Nine Years Ago Today!

Nine years ago, we were anxiously waiting in our room for our twins to be brought to us!!

We had spent a few days in Beijing prior to travelling to Wuhan, and arrived in Wuhan mid-morning on Monday, March 9, 1998. The rest of our travel group wasn't due in until late afternoon at the earliest. On our way to the hotel, our guide, George, informed us that they would be bringing our girls to us THAT AFTERNOON!!!! (We were a bit surprised as we figured it wouldn't be until the next morning). We checked in and went to the restaurant to try to eat some lunch. We were really excited about getting the girls a day early, as the girls 1st birthday was Feb 9, so they were exactly 13 months old.

About 2pm, there was a knock on the door, and (former) Director Li was standing there holding a crying child and George was holding a sleeping child. Director Li put Chen Yue (Erin), still screaming, into my arms and George put Chen Lliang (Aura) into my husband, David's, arms. I still remember that moment as if it just happened! I stared at that little, screaming, face in awe - not sure what, exactly, I was feeling: happy, excited, scared, even a bit numb.

After a few minutes, David put the still sleeping Aura down onto the bed. Director Li and I spent the next 15 minutes trying to console Erin, with no luck. FINALLY, she cried herself to sleep. When they both woke up, about 30 minutes later, within 1 minute of each other, both were totally calm and very curious about their new surroundings. They could scooch around a bit, and could walk a few steps while holding on, but neither could sit up, roll over, or crawl. Of course, that was probably due to their being dressed in FIVE heavy layers, including two quilted snow-suits! When we got them, they couldn't bend :-) . It was interesting to note that every few minutes they would make eye contact with each other, then relax again, as if to say "it's ok, we're together."

We got our first smiles that afternoon, and our first recognizable word that evening! We needed to go out to the store - the girls were at least 5 pounds HEAVIER than we ever expected, and none of the clothes (or diapers) we'd brought fit! Anyway, it was cool out so we went to put a jacket on Aura, who wanted no part of that jacket. Toddler that she was, she crossed her arms, shook her head back and forth, and very clearly said "Bu! Bu! BU!" (Chinese for "no")

We did learn that Erin was usually a very happy child, except when she was woken up! As long as she could sleep until she woke, she was fine! But, if someone woke her, it would be crying, screaming, and tantrums.

Now, nine years later, the girls are 10 years old and are in 4th grade, where they are both AB students. They both like dancing (they take ballet and modern dance). Aura loves playing basketball. Erin adores horses and spends most of every Saturday riding. Erin still hates being awakened (even if there aren't any tears, there are temper fits, foot stomping and clothes thrown just about every morning! LOL) All Aura can talk about is that it'll only be 6 more years until she can drive and get a car. They both love teasing each other about which boys they like, have a huge collection of Littlest Pet Shop critters and stuff, are getting a huge collection of Webkinz critters, and are starting to like music by groups I've never heard of!

It's been an amazing experience watching them grow from infant/toddlers into the young ladies they are now. I can't wait to see what the next few years will bring, I just hope I can survive it!
Hugs!

Marla

mom to TWINS Aura & Erin

b. 2/9/98; a. 3/9/98; Wuhan, China

(names were changed to protect the girls privacy.)