Family Day 2013

In the adoption world, Gotcha Day is the day you receive your child and what you call the anniversary of that day each year. We are going with the alternative name because we want to celebrate the whole, complete family. Plus, 'Gotcha' is just a little too much slang for me, so we call it Family Day. I've been looking forward to August 13, our first Family Day as a big milestone for some time.

In the morning, I was treated to a rare long and not-too-squirmy snuggle with my little Ruby who took a long time to wake up.  Then the girls and I watched home videos of each of them as babies. My husband missed some of Family Day because of some serious back muscle pain and resulting medications that kept him in bed. He made a big effort to get himself ready to go out for a late lunch to celebrate.



Ruby loves tractors.

We had a simple Family Day. We picked up lo mien because that was the first food we fed to Ruby when we tempted out of her post-hand-over-near-comatose state. I got sushi.  We took this picnic to Perrydell Dairy where we later visited the baby cows which *thrilled* Ruby.

Perrydell ice cream was also a hit. We chatted about what we liked about our family during the snack.




Then we visited our local library where, unfortunately, the little girls piled up a ridiculous number of board books on the floor for no good reason. After cleaning that up, we headed to the playground outside where some of us faced a little time out and others played.

This is the video I had the bellhop take as Ruby first walked into the huge lobby of the Sheraton in Hohhot (if you can't see it in your email version, go to the blog itself). Here she's just come through the doors where we have been anxiously waiting for about 20 minutes, after waiting, slightly less anxiously, in our room for much longer.  We're kneeling smack dab in the center of the not very private lobby, and the very young woman who escorted Ruby from Beijing is the one encouraging her to make friends with us as we attempt to buy her toddler affection with toys and lollypops. In retrospect, one of my frequent prayers was answered. I was praying that she wouldn't burst into tears at her first sight of us.


So, not a really warm reception on Ruby's part, but at least the all out tantrum didn't come for another 20 minutes.





This is the first all-family photo taken when we returned from China a year ago.

This is the most recent one.  

Probably the biggest difference is the fact that Ruby now has no problem letting her daddy be the one to hold her.  A year ago his hug was torture to her! But I think she's also leaning back on her family instead of trying to inch away. She's really grown into the family in the last year.
 
Thanks for all the support we've had in the last twelve months from you all too!