the separation time.


After a delicious buffet which included mounds of veggies for me (what is this strange craving I have for healthy food?) and a chocolate-covered donut with sprinkles for Angela, we returned to our room to grab the few things we would need for the exchange. The plan was to take a bus to the meeting location at 9 AM. After all the families had assembled in the lobby, our guide informed us that the building we were supposed to be going to was under renovation so the meetings were being re-routed. Instead, the kids were bring brought to our hotel where they would meet us for the first time on the floor we were staying. Strange that this information wasn't known until the last minute, but great that we would not be in a business-like setting while trying to bond with the new additions to our families.

All the families sat together in the hallway waiting for the children to arrive. We were told that they would be coming at various times since they were from various orphanages. The majority of the children arrived before Serpahina so we had the opportunity to observe as others met their kids for the first time. I thought Angela was going to break down on a number of occasions (and rightly so), but she managed to hold her emotions in check as she offered to take pictures of each family as they embraced their children.

The hallway was a bit chaotic when we heard commotion from the elevator area. I caught a glimpse of Seraphina just before the social workers corralled the new arrivals back around the corner so that the children could be properly introduced. When Seraphina and her two guardians turned the corner, Na made eye contact with Angela and ran straight for her shouting "Mama!". She turned to look at her care takers as she pointed toward me and said "baba" (daddy) and then opened the Hello Kitty backpack she had brought with her and pulled out the photo album we had sent ahead of time. She flipped through every single page pointing at us and our kids, each time naming them correctly as mommy, daddy, sister and brothers. I couldn't tell through tears whether Angela was sobbing by this time so I assumed she was managing on her own.

Angela also had brought a backpack filled with goodies and handed Na a stuffed panda bear that her and Leah had picked out. Na was excited to receive it and gave it a big hug. Then she reached into her pack and pulled out some hard candies and eagerly insisted Angela and I both have one. After she was sure we were "fed" she grabbed another bag of cookies, had her caregivers help to open them, and proceeded up and down the hallway offering each child one. It was overwhelming to see her jump into caregiver mode herself, stopping to "console" any crying children (although amazingly there were very few). By this point Angela and I were both laughing as we tried to keep up with her. But even though she was very friendly to everyone in the hallway, she never mistook any of the other adults for "mama" and "baba", always calling us by name as she made eye contact.

Once the initial paperwork was signed and the fees and gifts were handed out, Na's caretakers prepared to leave. It was obvious they were as emotional as we were, and while they forced smiles knowing the child they brought would be well cared for, it was obvious that Na-na (as they called her) would be missed in the orphanage. Our new daughter called out to them in Chinese as she waved. Angela heard the word "mama" and thought Na was referring to the caretaker as her former mother, but a guide told us that Na was actually saying, "I found my mama so it's OK for you to go now." Another round of teary eyes for everyone.

We thought at this point Sera might become sad as the adults she had known all this time left without her, but she seemed very much calm and content knowing she was with her mom and dad. She continued to "check" on the other kids while we were in the hallway, handing out snacks as needed. She happily sat with both Angela and I on numerous occasions while playing with the activity books we had brought for her. The only time she had a remotely negative reaction is when I picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. She wrinkled up her nose and made a disgusted look and pointed at my beard. She started chattering in Chinese and reached for Angela and touched her smooth cheek before pointing at my face again. I assume she is not a fan of scratchy kisses. For now she only lets Angela pick her up, but had no problem playing with me. She enjoyed sitting on my back as I did a few pushups in the hotel room in lieu of a workout in the gloom.

At no point the rest of the day did the mood change for Na-na. She played with the sticker book. She cooed over the pink blanket Leah made for her. She put together two puzzles with help from Angela. She pulled snacks out of her pack continuously and seemed to always have something to chew on. She drank water from plastic bottles often. She asked for help when she had to use the bathroom. She played with every electronic device she could get her hands on, taking pictures of Angela and I (not bad), "fixing" the cord we removed from the hotel phone (uh-oh), and turning on my phone then navigating to/playing Angry Birds (wait, how'd you do that?!). At lunch, she ate some buttered bread, a part of Angela's sandwich and a healthy amount of french fries. This girl knows how to use fries as spoons for ketchup and ate every last drop of the sweet, red stuff the waitress brought us.

She does not like it when other kids act mean toward her. One child tried to push her away when she reached out to touch his toy. She made a mean look and rattled off something in Chinese, demanding to be held. But she was over it and moving on to the next activity once comforted. We are told she does not like spicy food and is allergic to kiwi. I guess Leah gets all the kiwi to herself when we get home.

She is very good about sharing and cleaning up behind herself. We can't tell how much Chinese she knows as she always repeats what we say whether in Chinese or English. She seems to have already learned some English -- when we say to throw something in the trash, she knows right where to put it. Before bed, she happily climbed into the bath tub and allowed Angela to bathe her - including washing her hair - without a peep. I'm not sure my older kids wouldn't still complain about shampoo in their eyes!

Having adopted two children from China previously, I am preparing myself for the "let down" -- the point at which the new reality sets in and Seraphina recognizes that things are different. That is how it went with the other kids. That's how I imagine I would be in a similar situation. But so far, it doesn't seem like Na-na (the name we are continuing to use for now) will have problems. She has been fantastic thus far, going to bed rather easily and sleeping through the night.

We will need to address the deformed limb quickly. I originally thought we would need to wait for awhile, but if she continues to be so agreeable, I see no reason to put off the inevitable. It is obvious she will benefit from surgery and the prosthetic leg. Also, she is *TINY*. I can not believe she is seven years old. I'd swear she was 4 or 5 and if I thought we could get away with it, I might be tempted to say she's 5 in public and deal with the ramifications later in life.

But for now, life is better than we could have hoped. We have a new daughter who seems very happy to have found her forever family and we are down to 11 days before returning home to be reunited with the other three children we miss dearly. If all continues like this, the Smiths should have a very merry Christmas.