Yesterday was difficult. Today will be better.

Today YangYang let me dress her. She opted for the jeans and t-shirt. She has definite opinions. She also let me sit by her at breakfast and was pretty proud when she was able to stab a sausage piece with her fork. So much progress.

Then we headed off to Civil Affairs to make the adoption official. The orphanage rep was there and she speaks English. She was so happy to see YangYang adjusting so well. She told me she was really nervous after yesterday. We had a short interview and the Civil Affairs officer also spoke English. Perhaps due to Shanghai being such an urban, global city. Once the adoption certificate was ready, the Civil Affairs officer presented the certificate to me in a room set up for a nice photo opportunity. She's officially ours!!

Then we had to go to the notary's office to notarize the adoption certificate and finish the prep work on the certificates needed for the US side of the paperwork. While there, I also received a copy of Amanda's finding ad and the most precious gift Amanda will get. When she was found, her birth parents had left a letter with her. It wasn't just a note with her birthday like I expected. In fact, her birthday wasn't even listed. Veronica translated it to me right away and I of course cried. The letter said they were a married couple who did not live in Shanghai, but worked there. They did not have the means to take care of a baby although she was healthy. They hoped someone would be able to care for her and provide for her. What a gift!

After that we were supposed to visit the orphanage, but by the time we would have gotten there, it would have been nap time and we would not be able to see any of the children. Our children would not have been able to say goodbye to their friends. So we will go there Thursday morning instead. More time will be good. So instead, we went to a Walmart Supercenter. I bought Amanda some new socks as she was drowning in the ones I brought. I also bought her a t-shirt with Minnie Mouse. Disney marketing works all over the world. Amanda wanted that one above the 6 or 7 others we showed her and she kept checking to make sure it was still in the cart (which she opted to sit in today). We also bought some bubbles from the toy section. Yes, she pointed out others, but also learned that her new mama isn't going to buy her everything.

Before going back to the hotel, we stopped for pizza at a place Veronica liked. I made the mistake of not getting a separate cup for Amanda to get pop and she got all sullen again. I figured she could have my water, but she wants what her sisters get. After getting the cup she was fine. She also liked the popcorn chicken I got her and especially liked it with ketchup. She wanted to let me know she really liked that! She called me mama a couple times today - another when she wanted to play with the bubbles back at the hotel.

There was another misunderstanding between Anna and Amanda back at the hotel where Amanda ended up crying. Veronica happened to call and was able to translate that Amanda wanted to wash her hands and Anna thought she was going to dump the bubble stuff. Veronica told me I was a very good mom. I was feeling like the language barrier might be a bigger hurdle than I thought, but she assured me things were going very well.

For bed, Veronica had told YangYang to let me give her a bath and put on the pajamas I brought for her. Amanda did let me give her a bath, but wanted the Minnie Mouse t-shirt to wear for bed. So I put that on her and the summer pajama shorts I brought for Guangzhou. I was exhausted and fell asleep by 9:00 so am sending this post Wednesday morning. It was the first good night's sleep I had since coming here.