T-Day Has Arrived!

We got to meet our beautiful daughter today and what a great first meeting we had! Tananya is so beautiful with these deep, dark pools for her eyes and eyelashes that curl all the way up to her eyebrows. She has soft CURLY hair which we could hardly believe. Tananya actually had fun, laughing and playing with us! Mikayla was so fantastic with her and was the key to much of the happiness her little sister experienced today. After breakfast, we went to the lobby to wait for Pat, the director of Holt Sahathai. While waiting we met Jeremy, Diana and Elliot who are also from the USA and are here adopting their son Benjamin. When Pat arrived we were surprised to learn that we are the only two couples going through with adoptions at this time. We went to the meeting room where we first met Mikayla five years ago to have our pre-child meeting discussion. We received a medical update and a CD with more photos of Tananya and of her birth mother and birth aunt (we haven't seen these yet). Tananya and Benji arrived right at 10:30 and with only two children, one boy and one girl, Jess had no trouble figuring out which child to videotape :) Tananya is so adorable and was wearing a darling little outfit complete with little lacy socks and red sandals. She weighs a little over 22 lbs and we received a copy of her schedule which is likely to go out the window once we take custody(for one thing she still wakes in the night for feedings and is still using a bottle). She toddles around with a cute little toddler walk and had seven teeth. Mikayla immediately started to play with Tananya and in only a few minutes Tananya was smiling and laughing. Just like her Daddy, she is a real ham - making some of the funniest faces and cocking her head to the side to mimic us. She leaned her head so far to the side that she almost tipped over! When I held her the first time, she began to cry but after being placed back on the floor with her sister and toys, settled down and enjoyed herself. Before long it was time to go and eat lunch, so Jess picked her up to carry her out. Just like with me, she tried valiantly to push away from Jess, using both her feet and arms, but Jess, now an experienced parent, gently continued to hold her. I held her once we got to the restaurant and was able to calm her by rocking back and forth. We ate lunch and although Tananya didn't eat much, she did feed herself a small amount of apple and played with some rice and egg. After lunch, Tananya walked with Mikayla and I to the elevator and up to our room. Tananya enjoyed playing in our room, especially with her big sister. We had a pretend tea party with Pat, and Tananya was even comfortable enough to offer Daddy and Mummy some "tea". She walked around our room and kissed her reflection in the full length mirror. Tananya was so cheerful, especially since she had missed her morning nap. Too soon it was time to leave, with Mikayla in tears at Tananya's departure. We had to reassure Mikayla several times that in two more sleeps, Tananya will be ours forever.