It's Official!

We didn't have a whole lot planned for Tuesday, just a trip back to the civil affairs office to finalize the adoption. That wasn't until afternoon, so we had a lot of time to kill until then. Leah didn't come with any of the clothes that we sent her, so she needs a few more things to get by on this trip. We thought we would go shopping to get some things for her. We checked with our guide to find more reasonably priced shopping. We both love Leah to death, but designer fashion is not in her future.

So, this area that the hotel is in is kind of like a big outdoor mall area in addition to the mall that is attached to our hotel . Think of Michigan Ave in Chicago but with two intersecting streets that are mostly pedestrian streets. Our guide told us that on average about 300,000 people visit this area each day and on holidays more like 900,000. It is still the tail end of Chinese New Year, and Monday was the Lantern Festival which officially marks the end of Chinese New Year. So I believe we have been on the upper end of the daily foot traffic through here. All that to say that it has been kind of crazy on the streets.

Leah, on the other hand, is from very rural Chongqing. She told us that this is her first visit to the city proper. Every time we get her out walking in the crowds she freezes up. She is a very sweet girl and tries to do what we ask of her, but we can just see her shut down when we try to go out on the streets. That is making shopping very difficult, and we need to get a few things for her. We resolved to try to find something in the expensive mall just to get by. She is a little more comfortable there since it is quieter. We will try that tomorrow.

As far as the civil affairs office, there was not a question about whether she would come with us or not. I guess they could tell that by how she was hanging onto us because they never officially asked her the question. Our girl has been non-stop smiles up until this point, but we saw a small crack when the orphanage director and ayi left. Tears welled up in her eyes and she started crying. We gave her big hugs and let her cry but she pulled herself together pretty quickly. I think she is trying so hard to please us. She doesn't know that she really doesn't have to bother. She had us at hello ... I mean ni hao!

The day ended with Leah falling asleep with book in hand at 6:30. She did wake up just long enough later on to tuck us both into our beds.