Raising a teenager...from China

We have had Ming Yu for two full days now, and apparently teenagers in China are a lot like teenagers in the US.  They want to talk to talk to their friends rather than spend time with their parents.  They think texting or instant messaging is the only form of communication.  When they do talk they have a one word vocabulary, "no!".  They like to sleep late.  Ming Yu is a typical teenager except for the fact that she has never had a family...until now.  She has had a precious nanny from her orphanage who loved her deeply and who cried when they said goodbye, but she's never known the love that only a mother and father can provide.  She has had friends from her orphanage but she's never known what kind of friend a sibling can be.  Through our unpredictable translators, charades, and acting mostly just silly she is slowly learning these things.  She is not sure how much to trust us yet.  She's really not sure how much she even likes us, but we do get smiles when we hug her and tell her that we love her and that we are proud that she is our daughter. As we go through the normal business of a day we wonder how much of her personality is guarded by years in an institution.  We see glimpses of joy through the wall.  We are determined to see more and more joy. 

Oh well, enough philosophy.  What else have we done.  We have eaten so much delicious Chinese food.  Ming Yu likes things spicy. So spicy her dad can't even keep up.  We were told that she liked American food like McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut...not so true.  We also spent the afternoon shopping yesterday.  It took a while but Ming Yu finally let me buy her something. We were told that her favorite color was pink....wrong again.  She hates pink. She only wants to wear black or white, so the clothes we brought are not her favorite. Some she has completely refused to wear. Sound familiar parents of teenagers. She found a few items that we bought so hopefully she won't have to wear the same clothes everyday for the next two weeks.  She found a watch that made her very excited and some earrings as well although we had to convince her to wear them once we got back to the room.  I guess when you've never gotten to make choices about clothes or accessories it can be overwhelming.  She wanted some white boots, but we couldn't find any that she liked at the mall.  When I went out to pick up supper I found some that I felt fit the description.  I bought them and got a huge smile when she opened them.  She and I have spent time playing games onthe iPad. We have tried to teach her simple English words through UNO and BubblePop.  

Lauren and I decided that she was truly meant to be our child.  We have each picked out characteristics that she got from each of us.  Her height is most certainly from me.  Her dark hair and dark eyes from her Mom!!!  Her desire to sleep also from her Mom, but the way she grinds her teeth at  night is most certainly from her Aunt Leigh.  If anyone ever saw me play a sport you know how I always had my tongue sticking out during intense moments.  Ming Yu does this also when playing games on the computer.  On her it's definitely much cuter.  I guess God doesn't have to use genetics to give parents and their children similar traits. We are not sure where it came from but she has a beautiful voice when she lets us hear it. 

Today is our last day in Jinan. We fly out to Zhengzhou this afternoon.  We get Davidson tomorrow.  We can't wait to see him again and hold him in our arms.  4 months is a long time to go without seeing your child.  Trust me, we are counting down the hours.  

Although we have been told Internet is not very dependable in Zhengzhou we hope to be able to keep updates and pictures coming.  I pray that everyone reading this is having a wonderful Christmas season.  We certainly are while having the biggest adventure of our lives!!!