December 12, 2002 Update

In case you’re wondering: For all of those who thought Emily would attach to me and not Susan. You are wrong. Emily likes to be held by Susan more than I (although that is slowly changing each day). At first, Emily ONLY wanted to be held by Susan. Race as an attachment factor was nil.

We did not learn until yesterday that Emily is a skilled crawler. We initially thought that she was VERY behind developmentally. For the first few days, she did not turn over on her side and barely crawled. Now she is crawling (with great speed) everywhere. She is now getting into everything. We’ve had to close our hotel bathroom door and raise the trashcans of the floor.

And it is true about the little old ladies in China. They love kids. In public areas (parks, city streets, supermarkets, public buildings) they will come up to Susan, smile at the baby, and interact with Emily (even pinch her cheeks). If they don’t think Emily is wearing enough layers (it is cold in Nanchang), they will lecture Susan about putting more clothes on Emily. Some will even put there fingers up Emily’s arm or leg to determine how may layers she is wearing. One time, I saw one lady pacing around us who looked very concerned. I saw her go from person to person around us. Finally, after 5 minutes, the old lady found a man who spoke a little English. The man came up to Susan to tell her that the lady wanted to tell Susan that 2 layers is the minimum amount of layers a baby should be out in. She seems relived that her message got to Susan. Some are less direct and will simply come up to Susan and Emily, smile, pinch Emily’s cheek, and zip up Emily’s jacket (or button up a jacket up) as they are interacting.

Never have any skin from a leg or arm exposed on a baby while in China. Otherwise, feel the wrath of an old lady.

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou, home of the U.S. Consulate in China with an adoption unit.