That first afternoon of acquaintance was quite extraordinary. From the moment she came to us there were no tears. She seemed rather tired and completely mellow and I’m sure the experience was completely overwhelming for her but she also seemed to take it all in and be quite at ease with us. Some of her delays became obvious right away. As we offered her crackers or snacks , though she accepted them in her mouth, she only held them in her mouth -- without chewing or swallowing. In fact she didn’t seem to know how to chew -- she would just wait for the food to melt in her mouth before she swallowed it.
She didn’t seem to want a bottle and when we offered her a sippy cup she couldn’t suck from it so we would just squirt a little bit of liquid into her mouth to help her understand how it worked. Walking was also difficult for her and we noticed her right leg was rather pronated. She seemed to want to be held and because we knew that attachment can be encouraged that way we were more than happy to indulge. Aside from those initial little worries we were grateful she seemed so content with us and knew that those things were all part of what you take on when a child has been in institutionalized care.
She sat on my lap as we drove to the grocery store ( the ‘no rules for drivers in China’ that our guide mentioned also applies to passengers as there are no car seat requirements).
We walked down the shopping street not far from our hotel and Becky took us into the “Women and Children’s Essentials Store” -- that was its name. We took the elevator to the second floor and found, well, all the essentials. Because we weren’t sure of her size before we left and were told we could buy most of what we needed in China , we had only brought a few clothes -- two outfits in 18 months and two in 24 months. It seems that many of the girls clothes here are covered in frills and lace with the wackiest combination of colours and patterns. They all look like a highly overdone scrapbook page. lets just say that ugly christmas sweaters seemed to be the rule rather than the exception. How I wished for a Winners, a WalMart or an Osh Kosh Kids! Most of the clothes in the store were much the same way until we came across a beautiful, (though pricey) line of clothes, simple, sweet and stylish.We chose three outfits, a couple of coats ( to brave the weather back in Beijing and at home), some boots and some diapers. What’s different about shopping in these stores, is that rather than gather your items and pay for them all at the till, you must get a separate receipt for each item in every department. One of several workers in each department fills out a slip of paper for the item you want, you go around choosing items and collecting slips of paper. Then you go to the cashier who tallies up all the receipts, you pay for the items, then go back around to all the departments to collect everything. It’s definitely a bit of a process.
We walked down the shopping street not far from our hotel and Becky took us into the “Women and Children’s Essentials Store” -- that was its name. We took the elevator to the second floor and found, well, all the essentials. Because we weren’t sure of her size before we left and were told we could buy most of what we needed in China , we had only brought a few clothes -- two outfits in 18 months and two in 24 months. It seems that many of the girls clothes here are covered in frills and lace with the wackiest combination of colours and patterns. They all look like a highly overdone scrapbook page. lets just say that ugly christmas sweaters seemed to be the rule rather than the exception. How I wished for a Winners, a WalMart or an Osh Kosh Kids! Most of the clothes in the store were much the same way until we came across a beautiful, (though pricey) line of clothes, simple, sweet and stylish.We chose three outfits, a couple of coats ( to brave the weather back in Beijing and at home), some boots and some diapers. What’s different about shopping in these stores, is that rather than gather your items and pay for them all at the till, you must get a separate receipt for each item in every department. One of several workers in each department fills out a slip of paper for the item you want, you go around choosing items and collecting slips of paper. Then you go to the cashier who tallies up all the receipts, you pay for the items, then go back around to all the departments to collect everything. It’s definitely a bit of a process.
What was interesting was that during that time of choosing, collecting and tallying, Todd and I were each taking turns carrying Maylia. At one point Todd was holding her and a store clerk came up to them. She said something to Maylia in Chinese and reached up her arms to her. I waited with baited breath to see how she would respond. Maylia just looked at her, then turned away and leaned in to Todd. Not a few minutes later I was holding her and another clerk tried the same thing. Much to my relief, Maylia once again, turned and leaned into me. I gave her a big hug, and our guide told us that the clerks were shocked we’d only had her for a few hours. Frankly so were we!
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