The Rest of the Story

...so anyway, the nanny puts her in my arms and she doesn't cry! Not one little bit! I don't either! We are both pretty calm, considering. Then I hand her off to Kevin and she starts exploring his mouth with her hand. Meanwhile, our Mandarin-speaking guide is trying to translate for the Cantonese-speaking nanny who is trying to tell us her feeding schedule, etc. She gives us a sheet oddly titled "Gang Hao Mei One's Life Conditions Show." This document contains information such as "When does she have meal?", "Show her medical history and accident in old days and how to diagnose or treat her wound wherever she has," and my favorite, "Whether does she have any hobbies, detestation or sensitive matters or not? (sometimes she had a little cold)." I am disappointed that they did not use the disposable camera we sent, but the nanny does give us a little album with a couple of pictures we hadn't seen before. The rest of the time is a blur..the next thing I remember is being back at the hotel room and giving her a bath in the sink, which she loves. In fact, she doesn't cry until I pull the towel out from under her which I think hurts her little thumb or something :( The next thing we do is examine her from head to toe. She seems very sturdy and well-fed (15 pounds!) but her skin is a mess. We use the scabies cream prescribed by the international doc at Children's and then I rub a mixture of cortisone and baby lotion on her little head, which is covered in little bumps. It seems to stop the constant scratching she is doing. After a while Kevin goes out for McDonald's (again!) and then we try to feed her from a bottle. It goes badly. Next, some puffs. "No way, strange people," she tells us in no uncertain terms. She is very firm in her likes and dislikes! Then, some baby food. Again, "Not a chance, foreign devils." Still, she doesn't cry. Eventually we put her in some soft, footed jammies and put her in the crib. She seems to have learned how to put herself to sleep by rocking herself and scratching at the mattress, which she does for just a few minutes until she falls fast asleep. Later in the night, she wakes a few times but again calms herself before I can get up to help her. And that is how our wonderful, amazing, miraculous, and exhausting Gotcha Day ends.