July 18, 1997:
Though I have been trying to get to the computer to share our journey with you, it has not been possible. I have new priorities. But I love to write, too. And sharing this journey into our new life is almost as enjoyable to me as it has been receiving Kristina. I suppose I'm a journalist and a dad at heart.
Kristina continues to charm us and delight us in so many ways. Last night, as I tried to get her to sleep by holding her and rocking her and singing the only lullaby I know, she babbled lovingly and I thought I heard her say, "Da da" but I can't be sure. This whole new language thing is going to take a little time. But what I did notice was she was laying in her crib practicing sound effects she enjoyed doing. She can make the clicking noise with her tongue, she enjoys clapping, she enjoys playing peek-a-boo with her hands, and she was trying to imitate some mouth noises Linda was making for her.
As I rubbed her tummy and sang my lullaby, she picked up my hand with her tiny ones and put it to her cheek then moved it back down to her tummy and back to her cheek again. After a while, she was so busy thinking about so many things she just couldn't go to sleep yet. I picked her up and she looked into my eyes closely. I'm sure she was thinking, "This is my dad and I love him." She, then, poked her hand into my ear and felt it for a while then put her hand under my glasses to touch my eyelid.
I sat in a rocker in our room and said a prayer that we do the right thing by Kristina. That we love her and cherish all the special moments that are to come. We rocked and rocked and she gently laid her head down on my shoulder and fell asleep. It doesn't get any better than that.
Our journey to China has come to a close. Our journey with Kristina Su is just beginning. We are very grateful to God, Holt International, and the Chinese government for allowing us to adopt one of their own. While we were in China, Asian people kept coming up to us on the street and saying, "She is very lucky!" No, my wife and I would say (sometimes in unison), "We are very lucky!" (And today, as I prepare this website, August 2, 2008, I would change the words to, "We are very blessed!")
Please stop back and take a look at the pictures which I will incorporate into this journal. That will be my next project and, as you might be able to guess, I'll get to it when I can. Vic. (I never could--and now, as I write this, and prepare The Final Harvest Website, Kristina is 12--where does the time go?)
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