What an amazing day we’ve had. We arrived in Taipei late last night. Our hotel is gorgeous – a large corner bedroom with curved windows looking out over Taipei, and a nice sitting room and kitchen. Two balconies, too. The agency rep, Mei Ru, said she’d be back for us at 8:30am. I tore the suitcases apart getting everything ready – diaper bag, camera, video recorder, journal, questions for foster family, agency, and birth mother (who could not come, to our disappointment), gifts for the same, spare sweaters, toys, blankets, wipes, the works.
This morning we awoke early, so had time for a nice buffet breakfast downstairs. Mei Ru picked us up and the two hour drive went quickly. The route to Taichung is all industrial highway, but is surrounded by mountains and interesting towns. Some beautiful temples with gilded roofs nestled into the hillsides.
We finally arrived in Feng Yuan (pronounced Fung You-ann), and pulled up to the Taiwan Womens and Children’s Association building- which looks like a small shop front on a crowded commercial street. Samantha from the agency greeted us, and handed us a single sheet of paper, half full of typed instructions and tips on caring for Helena. Bottle every four hours, 5 scoops of formula and 1 scoop of rice cereal. No teeth yet. Not crawling. Is “quiet emotional”: rub belly when she cries, and hold her so that head rests on shoulder. We jumped in the car for the quick jaunt around the corner to Helena’s “nanny” – a nice woman called Mrs. Chang. Samantha mentions that Mrs. Chang had a hard time with Helena at first as she cried so much. Our first view of Helena was as she sat, struggling and squalling, on Mrs. Chang’s lap, who was trying to get her into an outfit. I sat next to the Mrs. Chang for a while, and cooed to Helena, and we asked whatever questions we could thing of – how she liked to be held, if she’d ever been sick or had a high fever, how old she was when she came to the nanny, etc. Already it seems blurry, that time at the foster mom’s – but eventually I was holding her, and I cannot even describe the feeling.
Helena nuzzled in to my shoulder, wrapped a small fist around my arm, and lay there prettily happily for the next hour or so (later that night, the muscles in my left arm began to burn and throb and I realized I must have done some damage, with all that lifting, holding, and jiggling of baby! Should’ve been lifting weights- she’s quite the dumpling).
We signed our names and a message on ‘the wall’ on the third floor of the agency - where so many other new parents had left their messages. And we drove back to Taipei, stopping at a very nice highway rest area where Samantha helped us give Helena her first bottle, and had lunch. On the drive, I handed Helena to Nikolai for the first time, and she quickly realized he was a much comfier resting place than I am, and she snuggled in immediately. She even slept briefly. When awake, we dangled toys before her, but she disdained them all, apart from the crunchy, noisy book called the Fuzzy Bee, and the plastic book of photos, which she found very tasty.
We spent the afternoon trying to amuse her. We played with her, we gave her ‘tummy time’, we walked and carried her, we put her down for a nap – she slept for an hour - and we fed her a bottle – which she happily spat up all over me. I use big towels now, for feedings.
She’d had her pacifier in her mouth the entire day, and after her last bottle, I found myself unexpectedly seeing her whole face for the first time. As I played with her, she gave several of the most beautiful open-mouthed smiles I’ve ever seen. Breathtaking, this baby! Nikolai is enchanted as well. She watches us as we move around the room, and she loves to be held, and walked, and jiggled - though I could barely lift my toothbrush by the end of the day.
And here I am- at 3am – wide awake! Helena, I’m happy to report, is fast asleep. Perhaps Nikolai will cover for me tomorrow if I grab a few power naps, alongside Helena..
This morning we awoke early, so had time for a nice buffet breakfast downstairs. Mei Ru picked us up and the two hour drive went quickly. The route to Taichung is all industrial highway, but is surrounded by mountains and interesting towns. Some beautiful temples with gilded roofs nestled into the hillsides.
We finally arrived in Feng Yuan (pronounced Fung You-ann), and pulled up to the Taiwan Womens and Children’s Association building- which looks like a small shop front on a crowded commercial street. Samantha from the agency greeted us, and handed us a single sheet of paper, half full of typed instructions and tips on caring for Helena. Bottle every four hours, 5 scoops of formula and 1 scoop of rice cereal. No teeth yet. Not crawling. Is “quiet emotional”: rub belly when she cries, and hold her so that head rests on shoulder. We jumped in the car for the quick jaunt around the corner to Helena’s “nanny” – a nice woman called Mrs. Chang. Samantha mentions that Mrs. Chang had a hard time with Helena at first as she cried so much. Our first view of Helena was as she sat, struggling and squalling, on Mrs. Chang’s lap, who was trying to get her into an outfit. I sat next to the Mrs. Chang for a while, and cooed to Helena, and we asked whatever questions we could thing of – how she liked to be held, if she’d ever been sick or had a high fever, how old she was when she came to the nanny, etc. Already it seems blurry, that time at the foster mom’s – but eventually I was holding her, and I cannot even describe the feeling.
Helena nuzzled in to my shoulder, wrapped a small fist around my arm, and lay there prettily happily for the next hour or so (later that night, the muscles in my left arm began to burn and throb and I realized I must have done some damage, with all that lifting, holding, and jiggling of baby! Should’ve been lifting weights- she’s quite the dumpling).
We signed our names and a message on ‘the wall’ on the third floor of the agency - where so many other new parents had left their messages. And we drove back to Taipei, stopping at a very nice highway rest area where Samantha helped us give Helena her first bottle, and had lunch. On the drive, I handed Helena to Nikolai for the first time, and she quickly realized he was a much comfier resting place than I am, and she snuggled in immediately. She even slept briefly. When awake, we dangled toys before her, but she disdained them all, apart from the crunchy, noisy book called the Fuzzy Bee, and the plastic book of photos, which she found very tasty.
We spent the afternoon trying to amuse her. We played with her, we gave her ‘tummy time’, we walked and carried her, we put her down for a nap – she slept for an hour - and we fed her a bottle – which she happily spat up all over me. I use big towels now, for feedings.
She’d had her pacifier in her mouth the entire day, and after her last bottle, I found myself unexpectedly seeing her whole face for the first time. As I played with her, she gave several of the most beautiful open-mouthed smiles I’ve ever seen. Breathtaking, this baby! Nikolai is enchanted as well. She watches us as we move around the room, and she loves to be held, and walked, and jiggled - though I could barely lift my toothbrush by the end of the day.
And here I am- at 3am – wide awake! Helena, I’m happy to report, is fast asleep. Perhaps Nikolai will cover for me tomorrow if I grab a few power naps, alongside Helena..
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