Gotcha Day!

Anna and her foster mother



Anna and Mommy for the first time



Anna and daddy

We just returned from Taichung, about 2.5 hours from our hotel. The day so far seems like a whirl. We met Mr. Yeh at 8:10 and arrived at TWCA at 10:30. We received Anna's schedule. Samantha, the social worker for TWCA, took us to the foster mother's house and place of business, just a few blocks away. She was waiting outside with Anna watching for us. Anna was dressed in pink leggings, shoes, a onsie, and a long sweater. The sweater and shoes were the first outfit I bought her from Baby Gap. The shoes were a little small, but the sweater still fit. We haven't changed her clothing yet, but 3-6 months' clothes will work.

She is just as beautiful in person as in the photos. She was smiling at her foster mother. She stared at us, a little unsure, but came to me almost instantly. It was so amazing to finally hold her after just having pictures for 7 months. At first, she just studied my face. She went to Ralph just as quickly as to me and studied him also. Within a few minutes, she warmed up. She especially liked Daddy, and he had her laughing. We played with her at the foster home for about 20 minutes. At one point, the foster mother held her, and she leaned for Ralph to take her instead.

We could tell the foster mom sincerely cared for Anna and that Anna loved her. She has been very well cared for. When we left the foster home, Anna easily went with us. The foster mother and Samantha said she is a very happy and social baby but takes a while to warm up to new environments. There was another baby in the home who we did not see, and the foster mother said Anna would go over to the other baby and comfort it.

We then went to the baby store where we bought formula and rice cereal for Anna and to donate to the agency, applesauce and rice crackers, diapers and a stroller. It was back to the TWCA for a short visit. We dropped off the gifts, received Anna's possessions, and signed only one piece of paper saying we picked her up and when we were leaving. TWCA has a wall where families write messages, so we got to write on the wall in permanent ink, something I would discipline Ryan over. Anna appears very healthy but has a little cold and folliculitis, so we were given medications for this.

We were told that usually people receive a photo of the birth mother, but Anna's birth mother was "very young," 19, and her family wants to protect her privacy. They want her to "move on with life" and "put this behind her." We are very sorry we did not get to meet her or at least have a picture, but we must respect the families' wishes. We give regular updates to TWCA, so maybe her birth mother will contact them at a later point in time.

We left Taichung by noon and drove strait back to the hotel with only 1 stop at a rest stop. Their rest stops have food booths and are very nice. It was hectic, and apparently, they did not have many Americans there. I received some very blatant stares.

We got back to the hotel at about 2:30, and Daddy independently changed Anna's first diaper, and I fed Anna her first bottle. I left her playing with Daddy to come and post a few photos. We will try to write more and add photos and videos later today or tomorrow.

Pictures from the foster home