A Good and Not So Good Day

Well everyone, today was quite the mixed bag, so lets start with the positives.  First of all, Madison did great today at the doctor appointments and wasn't a bit nervous going from room to room at the health clinic. Nor did she cry or even flinch when they gave her the TB test/shot! Our guide explained to Madison all that was going to happen to her before we went, which really helped a lot.  It also didn't hurt that David had a couple of pieces of candy in his pocket that he brought out right after the shot...they don't give out suckers and stickers when you leave the doctor in China, so that was a great move! You talk about a crazy and busy place; that clinic was nuts AND our guide said that today wasn't even a busy day.  So, praise God for your prayers and for His answering them...yea God!

Now for the not so good part of our day.  Yesterday there was a brief episode where Madison became really energetic and wouldn't listen to or respond to us.  We took her outside to the play ground to let her run off some energy, which in our minds seemed to help.  Today however, those actions and behaviors returned and unfortunately on a much bigger scale.

While Madison was perfect at the doctors office and at the table at lunch, once we got to back to the hotel she started running around, yelling, and acting out.  Nothing we said really seemed to matter (not like she can understand us anyway).  So after a few failed attempts to correct her, we just sat there and let her go.  Even when did correct Madison she would just laugh.  She laughs at everything, even when she falls she laughs, which is certainly not normal.  Whether its a coping mechanism, fear, a form of grief, nervousness, etc, it's hard and pushed us to the limit today.  While all this was going in the hotel room, David and I just looked at each other in disbelief and on the verge of crying.  Then after dinner, which went well, we gave Madison a bath and now she is sleeping...which honestly is our only saving grace at this point.

So it goes without saying that is has been a long day here in China. I am really trying to just be real & honest, so I am not going to just share the good without also sharing our struggles. Madison's testing of us is a challenge, and it bothers us that she has not cried at all since Gotcha Day.  At first we thought that was good, but now we think she needs to grieve before she can move forward and really bond with us.  The language barrier is also beginning to wear on all 3 of us.  Those apps we downloaded have been useless thus far because this evening, Madison spoke a sentence into the one that translates her words into english and what came back was "I have a silver platter".  Pretty sure that wasn't what she was saying.  Maybe "I have a full bladder" or "do these pajamas make me look fatter?", or "swing batter batter" (there was a baseball game on TV)...I could go on all night (honesty I'm too tired to do so). But in the end the apps are no good right now.

But enjoy the pics and please pray for us as it is VERY hard to be in a foreign country with a child that doesn't speak your language, missing my girls at home terribly, and living in a hotel for 15 days.  It is all VERY stressful and your prayers for a better day tomorrow are greatly appreciated.  Pray Madison sleeps well and through night, that we do too, and for our visit to her orphanage tomorrow, which is about an hour van ride away (and you all know much I love the transportation here). Thank you so much.

P.S. I must say she was rockin the zebra print today! :)

Melissa