First Impressions

She is a knock out in more ways than one. She bounced into the meeting room, big greeting, hug and kiss, asking when the plane was leaving, stunning, absolutely gorgeous. None of the pictures I have do her any kind of justice. She is sturdier than Mimi, but the same height, a little shorter than YuYu. YuYu was pretty reticent during the first minutes, but warmed up to her right away and concludes that she will be a lot of fun.

She has already pinched me, hit me stuck out her tongue and that was all during our three-hour honeymoon during which she grabbed, threw or tried to break everything she touched. As my father would so eloquently describe her behavior, she is a bull in a china shop, no pun intended. Someone run, run fast, to my house and put EVERYTHING UP! and I'm not kidding. For the first three hours, it was looking like I might be a pretty good deal. I have to keep looking at the phrase sheet for don't touch, you can't do that, stop, careful, not good. I never had to learn that page with YuYu. Around 7:30, YuYu was starting to run out of gas and I don't know what time Xiao Ye started her day, but she wasn't acting tired. We were making tent blankets and she just reached over and hit me in the head and I sternly, with a look that I think says I mean business, told her BU YAO (and I should have added na yang but didn't have the phrase completely committed to memory = don't do that) and she wanted no more of me. She wailed and raged for her mama, but she didn't hit me. I think she was just very tired too, because it only lasted until I brought her in to watch me do YuYu's teeth. She stopped crying and very compliantly let me do her teeth and watched while I did mine. I laid her down next to YuYu and as I was stroking YuYu's hair and kissing her good night, the crying for Xiao Ye's mama started up in earnest. But it only went on for 10-15 minutes, max. I was singing the same song over and over and finally, more in self-defense than anything else, she went to sleep. She is snoring away in her bed right now, her nose is stuffy and she tries to blow, but isn't very proficient. YuYu was so beat, that she just fell asleep during the Xiao Ye's loud crying.

She is rough rough rough, loud loud loud, fun fun fun, beautiful beautiful beautiful. I have met my Waterloo and her name is Jiang Xiao Ye. The illusion to a battle is intentional. This is one stubborn, naughty child, the game is afoot. Wish I could upload photos, she is really pretty, just like her sisters, two of whom I miss very much tonight.
More about YuYu's parents and the feast they prepared for us today at a later date. And yes, they would have adopted her in a heartbeat but couldn't afford it. They were holding their breath that she wouldn’t be matched and thought they were almost in the clear until "their world crumbled" when they found out she was being adopted. In their praise, they rallied and prepared her for her adoption so well. They love her as a daughter and so do I. I am very proud that they are members of my family, very proud.