We put her back in the baby backpack and we toured around the town a bit. Our hotel is very near the canal area by the Confucius temple and it is a hot spot to say the least. It is full of shops and restaurants and it is absolutely crawling with people. Catherine L-O-V-E-D being in the backpack and taking it all in. She just sat in there and watched the people and all of the lights while she giggled to herself. It was very cute!
Our problems came when we stopped for dinner... there was still all of the lights and people but now she was out of the backpack. This led her to get WAY overstimulated and things got a little out of control. We simply could not communicate with her and she just kept getting more and more upset... it was like everything was just spilling out all over the table. At other moments of the day she seemed just fine but we can see that her delays/sensory issues are much more apparent when she is stressed, hungry, or tired. She was all 3 of these at the same time and we finally gave up and just got her out of there. It was a very exhausting and emotionally challenging event for all 3 of us.
We took her back to the room, gave her a nice bubble bath, and settled her down. After we got her pajamas on (which she was fascinated by because they has short sleeves!) she saw her milk sippy cup she ran right over, grabbed it, and started sucking it down. I probably should have stopped her because it was old rice milk (from earlier in the day) but it was making her so calm. Jay and I just looked at eachother and laughed... THAT is what she wanted at the restaurant! I had brought her other sippy cup (with juice) because we had heard that the milk was not very important to her (and we do not have access to rice milk here in Nanjing). Obviously, not true! So, we learned then and there that there is going to be a very steep learning curve with her.
She bounced around in her bed until about 10pm and then she fell deep asleep. To say that it has been a LONG day for everyone would be a HUGE understatement. Hopefully tomorrow we can build on her good moments, learn from the bad ones, and work on our communication with her.
It's hard to wake up!
Catherine's Happy Place
Nanjing at Night
"Meeting" her brothers and sisters for the first time via Skype!
Glad I read your later (happier) post before this one---then again, it brings make memories---Maia would have a meltdown during EVERY van ride in China!! It got to the point where she started screaming as soon as she saw it---and did not stop until we were out! She also did it in every elevator (but that stopped in GZ)...Oh and she would not sit on her own at any table to eat. Ahhhh---good memories :-/
ReplyDeleteAlso, Jin may be able to tell you about those tantrums...she was our guide too-she may remember us---from May---if you mention "Tie-hong" (Maia's Chinese name, 'Caihong' pronunciation)---and that we were with our youngest children, Karrigan (who got sick) and Nolan (who has too much energy!)
You are all doing great and Catherine is just going to progress and blossom every day---she's already come so far.
HEY!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe have not been back from long and I thought I wouold see what you guys are doing!
SHE IS GORGEOUS!!!
Love the FINDING PLACE STORY!
Kinda like Adam and the Mayor. God has such great things planned for these kids.
You look like you are having such a great time and the pictures you have taken are out of this world.
I would love to be where you are . PING is our favorite book..it talks about the river.
Can't wait to see what you guys are up to tomorrow. How long til Guangzhou. Don't forget to take Cat to the zoo.
Love you,
Andrea