Day 12
OK, maybe that is not fair, but his connection with the six year old female chimpanzee at the Guangzhou zoo was something very special. We have fondly referred to Wil as our little monkey since he was very, very young. We recently learned he is born in the year of the monkey. Upon entering the zoo, his eyes met those of a local chimp just 2 months older than he is, and they began to run back and forth along the front of the monkey exhibit. Back and forth for a very long time, until she began a sort of peek-a-boo game with him where she hid and then came out to see him. Unbelievably cute.
Photos from day 12
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
The zoo itself was really fun. We could get much closer to the animals than in the US and people were actually feeding them. We saw the hippo eating, and the llamas up close. Christopher really wanted one to spit, but could not make it happen. The big cats were amazing. Siberian tigers, leopards, roaring lions, lion cubs wrestling and getting a bath from mom, and even Ligers. Yes, a cross between a lion and tiger. One of our kid's favorite signs of the day was for the donkey. Chinese somehow translates it into english as a Domestic Ass. You can imagine their reaction.
After the zoo, we all needed to rest, and get something to eat. We had one last round of souvenier buying at Jordan's shop, and we decided it was time to take advantage of the McDonald's delivery service. Our happy meals were delivered to our hotel! Nice!
Dinner tonight was to be our last outing with our tour group. We boarded a dinner cruise on the Pearl River for a 2 hour trip. The Guangzhou city lights were bright and beautiful. Big stadiums built for the Asian games lined the river, along with the tallest building in China. The food for dinner was interesting to say the least. During our travels we've discovered lots of chicken dishes, and most of them have small bits of chicken cut up, but pieces of bone are left with the meat! Mostly the kids ate corn on the cob and a bit of rice. Our favorite "specialty" of the night was fried chicken feet. One member of our group tried it, gross. There was a silly clown doing some juggling, and Christopher got in on the act. Anna Mei liked the loud Ricky Martin music playing and did some dancing.
As for Anna Mei, she sits on the bed laughing at the moment. She is crawling and standing She loves to sit on her brother's laps and play. When she is angry she balls up her fists and lets us know how she feels, but it never lasts very long.
This is the last we would see Brian, Jeanne, and their daughter Willow as they were flying home by way of Hong Kong. They would board the speed train tomorrow Willow is a sweet girl with a huge appetite. Willow took to playing with Wil. She bonded well with Jeanne, but was not sure about Brian yet. We were warned this could happen, and she was gearing up for the long trip home.
We are dreading the 25 hour travel time home ourselves. Tomorrow we have a free day to relax and pack, and Thursday we leave at 5 AM China time from our hotel. That is 5 PM your time, and we land in Newark at about 5 PM eastern standard time. This will be the last leg of trip, and we are ready to get back to some baseball, american food, our own beds, our pups, and to family and friends. This will be our last entry from China and we are very grateful to all of you that have logged onto the blog each day to read about our journey. Anna Mei will soon meet all of you!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
It's Official...US Citizenship
Day 11
It was a very early morning as we all boarded the bus for the US Consulate around 7:20 AM. It was a 40 minute bus ride to a very average looking office building. The only sign that the consulate was even here was a small american flag on a sign by the escalators. We waited around to go up, we waited to get into the consulate area, we waited to get through security, and then we waited until a woman arrived and talked to us about the current state of US adoptions from China. The interesting news was that last year, 65% of US/Chinese adoptions were special needs children. This year, that is already up to about 73% of the adoption cases. She asked us as parents to raise our hands to take an oath, and then we waited to be called to the window one by one. We were a little on edge, hoping we would not have any problems. The woman at the window was very sweet and talked nicely to Anna Mei. She looked through all papers, stamped all the appropriate places, and asked for an official signature. That all finished, she said congratulations and sent us on our way! Our guide will pick up Anna Mei's official Visa and passport from the Consulate tomorrow, and we will be ready for travel!
Photos from day 11
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
After the consulate, it was off to another park to walk around, tire out the kids, and give the babies something new to see. This park was full of winding paths and beautiful flowers. Someone turned up the heat here, and a low 70's day was completely uncomfortable with about 100% humidity. We hoped for a dip in the hotel pool, but were disappointed to learn it was not yet open for the summer season. At this point, I collapsed due to a nasty sinus cold and a rocking headache. Chris was very kind and took all four kids out on the town while mommy got a very much needed nap. Where should they go? Back to play games at Dong's shop! A few chinese checkers games later, and they left happy (Dong was too, as he made a few more sales!) Dinner out, and an early night for everyone.
As for Anna, well, we are putting her on the floor much more often and she is standing and moving much more. She cruises along while holding on, and she crawls when she wants something. She is developing before our eyes. We can't wait for her hair to grow in. They obviously shaved it right before we met her. Now, it is softer and growing in a little bit.
Tomorrow we visit the zoo and have a cruise on the Pearl River at dinner time. It will be our last day of sightseeing in China. Wednesday we pack up, and get ready for a very early and very long Thursday.
It was a very early morning as we all boarded the bus for the US Consulate around 7:20 AM. It was a 40 minute bus ride to a very average looking office building. The only sign that the consulate was even here was a small american flag on a sign by the escalators. We waited around to go up, we waited to get into the consulate area, we waited to get through security, and then we waited until a woman arrived and talked to us about the current state of US adoptions from China. The interesting news was that last year, 65% of US/Chinese adoptions were special needs children. This year, that is already up to about 73% of the adoption cases. She asked us as parents to raise our hands to take an oath, and then we waited to be called to the window one by one. We were a little on edge, hoping we would not have any problems. The woman at the window was very sweet and talked nicely to Anna Mei. She looked through all papers, stamped all the appropriate places, and asked for an official signature. That all finished, she said congratulations and sent us on our way! Our guide will pick up Anna Mei's official Visa and passport from the Consulate tomorrow, and we will be ready for travel!
Photos from day 11
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
After the consulate, it was off to another park to walk around, tire out the kids, and give the babies something new to see. This park was full of winding paths and beautiful flowers. Someone turned up the heat here, and a low 70's day was completely uncomfortable with about 100% humidity. We hoped for a dip in the hotel pool, but were disappointed to learn it was not yet open for the summer season. At this point, I collapsed due to a nasty sinus cold and a rocking headache. Chris was very kind and took all four kids out on the town while mommy got a very much needed nap. Where should they go? Back to play games at Dong's shop! A few chinese checkers games later, and they left happy (Dong was too, as he made a few more sales!) Dinner out, and an early night for everyone.
As for Anna, well, we are putting her on the floor much more often and she is standing and moving much more. She cruises along while holding on, and she crawls when she wants something. She is developing before our eyes. We can't wait for her hair to grow in. They obviously shaved it right before we met her. Now, it is softer and growing in a little bit.
Tomorrow we visit the zoo and have a cruise on the Pearl River at dinner time. It will be our last day of sightseeing in China. Wednesday we pack up, and get ready for a very early and very long Thursday.
Monday, March 21, 2011
We have all been blessed…
Day 10
Today we ventured out in the van with the other families to a Buddhist Temple. This temple is known to have a very small piece of the original Buddha's remains which was a gift to the emperor of China many generations ago. This temple is about 1,475 years old, and is frequented by the locals of Guangzhou for daily prayer as well as being a tourist site. Our tour guide Aron taught us about the laughing buddha and how he was something like a saint, not the actual buddha himself. The miracle or talent this buddha is known for is taking everyones hardships and sorrows upon himself (into his large belly…he is not fat with overindulgence, but with all of the sorrows he has taken in from his followers).
Photos from day 10
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
We also learned that the buddha statues are set in three, and the incense sticks lit for each person are done in threes, as these represent a person's past, present, and future. All of us lit our three incense prayer sticks and made our three wishes to the Buddha. Wil later was sad that one of his prayers could not come true, as he wished for the great buddha to come back to life if he was in fact such a great man. So sweet.
We were then led into the temple area with the largest three Buddha's. There a buddhist monk asked us to take off our shoes and enter the roped off area. We kneeled before him, and he proceeded in a beautiful chant and dripped water in a blessing upon our heads. The blessing is to bring good health and happiness.
From there it was off to a local park. We are all so impressed with the emphasis in this culture upon exercise and healthy living. Every park has exercise equipment and areas for walking which are in constant use by men, women, and children all together. This park had that along with a large area for badminton and ping pong Many children played with their parents in the park. Further on, there were some small rides. The boys enjoyed a short rollercoaster ride, and a bike ride on a monorail which resembled something like General Greivous rode in the movie. All of this surrounded a beautiful lake. There were more people playing the local version of hackysack, and we stopped to play with a local man that laughed as us americans. Anna Mei took her nap peacefully sleeping in the stroller as we walked.
We were on our own for the afternoon, and used the opportunity to do a few errands, have lunch at a new favorite chinese style restaurant, and back to the hotel room for quiet time. Anna Mei is beginning to practice standing more, and loves the stacking cups we brought along. Last night she kept Mommy up to 11 PM since her nap was so late, so our goal is an earlier bedtime tonight. Tomorrow is a big day.
We meet at 7:20 AM to board the van for the US Consulate in Guangzhou City. There, we will meet with the proper officials, and should all go well, Anna Mei will officially be a US citizen tomorrow. Nothing can ever be easy, so of course we have one obstacle to overcome. We are told our notary in BaoDing did a poor job. She left out one sentence telling that Anna was in the care of the police officer that found her in the two days time span between when she was found and when she was admitted to the orphanage. In the recent past, the US Consulate has been picky about this omission, but if pressed, will still approve the application. Worst case: we must remain longer in country while the notary does the correct forms. However, we are told they have made exceptions, especially if pushed a bit. Glad Chris is here! Stay tuned for the results :-)
Today we ventured out in the van with the other families to a Buddhist Temple. This temple is known to have a very small piece of the original Buddha's remains which was a gift to the emperor of China many generations ago. This temple is about 1,475 years old, and is frequented by the locals of Guangzhou for daily prayer as well as being a tourist site. Our tour guide Aron taught us about the laughing buddha and how he was something like a saint, not the actual buddha himself. The miracle or talent this buddha is known for is taking everyones hardships and sorrows upon himself (into his large belly…he is not fat with overindulgence, but with all of the sorrows he has taken in from his followers).
Photos from day 10
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
We also learned that the buddha statues are set in three, and the incense sticks lit for each person are done in threes, as these represent a person's past, present, and future. All of us lit our three incense prayer sticks and made our three wishes to the Buddha. Wil later was sad that one of his prayers could not come true, as he wished for the great buddha to come back to life if he was in fact such a great man. So sweet.
We were then led into the temple area with the largest three Buddha's. There a buddhist monk asked us to take off our shoes and enter the roped off area. We kneeled before him, and he proceeded in a beautiful chant and dripped water in a blessing upon our heads. The blessing is to bring good health and happiness.
From there it was off to a local park. We are all so impressed with the emphasis in this culture upon exercise and healthy living. Every park has exercise equipment and areas for walking which are in constant use by men, women, and children all together. This park had that along with a large area for badminton and ping pong Many children played with their parents in the park. Further on, there were some small rides. The boys enjoyed a short rollercoaster ride, and a bike ride on a monorail which resembled something like General Greivous rode in the movie. All of this surrounded a beautiful lake. There were more people playing the local version of hackysack, and we stopped to play with a local man that laughed as us americans. Anna Mei took her nap peacefully sleeping in the stroller as we walked.
We were on our own for the afternoon, and used the opportunity to do a few errands, have lunch at a new favorite chinese style restaurant, and back to the hotel room for quiet time. Anna Mei is beginning to practice standing more, and loves the stacking cups we brought along. Last night she kept Mommy up to 11 PM since her nap was so late, so our goal is an earlier bedtime tonight. Tomorrow is a big day.
We meet at 7:20 AM to board the van for the US Consulate in Guangzhou City. There, we will meet with the proper officials, and should all go well, Anna Mei will officially be a US citizen tomorrow. Nothing can ever be easy, so of course we have one obstacle to overcome. We are told our notary in BaoDing did a poor job. She left out one sentence telling that Anna was in the care of the police officer that found her in the two days time span between when she was found and when she was admitted to the orphanage. In the recent past, the US Consulate has been picky about this omission, but if pressed, will still approve the application. Worst case: we must remain longer in country while the notary does the correct forms. However, we are told they have made exceptions, especially if pushed a bit. Glad Chris is here! Stay tuned for the results :-)
Finally McDonalds!
Day 9
TB test reads negative! Anna crosses another hurdle to coming home!
The big news of the day is that Anna passed her test today. Overall, it was a nice day. We were reunited with the other families from our travel group. Charlie is still doing well, and we met Willow, Brian and Jeanne's new daughter. She is a few months younger than Anna, but the difference in their size is staggering. Willow has a full set of hair, eats solid foods, says mama, walks, and seems to have been from a good orphanage. She is quiet and sweet. She has attached to Jeanne though, and is giving her arms a real workout. Brian can play with her, but certainly not hold her! It will come with time.
Photos from day 9
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
After the medical exam, we headed off on our own. Wil NEEDED a McDonalds fix. That meant a treck off our little island and into Guangzhou city. WOW, the sights just across that little waterway! Live scorpions in buckets, snakes, turtles, and snakeheads for sale for food. Live chicken and ducks in cages, and huge bags filled with teas, pastas and spices. After some aimless walking we finally found our way to the mall area with lots of upscale shops (and McDonalds!). Wil had his happy meal, and we all enjoyed an ice cream cone. As we left, we realized we were lost. No idea which way to walk! Taxi! The taxi ride cost us a whopping $1.50. Best money we ever spent.
Another stop at our favorite little gift shop, and we bought Chinese Chess game for 300 RMB. Dong, the man in the shop, taught the boys how to play, and Christopher and Alex are addicted. It is similar to the western version of Chess but has some really fun differences. Tif got a few silk outfits for Anna Mei and a few other little things. Dong was very excited we were buying so much. It seems like every where we go there are stores after stores after stores lined up and tons of people working always buzzing around. Chris mentioned that if everyone seems to have a store, who is buying all this stuff?
The people aren't very friendly until you engage them then they usually give you a smile. We are getting a little annoyed with the lack of respect when holding doors, or giving personal space. I almost yelled at a driver the other day with no respect for the fact that he drove so very close to our stroller. But overall, everyone is very friendly and amazed at the sheer size of our family. One man said, "we have that much children, we in jail!" I certainly think that was a joke, but it sticks in my mind. Another man talked about this generation in China not knowing Uncles or Aunts.
No major changes here with our princess. She is still happy, drinking tons of bottles, babbling, laughing…
The boys are happy too. Everyone is actually enjoying the journals they are keeping, and lots of poker games are being played to pass the time in the hotel room. My 6 year old was teaching me what a "push" is yesterday. Is that wrong?
TB test reads negative! Anna crosses another hurdle to coming home!
The big news of the day is that Anna passed her test today. Overall, it was a nice day. We were reunited with the other families from our travel group. Charlie is still doing well, and we met Willow, Brian and Jeanne's new daughter. She is a few months younger than Anna, but the difference in their size is staggering. Willow has a full set of hair, eats solid foods, says mama, walks, and seems to have been from a good orphanage. She is quiet and sweet. She has attached to Jeanne though, and is giving her arms a real workout. Brian can play with her, but certainly not hold her! It will come with time.
Photos from day 9
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
After the medical exam, we headed off on our own. Wil NEEDED a McDonalds fix. That meant a treck off our little island and into Guangzhou city. WOW, the sights just across that little waterway! Live scorpions in buckets, snakes, turtles, and snakeheads for sale for food. Live chicken and ducks in cages, and huge bags filled with teas, pastas and spices. After some aimless walking we finally found our way to the mall area with lots of upscale shops (and McDonalds!). Wil had his happy meal, and we all enjoyed an ice cream cone. As we left, we realized we were lost. No idea which way to walk! Taxi! The taxi ride cost us a whopping $1.50. Best money we ever spent.
Another stop at our favorite little gift shop, and we bought Chinese Chess game for 300 RMB. Dong, the man in the shop, taught the boys how to play, and Christopher and Alex are addicted. It is similar to the western version of Chess but has some really fun differences. Tif got a few silk outfits for Anna Mei and a few other little things. Dong was very excited we were buying so much. It seems like every where we go there are stores after stores after stores lined up and tons of people working always buzzing around. Chris mentioned that if everyone seems to have a store, who is buying all this stuff?
The people aren't very friendly until you engage them then they usually give you a smile. We are getting a little annoyed with the lack of respect when holding doors, or giving personal space. I almost yelled at a driver the other day with no respect for the fact that he drove so very close to our stroller. But overall, everyone is very friendly and amazed at the sheer size of our family. One man said, "we have that much children, we in jail!" I certainly think that was a joke, but it sticks in my mind. Another man talked about this generation in China not knowing Uncles or Aunts.
No major changes here with our princess. She is still happy, drinking tons of bottles, babbling, laughing…
The boys are happy too. Everyone is actually enjoying the journals they are keeping, and lots of poker games are being played to pass the time in the hotel room. My 6 year old was teaching me what a "push" is yesterday. Is that wrong?
Saturday, March 19, 2011
A day with the family…
Day 8
By now we are all so much more settled and enjoying the fact that Guangzhou is mostly all walkable…no vans or driving!
Photos from day 8
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
Friday began early, and we all hit the hotel breakfast. I think the kids have settled into a mostly eggs, bacon, and watermelon breakfast each morning. Today we were supposed to visit a local garden, but the weather is cool and rainy. Highs in the upper 50's so we went to Chen's Ancestral Lineage Hall. Everything is freshly painted and planted in Guangzhou since the Asian Games took place here last year. I asked about dragon boating and was told that does not take place much here in this part of China. Mostly North and West. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed. Anyway, the Chen home definitely was a different style than anything we saw in Beijing. Even Chris's favorite Foo Dogs guarding the gates were smaller and skinnier (smaller city, less power, is symbolized in the statue's size). However, I thought this was much more beautiful. The wood carving was much more ornate, and the small courtyards and gardens were full of trees and flowering plants. Indoor rooms all looked out on the beautiful courtyards, and Wil and I followed the sound of a flute playing. He was fascinated and scored himself a flute to play the rest of the day, as well as a more complicated Calabash for the family. The Calabash is a high pitched flute type instrument played by some mountain communities. They have a traditional peacock dance where a woman in silks dances to this instrument's tune. Very beautiful.
We were back by early afternoon and decided to try the Thai restaurant on the corner. While Anna slept through the entire meal, we tried duck skewers, vegetable wonton, fried rice, and some outstanding fresh juices. The iced lemon and mango were the best. Service was slow and it was late afternoon when we left. Quick trips for more formula, a new suitcase for all this stuff we are buying, and to pick up our clean laundry (thank god!), and we were in for "family game night." A few rounds of poker, a Poppa John's Pizza delivery, and we were asleep by 9 PM. The laundry was extremely cheap and we would all love this type of service at home!
As for dear Anna; she is doing so very well. She is drinking tons of the new, more age appropriate formula. We've gotten a few bites of yogurt in there, a few bits of baby food, and she spent a good 15 minutes playing with a few Gerber Baby Banana Puffs. I think maybe one or two actually went in her mouth. But she is very content with all of us. She crawls to all of us on the bed to play. She hugs and cuddles. She crawls right in and laughs when the boys wrestle. Today she has her TB test read at the medical center. If she has TB we will have to stay in country for longer while she takes medicine. We are feeling confident though, as the bruise on her arm from the test remains flat.
By now we are all so much more settled and enjoying the fact that Guangzhou is mostly all walkable…no vans or driving!
Photos from day 8
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
Friday began early, and we all hit the hotel breakfast. I think the kids have settled into a mostly eggs, bacon, and watermelon breakfast each morning. Today we were supposed to visit a local garden, but the weather is cool and rainy. Highs in the upper 50's so we went to Chen's Ancestral Lineage Hall. Everything is freshly painted and planted in Guangzhou since the Asian Games took place here last year. I asked about dragon boating and was told that does not take place much here in this part of China. Mostly North and West. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed. Anyway, the Chen home definitely was a different style than anything we saw in Beijing. Even Chris's favorite Foo Dogs guarding the gates were smaller and skinnier (smaller city, less power, is symbolized in the statue's size). However, I thought this was much more beautiful. The wood carving was much more ornate, and the small courtyards and gardens were full of trees and flowering plants. Indoor rooms all looked out on the beautiful courtyards, and Wil and I followed the sound of a flute playing. He was fascinated and scored himself a flute to play the rest of the day, as well as a more complicated Calabash for the family. The Calabash is a high pitched flute type instrument played by some mountain communities. They have a traditional peacock dance where a woman in silks dances to this instrument's tune. Very beautiful.
We were back by early afternoon and decided to try the Thai restaurant on the corner. While Anna slept through the entire meal, we tried duck skewers, vegetable wonton, fried rice, and some outstanding fresh juices. The iced lemon and mango were the best. Service was slow and it was late afternoon when we left. Quick trips for more formula, a new suitcase for all this stuff we are buying, and to pick up our clean laundry (thank god!), and we were in for "family game night." A few rounds of poker, a Poppa John's Pizza delivery, and we were asleep by 9 PM. The laundry was extremely cheap and we would all love this type of service at home!
As for dear Anna; she is doing so very well. She is drinking tons of the new, more age appropriate formula. We've gotten a few bites of yogurt in there, a few bits of baby food, and she spent a good 15 minutes playing with a few Gerber Baby Banana Puffs. I think maybe one or two actually went in her mouth. But she is very content with all of us. She crawls to all of us on the bed to play. She hugs and cuddles. She crawls right in and laughs when the boys wrestle. Today she has her TB test read at the medical center. If she has TB we will have to stay in country for longer while she takes medicine. We are feeling confident though, as the bruise on her arm from the test remains flat.
Day 5 Gotcha Day Revisited...
OK, we never finished off the story of Anna Mei's Gotcha Day. Looking back now, it seems to be a humorous tale. At the time, there were definitely some stressful moments. So, we left off with meeting Anna Mei, and we then boarded our van, to head to the notary. The plan was quickly changed when the time revealed 4:10 PM and the passport office closes at 5 PM. So we let the caregiver and orphanage director know we would be a bit late to the notary office, and we would meet them there. Our driver soon learned the GPS address for the passport office was incorrect. The phone number our guide had was out of service. We began to drive. Several stops and questions later, we seemed to end up in the same place, but now it was 4:45. Our guide Vanessa had a new plan since she knew not getting the passport meant another trip to Hebei Province (4 1/2 hours each way). She jumped out at a busy intersection and hailed a taxi. The taxi driver took us to the same place! Finally, following the taxi again, we ended up at the passport office at 4:55 PM on the van clock. Vanessa sprinted into the building and came out 10 minutes later carrying a chinese passport. Without this, Anna Mei would not be able to board the plane to Guangzhou with us for the next leg of the trip.
A huge sigh of relief and off to the notary. They knew we were coming so they stayed open late for us (the 4,500 RMB fee was certainly an incentive for them to wait for us). The orphanage women had left by now, and we quietly answered a few questions and received a stack of official forms we would need for the US Consulate to prove the Chinese Government recognized her as ours. Her first diaper change, and her first bottle from mom later, and we were back in that van for the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Beijing. The ride was very difficult since we felt like we were in an Indy race using a big 10 person bus. Everyone tried to sleep but it was the most uncomfortable sleep imaginable. Anna slept on both Mom and Dad, and we tried to focus our eyes inside the car and not on the traffic and horrible driving around us. When it got dark, Anna Mei got pretty scared by the lights on the ceiling of the car. Not much calmed her, until good old cartoons to the rescue. Chris pulled out the ipad with cartoons of Kai Lan. She sat and smacked at it and watched until she settled and finally slept. China does't require everyone to use seat belts and we couldn't get a car seat so we made the best of it. Anna is in our arms when we travel by car so we buckle ourselves and hold her.
We pulled into the Beijing Hotel, stumbled upstairs, and all quickly fell asleep. Thankfully, our guide had called ahead and a crib stood waiting for Anna when we arrived. We were all thankful the long day was behind us and beautiful Anna Mei was in front of us.
A huge sigh of relief and off to the notary. They knew we were coming so they stayed open late for us (the 4,500 RMB fee was certainly an incentive for them to wait for us). The orphanage women had left by now, and we quietly answered a few questions and received a stack of official forms we would need for the US Consulate to prove the Chinese Government recognized her as ours. Her first diaper change, and her first bottle from mom later, and we were back in that van for the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Beijing. The ride was very difficult since we felt like we were in an Indy race using a big 10 person bus. Everyone tried to sleep but it was the most uncomfortable sleep imaginable. Anna slept on both Mom and Dad, and we tried to focus our eyes inside the car and not on the traffic and horrible driving around us. When it got dark, Anna Mei got pretty scared by the lights on the ceiling of the car. Not much calmed her, until good old cartoons to the rescue. Chris pulled out the ipad with cartoons of Kai Lan. She sat and smacked at it and watched until she settled and finally slept. China does't require everyone to use seat belts and we couldn't get a car seat so we made the best of it. Anna is in our arms when we travel by car so we buckle ourselves and hold her.
We pulled into the Beijing Hotel, stumbled upstairs, and all quickly fell asleep. Thankfully, our guide had called ahead and a crib stood waiting for Anna when we arrived. We were all thankful the long day was behind us and beautiful Anna Mei was in front of us.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Today is all about Anna Mei
She slept in again this morning in her crib cuddled in her new pink blanket. Morning seems to be her peaceful time. She sleeps late and is ready for a nap again by late morning. Come afternoon and evening she is wide awake and ready for action! Our plan for this day was her appointment for her medical exam. What a crowded, hectic, crazy place that clinic was! Chinese locals stood around everywhere inside, many in masks (to avoid infection?), waiting their turn to see a doctor. The wait did not appear to be short in any way. Ours however, was. We arrived in Guangzhou earlier than most families do since we did not have to fly as far to her province to meet her. This put our schedule ahead of other adoptive families this week and we were the only family in the adoption clinic area.
Photos from day 7
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
Anna weighed (21 lbs), measured (75 cm), head circumference taken (47 cm), and was generally checked over. She checked out beautifully. It appears her cleft palate repair was a good one, and they do not see any remaining holes to be repaired. Her lip is done well for now, and will have a revision in the future. She has a cleft gum ine, which was completely expected. That means her teeth are there, but in the one section set incorrectly in position. When she gets older, that will be a surgery to fix her gum line and set her teeth correctly. Yes, she can hear. They did give us a scare on that one when we were home. She has an ear wax build up, and we will see an ENT to see if she will benefit from ear tubes.
As we get to know her habits, I can predict that this little one has had lots of ear infections. First of all, she definitely prefers to settle herself down flat on her back or on a pillow and be handed her bottle to drink. One note about the bottle. Because of the cleft, she never learned to suck. So the orphanage took a regular bottle and cut a huge hole in the top. She basically holds the bottle in her right cheek and gulps it down as it pours into her mouth. She can control it enough to take breaks when she wants, but takes a bottle very fast. We mentioned the formula diet before. We have found Enfamil formula here that is appropriate for 1-3 year olds, so we switched to that (no problems from her with the switch), and we are giving her MUCH more of it than they were. We are happily changing many more diapers. We are also working on introducing new baby foods. We had packed a few, so last night she tried butternut squash mixed with apple. She took some off the spoon. I guess about 5 or 6 full spoonfuls (though in much smaller bites) in all got in there which we think is a real success. We will keep trying at all meals today. The key is, she is trusting us more now. Before she would not allow anything into her mouth, but now she will let us try.
We are also learning her special little habits. She LOVES playing with her hands. The sad truth is that these were her most available playthings. She has lots of sweet and funny finger movements, When distressed she will stop, extend her left hand, and study it seeming to make sure it is all still there. She also loves to put her tongue carefully between her two middle fingers either in play or when she is sad. These seem to be her little coping mechanisms.
She also has a sweet but disgusting little habit of spitting all over her fingers and drawing on everything and everyone in reach! We need to get this little one some crayons and paints!! She loves music and dances. When she is feeling silly she moves her head around back and forth, and if I try to do it too and keep up I make myself very dizzy. Anna Mei unquestionably fits into the DiMedio mold already. She loves to laugh, play, and even wrestle around. She also loves a good cuddle. I'm afraid she is also a bit opinionated and stubborn, go figure! She can communicate just fine when she is not happy with what we want her to do.
The locals are great sales people and are very aggressive. We got roped into going to many stores designed to suck money from adoptive parents. Fortunately, everything is so cheap so we gladly purchased famous chinese squeaky shoes, chinese foo dogs and we are going back for a chinese chess set made from bone (don't want to know what kind of bone).
Most importantly, she is already giving and receiving love. She has a permanent place in all of our hearts
Photos from day 7
(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)
Anna weighed (21 lbs), measured (75 cm), head circumference taken (47 cm), and was generally checked over. She checked out beautifully. It appears her cleft palate repair was a good one, and they do not see any remaining holes to be repaired. Her lip is done well for now, and will have a revision in the future. She has a cleft gum ine, which was completely expected. That means her teeth are there, but in the one section set incorrectly in position. When she gets older, that will be a surgery to fix her gum line and set her teeth correctly. Yes, she can hear. They did give us a scare on that one when we were home. She has an ear wax build up, and we will see an ENT to see if she will benefit from ear tubes.
As we get to know her habits, I can predict that this little one has had lots of ear infections. First of all, she definitely prefers to settle herself down flat on her back or on a pillow and be handed her bottle to drink. One note about the bottle. Because of the cleft, she never learned to suck. So the orphanage took a regular bottle and cut a huge hole in the top. She basically holds the bottle in her right cheek and gulps it down as it pours into her mouth. She can control it enough to take breaks when she wants, but takes a bottle very fast. We mentioned the formula diet before. We have found Enfamil formula here that is appropriate for 1-3 year olds, so we switched to that (no problems from her with the switch), and we are giving her MUCH more of it than they were. We are happily changing many more diapers. We are also working on introducing new baby foods. We had packed a few, so last night she tried butternut squash mixed with apple. She took some off the spoon. I guess about 5 or 6 full spoonfuls (though in much smaller bites) in all got in there which we think is a real success. We will keep trying at all meals today. The key is, she is trusting us more now. Before she would not allow anything into her mouth, but now she will let us try.
We are also learning her special little habits. She LOVES playing with her hands. The sad truth is that these were her most available playthings. She has lots of sweet and funny finger movements, When distressed she will stop, extend her left hand, and study it seeming to make sure it is all still there. She also loves to put her tongue carefully between her two middle fingers either in play or when she is sad. These seem to be her little coping mechanisms.
She also has a sweet but disgusting little habit of spitting all over her fingers and drawing on everything and everyone in reach! We need to get this little one some crayons and paints!! She loves music and dances. When she is feeling silly she moves her head around back and forth, and if I try to do it too and keep up I make myself very dizzy. Anna Mei unquestionably fits into the DiMedio mold already. She loves to laugh, play, and even wrestle around. She also loves a good cuddle. I'm afraid she is also a bit opinionated and stubborn, go figure! She can communicate just fine when she is not happy with what we want her to do.
The locals are great sales people and are very aggressive. We got roped into going to many stores designed to suck money from adoptive parents. Fortunately, everything is so cheap so we gladly purchased famous chinese squeaky shoes, chinese foo dogs and we are going back for a chinese chess set made from bone (don't want to know what kind of bone).
Most importantly, she is already giving and receiving love. She has a permanent place in all of our hearts
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