....you may see a stranger...across a crowded room.....

....and that's how it happened.

We went with the other families to the Provincial Civil Affairs Office, and soon after our arrival, one by one, with their caregivers, the babies arrived. All dressed in the same yellow outfits. And when I saw our daughter, I told Evan, "that's her, over there". Over there, was across the room, about 15 feet away, along with several other babies. But I recognized her immediately and she was staring right at us! Really!! A fixed,dead on gazing stare. And it wasn't just the two of us standing on the other side of the room, but also several other families gathered together watching the parade of scared little ones coming in. One of the mom's standing next to me saw her staring and asked if that was our baby 'cause she was looking right at us! So, there you have it. Independent confirmation of what I saw. It wasn't my imagination. She knew her mom and dad. And in the instant I saw her staring at us, I knew she was ours.



It was hard to take her from her caregiver's arms. I stood next to the two of them for a few seconds waiting to see what Mia would do. But her caregiver motioned to me to take her, and I did. She looked completely stunned, but she was looking around, looking at me, looking at Evan, and looking and listening to all the new sounds in the room. Well at least I think that's what she was doing. I actually have no idea. But, she was extremely alert and curious.

She didn't really know what to make of Evan. When he tried to touch her or hold her, she turned away and put her head on my chest. My friend Lori and her husband Mark are here in China too, but they picked up their daughter Juliana about a week ago. Lori told me that Juliana responded the same way to Mark when she first met him. So I was expecting that Mia might likewise be apprehensive with Evan. All of the orphanage workers are female. And, our facilitator told us today that the babies are rarely taken outside the orphanage, so Mia's entire life has been spent with other babies and women.

Less than a half hour after receiving our children, we drove back to the hotel. Aside from the 5 hour drive to meet us, this was the first time Mia had ever really been outside the orphange. She looked itensely out the van window and I made sure to cover her eyes as we approached and passed McDonalds.

Evan worked really hard to gain Mia's trust. He played with her while I held her, and after a short while, she went to him. Now, either of us can hold her, but mostly I haven't been able to put her down.

They found Mia on the steps of Lianyungang Social Welfare Institute approximately 22 days after she was born wrapped in a red blanket. Weighing just under 6 lbs, her referral documents described her as thin and weak. Today, she was anything but that. Although she is a little small for her age, she is bright eyed, extremely alert and curious, has an intense gaze, big wide eyes and very strong arms and legs. For my friends and family who know yoga, she put herself in a downward dog pose, was doing little cat-cow stretches, and was pushing herself up into a baby cobra. No coaching at all from me. We just let her do her thing. That's my girl!!

She's sleeping now. So is Evan. It was a long, unbelievably beautiful day.