I really loved this article that I read a couple of days ago. One of the things I made sure I packed when we went to China was a ginormous zip-loc bag to put the clothes she came to us in. Unlike some kids, she had no problem getting into the hotel room and stripping off her clothes....which was good since she had an accident as soon as we got back to our room. She patiently stood there as quiet as could be and let us strip off layer after layer of clothes. Her clothes were put in the bag but she never showed any interest in them, that is other than using them to entertain herself in the hotel room. She loved dragging that bag around but never wanted to put any of the clothes back on.

She came to us in split pants, itchy wool-like leggings, quilted pants, undershirt, sweater, vest, coat, socks and boots.

Everything she came to us in was well worn and appears to have been used by several children before her except for her socks which were brand new and still had the tag on them, something I didn't notice until we were home.

I also didn't notice the candies tucked into her pockets until we got home as well. I dug through every pocket hoping to find something, I don't know what, but maybe just a piece of the puzzle for her, the only other thing I found was a used tissue and you better believe it is still in the pocket I found it in. Every so often when everyone is asleep I will pull out her China clothes and just opening the bag transports me back to the day we met her. The smell is like nothing else, it is almost a chemical smell but I can't get enough of it if that makes sense. Even just touching them today my hands smell like she did that day. Everything is double bagged to try to keep that smell for as long as possible. When I pulled out her clothes to take these pictures she wanted to try everything on...


Quite the before and after!

She was quick to shed everything back off again except for what she calls her "China Pants"...she has been wearing those all afternoon and I don't know if it a side effect and a little grieving, but she has been a little more emotional this afternoon and lots of snuggles have been needed to soothe her.

I'm willing to bet she will want to sleep in them tonight which is just fine if that is what she needs.