Our Daughter!!!!

How do I even begin to describe this day? Got up at 3:30... nervous until we left for the Civil Affairs Office at 9:30...waited in quiet polished-florr calm until the babies arrived and then the craziness started: tears, babies, nannies, directors, more tears (mostly mine) and a haze of papers to sign (through tears..all mine). Zi Jie was very calm, very quiet. She came to me easily and cuddled right in. There were tears but quiet and reserved tears... she is like a little butterfly. She is tiny...her hands and feet are the same size as Gus's from when he was 2 months old. She studies my face and tentatively touches my hair with gentle, delicate hands. We came back from the office and had time to just stare at each other and try to figure out what to do next. She drank all of 2 ounces and then fell asleep on my chest. After more tears (mine) she woke up, cried a little herself and then we played on the bed, cuddled, played on the floor, cuddled, cried (me), cried (her), then I got my first smile and the hint of a giggle...she is very ticklish. Went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner and got a taste of what it wll be like out on the street... we are quite the spectacle. Norah, Heather and tom's baby, is much bigger than Hildy. She downed an 8 onuce bottle in 45 seconds as soon as we got back to the hotel and then ate half a bowl of congee at dinner. hildy just cuddled in silence... no food. We came back up to our room, Hildy drank another 2 ounces and then our guide Kathy showed me how her foster mom would have put her to bed. She wrapped her mid section with a thick blanket like a sausage roll, put another heavy blanket on top of her whole body, gave her a toy, turned out the light and that was that... She is still laying in her crib and playing silently with her toy as I type this... Not sure whether to pick her up and cuddle her (because it's all I can do not to...) or to let her fall asleep as she probably has for the past year...alone in her crib. We'll see how it goes... I am exhausted, stiff from the stress of the morning and absolutely, completely, head over heels in love. I am so glad we never gave up... today was worth every second of the wait and it was only our first day together... my heart is full.