Visiting Shanghai Children's Home

Today we visited the orphanage.  The entrance was so beautiful.  Bright colors were at the entrance as well as in all of the halls and classrooms.  The director gave us a stamp of Rosie's Chinese name.  It was really crazy to finally see the playroom with the green railing, that we had seen in Rosie's referral photo.  From the playroom, we could see the crib room full of Rosie's friends. The rooms were seperated by a utilitarian kitchen.  In the cribroom, Keith, Lia and I gave stickers to the kids, and they put them on their foreheads. Rosie stood at her old crib side and took it all in one last time.   As we walked to Rosie's classroom, Lia and Rosie walked the halls hand in hand.  The classroom was very bright, warm and appealing to young children.   The director started to play the piano, and  played Amazing Grace.  What a sense of peace Keith and I got.  On the wall there was a class poster showing all of Rosie's classmates, but Rosie's photo is no longer there.  The notes at the top shows Rosie's official Gotcha Day date!  As we left, the Director and our guide Zita asked Rosie if she was OK about leaving, and she said yes.  We walked down the steps, while Rosie occasionally turned around to throw kisses to the director.  The girls fell asleep during the car ride back to the hotel.  When Rosie woke up, she cried sweetly and softly in my arms for about 15 minutes, while Keith, Lia and Zita (our guide) were very busy working on paperwork details.  It was a tough day for Rosie, but she handled it well.

Rosie has bonded very well with Keith, Lia and I.  Rosie bonded instantly, but I must say, that Rosie is just full of so much love! We are very thankful for the nannies at the SCH since Rosie has great eye contact, smiles very easily and focuses very well.