Today was a hard day. Really hard. Really really really hard. Amazingly, Zitao seems to be bouncing back better than I am. I'm feeling absolutely worn out and emotionally drained. We met Zitao's foster family, and they are incredibly beautiful people. I understand why Zitao would miss them. We also got to meet the new little girl who now gets to enjoy their love, since our adoption of Zitao made a space in their foster group. She's a sweet little one with a cleft lip, and so our adoption touches her little life, too - I know she will be cared for so well by these people. Here they are, with Zitao and the little one taking her space (but not her place - she's irreplacable).


A family photo:

Zitao's foster father took a day off from work just to meet us, and I'm sure that was a sacrifice for him. He and his wife are dear people who were so welcoming. We spoke briefly, and we thanked them for all they had done to care for her these past few years (she joined them when she was about 4). They thanked us for adopting her, and asked us to take good care of her (which of course we promised to do). And they smilingly introduced us to their newest foster daughter, who was toddling happily around the place. Zitao had some tears, and her foster father began to cry. In Chinese culture, crying is frowned upon for men, so I know he loved this little girl dearly and his heart hurts to see her go. His wife had tears starting to come as well. I wiped away some of my own, and we were ushered out quickly by the assistant director, who I'm sure was trying to avoid a scene. They did get our contact information, so hopefully we'll receive a letter from them soon in Colorado.

We were taken out to lunch by the orphanage director, who expressed thanks for the donations we provided the orphanage (with some help from other adoptive parents)! We delivered all of the care packages directly to their intended recipients. :)

Here we are, leaving the orphanage grounds, Zitao holding her new sister's hand:

Interestingly, Zitao has been doing better since seeing her foster parents. Maybe she has decided we're not kidnappers. Perhaps it did her good to see us all together. She is speaking more English, and I'm speaking more Mandarin. She points to things and says, "Yes!" when she wants something, and she repeats me when I name things for her. It is obvious that she loves her new sisters, and she prefers her Baba's hand when out and about. She knows I'm the pushover, so she asks me for candy. She does respond to "bu" when she needs discipline, so that's good. (And she joins me in counting when Gennie is pushing limits - "One!... Two!.... Thlee!" - she's great at imitating my warning tone of voice, too!) I've been getting more smiles lately, and I don't feel quite so much like the invader of her world. It was an emotional day for everyone, but ultimately very worth it.

Tomorrow we leave for Guangzhou, for our last stop in our journey before returning home. Guangzhou is where we get the immigrant visa from the US Consulate for Zitao; she becomes a U.S. citizen automatically upon returning home.