Six Years Ago

Six years ago today, we met Luci face to face.   For better or worse, our lives all changed that day.  All adoptions begin with a loss.  Luci may never get to meet her birth parents or know what happened that had her end up in an orphanage.  Since this is the anniversary of her adoption, there are lots of mixed emotions running through her mind.  Happiness that we went out to eat in honor of HER, and sorrow that she is not with her original parents.  Joy that Mommy played video games with her "in celebration, Mama," and consternation that I would not play Disney Princess Wii for more than two hours.

Here are some photos from that trip six years ago.  They are not in any particular order.


Here is a photo that was taken at the orphanage before they traveled to Guiyang to meet us.  Pictured:  Hannah, Luci and Annaleah.  We sent a disposable camera (along with other goodies for the staff, ordered from here) and were thrilled when it was returned to us when Luci was put into our arms.  The shots were all from the morning they came to meet us, probably all taken in about fifteen minutes, but they are the only glimpse we have of Luci's life before we met her.

Bryan and JT with all three Bearden girls.

JT and Bryan with some cigars that John bought at the White Swan.  That bed was supposed to sleep two.  TWO.  It didn't.  But at least it was more cushy than the bed in Guizhou.

JT with Jophy, our guide.

Bryan and JT climbed up a temple.  This was about seven flights up.

Eating with chopsticks!

The boys with their "I'm the big brother" and "I'm the bigger brother" t-shirts on (Bryan's actually says, "biggest."  But it should say, "bigger." The editor in me comes out!) .  Luci has on an "I'm the little sister" shirt.

Happy baby at Lucy's Bar in Guangdong.

On the way to LuiZhi, the city where Luci's orphanage is.

LuiZhi

The back of Luci's SWI (Social Welfare Institute--different than an orphanage, in that senior citizens also live there, and probably infirm adults as well).  I think those folks in the red are exercising.

The first photo we ever saw of our precious Luci.

What a Difference

One of the families in our Guizhou yahoo group (Guizhou being the Chinese province that Luci is from) posted a link to a video of their daughter's first few months with them. This daughter was adopted at age 8 months (1 1/2 months younger than Luci was when we got her).

I cried when I watched this hand-over from one family to another. This baby was in foster care from the time she was found until adoption. Luci was in the orphanage from the day she was found until her adoption.

Why the tears? Because this little girl looked so much like Luci except that she was well-nourished and was doing all the normal things 8-month-old babies do. Like sitting up. Rolling over. On her belly, pushing up, as if doing a push-up. Crawling. From lying down, putting herself into a sitting position. Picking up bits of food and putting them into her mouth. Sitting up nicely on the Red Couch at The Swan without slumping over. And looking so healthy with those chubby cheeks and legs!


Luci was so different. Such a stick-figure, and very poor muscle tone. How much brain development was missed by having such meager food and attention? And grieving for her for the lack of love lavished on her those 9-and-a-half months. Other than the physical differences, these two girls look a lot alike!


Luci, home for just one week. She pushed herself into a sitting position, for the first time ever, all by herself...at age 10 months exactly. You can see just how skinny she is. Nothing "extra" on this little girl, at all!


But heartened, as another blog friend said in one of her posts, we are "Plan B" for Luci. (Thanks, "Snapshot.") This mom tells better than I can here that God's "Plan A" for children is to be taken care of by their parents, by the families to which they are born. For some reason, Luci was not able to stay where she was. Was she a daughter when they wanted a son? Was it in-laws who pressured them into abandoning this precious little girl? Was she child number 2 after child number 1 was a daughter also? Was she half Buyi and half Miao (she looks so Miao to me but the orphanage director was adamant that Luci is Buyi), and that mixed heritage is the reason?

Whatever the reason, John and I are happy, deliriously so, to be Luci's "Plan B."

Luci two weeks ago. A lovely, healthy little girl who knows she is loved.

From Luci's Province...

Here is an article from National Geographic that Amy Tan wrote...all about the Dong people of Guizhou Province, China. Luci is a Buyi, according to her orphanage director, but information from her province is hard to find, so this is a good look into Guizhou.
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Here is a photo essay from that article.
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And a video from Guizhou. True to National Geographic, there are some shots of swimmers...so you might want to cover the screen a couple of times if you have little ones watching.
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Carla--I thought of you and your words from recent post of yours...so much was lost to our precious daughters. Much was gained coming here, to our homes, but much was lost.
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from the article:

A Guizhou saying:

“Not three feet of flat land, not three days
without rain, not a family with three silver coins.”

Rain, Another Guizhou Girl and a New Toy

Took this photo for John today (he misses the rain), from our porch looking out into the backyard. Just after this, the weather authorities issued a tornado warning for this very storm (yikes!). And, ten minutes later. The yard needs mowing! It looks wild and wooly to me.

I just had to include this photo--all of these are unretouched. This was taken several hours later, near sunset. The sun came out for a few minutes. We had one more band of rain come through after this shot for a total of about 2 inches of rain today. Amazing color!

Ashley, a young girl from Luci's province of China (Guizhou), has begun modeling and acting. She is 4, like Luci, and lives far away from here. I know Ashley and her mom through our blogging...and this is a product of Ashley's modeling career! A doll from Toys R Us has Ashley's photo on the package.

We are really tickled for Ashley!

Now for the "toy" part of the post: A VitaMix blender! I figured that if I make Luci's rice milk for her, I will have saved enough to cover the cost of this machine in less than a year. (It's already paid for, but that alone will recoup the cost.) Here is the first thing made: Banana Ice Cream! You can let it harden in the freezer, or have it right away--these were really terrific milk shakes! (Yes, it was made with dairy and not Luci's rice milk...so I'll start that next.)

A Bouyei Village in Guizhou

Recently a friend (hi, Don!) asked about Bouyei. Here is a village in China that is Bouyei--that's Luci's minority. Sometimes when you travel, you get where you're going and things look not too differently than what you left at home. When we got off the plane in Guizhou, we were surrounded by karst mountains such as these. It was quite satisfying, somehow, to know that we were "in a foreign place."
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More information on Bouyei and other people groups
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photo info:

Shitoucun,Longtanzhen,Guizhou,China.jpg‎ (800 × 600 pixels, file size: 114 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

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Bouyei minority Shi tou village, west Guizhou (near Longgong caves), China. Taken by Ariel Steiner.

Guizhou made the news....

Guizhou is Luci's province. The end of the celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year is going on. Here's the story:

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Police: China dragon dancers riot

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"...dragon dancers in Dejiang traditionally wear fireworks on their costumes and consume alcohol, creating a risk to themselves and the public." The police thought they were a hazard. So, no dragon. Result: 10,000 rioters, by some accounts.

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Don't mess with the dragon!

Four Years Ago Today....

A beautiful little girl was born in a little village in Guizhou Province, China.

We used to play "Kiss the Baby" to get Luci used to being touched by us. It is still a fun game.

Now, she returns the favor!

Having a "Fashion Show" in our hotel on the way home from Disney. We found this cute Princess costume at Cracker Barrel (of course!). This is the most I've seen her smile all week long. I'm so glad she loves going home.

2008 Olympics--Beijing!

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world.

Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

The above was taken from this website.

The following video is of girls in Luci's province of Guizhou, training in gymnastics. It is 5:22 long--sort of long, but I chose it because it is from Guizhou. They train young and awfully long. I feel for the families, being separated the way they are. The families sacrifice to send them and the girls live at or near the center. Bryan and JT were on a gymnastics team (Bryan for three years, JT for one) and it is a very tough sport. The boys worked hard for their team, but nothing like these young girls.

Hmmm...I sure hope it was beef....

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing has asked hotels and restaurants in the city to take dog meat off the menu for the duration of next month's Olympics and September's Paralympics.

Dog is eaten not only by the large Korean community in China's capital but is also popular in Yunnan and Guizhou restaurants.
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Guizhou is Luci's province. oh, yuck! I guess it's too late to take the Maalox. And what about the rats? Remember that?

A Schoolgirl's Story

Today we got an email in our yahoo group for Luci's province that had this link:

http://english.cri.cn/4026/2007/04/22/269@218924_4.htm

It tells the story of a Maio schoolgirl from Guizhou. She is from Panxian county, and even though she is Maio and Luci is Buyi, I imagine their way of living to be similar. It will give you a glimpse of what Luci might have had, had she remained in her original home.

The story is 5 internet pages long, but only takes about 5 minutes to read. It is a transcript from Chinese Radio International.

The photo above shows us, plus one other boy from our travel group and a crowd of curious Guiyang citizens. We showed them our little note that said where we were from, that we were adopting Luci, and we promise to take care of her and teach her all about her original culture. The Chinese women in the photo were telling us just how lucky Luci is to be going home with us. After reading this story, I understand better why they were so happy for Luci.