Everything is better with Coke and French fries!

It’s our 3^rd morning with Kate. She’s still pretty sick but overall we’re making some progress with bonding. We just took her to the doctor in the clinic here at our hotel. Quite an experience. It’s a very nice western hotel, and the doctor was a very kind, older man. He said Kate has bronchitis. She wasn’t thrilled with the exam at all. The doctor apparently thought she was our biological kid because he asked her to “open your mouth” in English. Dawn politely said “oh, she speaks mandarin, not English.” Another American lady in the playroom also thought Kate was our bio kid. And when we go out, the Chinese are very intrigued and have to check her out, as albinism is extremely rare here. So the kind doctor hooked us up with some antibiotics, expectorant, Benadryl, & robitussin, and hopefully Kate is on the road to a speedy recovery.

Last night she ate her best meal yet. And the menu: KFC! The other family in our group requested some variety from the Chinese fare, and Kate chowed down on some fried chicken and French fries! It probably also helped a lot that we ate it in the hotel room, with no noise and tons of people. Our guide thought she wasn’t eating because she was sad & grieving, which makes sense, so her appetite is another good sign. The trend continued this morning when she ate a lot at breakfast. On Monday, we didn’t have time for a lengthy lunch between the airport and the adoption office, so we hit McDonald’s for a quick double cheese. I found it interestingly ironic that our pre-game meal was at the Arches.

Kate has continued to bond and attach to Dawn, which is great. She sits in dawn’s lap during meals and lets Dawn feed her by hand, which we’ve read is good for bonding. She was definitely not feeling the shopping cart in Carrefour, but thankfully for dawn’s sake she was ok with the sling. I had to check out the beverage section in the store. Coke is ubiquitous here – we’ve had it at every restaurant! Our guide checked the label and told us it was bottled in Huizhou, Kate’s hometown! So we’re doing our part to help her local economy and her college fund.

She’s probably never been around men in her life, so she still pulls away when I ask her if I can hold her. But she endures a friendly pat on the back with minimal frowning. One of my best friends in highschool always impressed me when one dis wouldn’t stop his pursuit, so I’ll be patient and not push it, but I’m not about to give up!