There she is!

OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF JOY! (below)

We got to Chung Yi early, almost 30 minutes early, and we wouldn't have gone in, but they saw us get out of the cab. So an office worker came outside. Joy's caregiver came and told us that she was at school and to come back in about 15 minutes. We were headed down the street, and here she comes whizzing by on the motor scooter! She saw us at the same time we saw her and instantly recognized us! If you look closely at the picture, you can see the glimpse of a little smile!

Then after she got of the bike, her caregiver came out to tell her that we were coming back. She was not happy about that, so they let us come in with her. She went and changed clothes and we went in the office to look at more paperwork. Both the translator and her caregiver were there to tell us about her, answer our questions (of which I could only think of - how will we understand her because she is so verbal!), and give us her schedule. They had also made a set of flashcards, like mine, and explained to her what they were. She can't read Chinese yet, but she knows what the pictures mean. Things like wash your hands, or "miss someone". She has her own set.

(I have more pictures to post, which I will do in the next one, since I can't figure out how to make them move in the post ---)

Words just can't describe this little girl! She's testing us to see if we really really care about her. She's well cared for, but starving for attention. She's precocious and a little girl all at the same time! And she's a monkey and constantly on the go!!

We went upstairs next and she was sitting on the floor "watching" cartoons on the tv. She was really watching us instead. She was coy and shy and didn't want to get up, like her caregiver asked her. We sat down on the floor next to her and she was thrilled. Gradually, she started relaxing. We compared feet to see whose was bigger. She climbed all over Tim, then found his comb in his back pocket. She had to comb his hair, then combed mine, then wanted hers combed. The caregiver told me that she loved my long hair and wanted long hair too (they keep all the kids hair short at the orphanage). She had a BIG sack of all her things that she packed to bring home. She started pulling out things that her foster family had given her. A couple of photo albums, a book, a castle block set, and a heart necklace. She wanted to wear it and so I put it on her. She then compared her necklace to mine (I was wearing my JOY necklace, of course). She spelled it out - J - O - Y and knew it was her name. She was thrilled that she had one like mine.

We stayed there, on the floor, a long time. She was enjoying being the center of attention, as any child would! She has obviously been thinking about this for a long time. She was ready! She showed us every single baby picture of her that she had. She showed us all the classwork from the kindergarten (3 books) that she had done. (They had kept all her drawings and assignments, neatly organized in books.) And even commented that some of her homework wasn't finished. Oops - sounds like someone else we know! ;)

Then we went to the park to play. She led us, holding my hand. I can't describe that at all! You'll just have to look at the picture!

We played on the jungle gym for a while, ran around and played with the ball we brought. Then it was time to go to McDonald's. Her caregiver and the translator went with us, but then left us once we got settled. They made sure Joy was okay before they left, and she was like - bye bye! - so, yes she was happy enough to be with us!

She ate all her chicken nuggets and every french fry that Baba wanted to feed her. She let me feed her corn soup (that came with the happy meal), then she fed each one of us. Tim put her toy together when she was almost through. She promptly took it apart and put it back together again. This is also a child who liked to play with the legos and the toy dump truck on the floor just before! I think Zach's old "boy" toys will be well-used!

We finished up and walked back to Chung Yi. She loved holding our hands and jumping up while we swung her forward. She repeated "Are you ready? GO!" with us each time, and certainly knew what it would produce! Then we started saying "I am a big girl NOW!" and she just loved it! And repeated it back.

When we got back to Chung Yi, there was a man there who was translating for us. We both said to her, "wo ai ni" which means "I love you". Tim in this big bear hug and me with a kiss on her forehead. She was all smiles. When the man asked her what she should say back, she said shyly, "wo ai ni". Then he said, no, in English. And a bright big, "I love you!" came back. With more hugs and then good bye till tomorrow. And up the stairs she ran!

We go back tomorrow at 10am.

And then she'll never have to go back there as a little girl without parents to love her.

feeling overwhelmed and blessed at the same time,

Margaret and Tim