Introducing Brooke Ke Xin Myers!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Gotcha Day!!!!!!!! It went really - better than I expected. We met the guide, Yisha, in the lobby and boarded the bus for the short ride to the registration office. We were told that some of the kids were there, but some would arrive after us. So, I was quite surprised to hear "Qian Ke Xin!" almost before I put my things down on the nearest table. And there she was! Just standing there looking around, very serious. Everyone gasped, since she was the first in the room, and started taking pics of her. She didn't cried at all. She put her hands behind her head when I reached for her the first time. (This is funny to Mark and me because Olivia did the same thing as a baby.) I presented her with her purse full of little goodies and a super-soft stuffed horse. She was fairly interested in them and dug into the M&Ms. She got very animated when I showed her 2 pictures I'd put in the purse. One is of her and her foster brother Qi Meng, and the other is of the two of them with their foster mother. She kept pointing to her foster mom and saying "mama! mama!" and she would point to QiMeng and say something like "Moo!" (Now I'm REALLY disappointed we can't visit the orphanage - I think that closure would have meant a great deal to her and to our bonding process.) She was willing to share her candy with Olivia immediately and gave her several of the m&ms. She was very familiar with the little toy cell phone and liked the sounds it made.

After we had the kids for a little while, we signed the guardianship agreement and headed for the photo store for pictures to go on the passport and our adoption record. The bus driver overshot the shop, so we had to walk back a couple blocks. The store was very small and hot and the walk back to the hotel was VERY hot and sweaty. Olivia was out by the time we got back and was very hot again. She's not throwing up, but I think we have lost a lot of ground in her recovery.

We called Daddy on skype and he got to see his new daughter and talk to Olivia. He was totally tickled.

Ke Xin is in diapers. I didn't know if she'd let me change the wet one she had on, but she was perfectly happy to. She rethreaded the straps of her sandals and dressed herself in the new clothes I offered her. All this while, she has been silent & very watchful. NO smiles.

She and debbi and Olivia all took a nice nap. Deb and Ke Xin are awake, so we'll eat and then I have to head down to do paperwork. Things are running very smoothly, so far...