Settling in at home

Hello from Ottawa! It already feels like a long time has passed since we were in China but we are quickly starting to settle into a routine. The adults are still going to bed too early and watching Magnum PI reruns at 4:00 AM (when we wake up for the day) but things are improving sleep-wise (for the adults - E&A seem to be sleeping worse since grandma and grandpa left).

I drop the girls off in the morning with B in the far back of the van. He whines a bit while in the car seat but not with near the vigour the girls first did. He is also very good at throwing the laundry basket down the stairs and turning off the computer (both of which he has done 3-4 times already). Here are a few pics from the last few days.

With Uncle J and Aunt L at Baskin Robbins in Beijing (I told L how B already has the start of a moustache and she said I was just jealous - which I am).

A shot of B and I just after getting off the plane at midnight (note he doesn't seem impressed with Ottawa at this point). The picture is a bit fuzzy but that matches how we were feeling perfectly.
















A shot of our wonderful babysitters (they survived two weeks), and three of their grandchildren.

B playing in the rec room:

A couple of videos of him in action. The first one has him walking in Mom's slippers. He is steady on his feet but still scares me on the stairs - he is not as stable on the stairs as he thinks he is. The second one has him playing with his Panda.

Quick update

Hi all,

Since I said in my last post that I would try to update again in the next few days, I figured I'd better. But believe me, this will be short. We're exhausted. :-) Jet lag is really kicking our butts this time around. Probably it was the same thing last time, but time has dulled that memory. Oh, and also, the last time we went straight to a cottage where we had lots of hands helping us out and entertaining the kids. This time we're trying to deal with three of us being jet lagged and two not.

Last night B slept great... from about 9:30 p.m. to around 8:00 a.m. this morning. But unfortunately, I woke up at 3:00 a.m. after only sleeping for about 5 hours. I consider myself fortunate though, since that's about 5 more hours that DoT got. Poor guy. And today, I had a nap at the same time B did, but DoT was up with the girls. Not sure how I successfully argued that I should be the one who got the nap. It probably helped that DoT was suffering from sleep deprivation and just stared at me with glassy eyes when I talked. :-)

So far the three kids seem to be getting along pretty well. They take an interest in each other, but haven't had a lot of interaction yet. B just wanders around the house, following the girls, watching what they're doing, or imitating them.

Tomorrow B has an appointment at the pediatrician. (We haven't yet got him a health card, but hopefully that won't be a problem. I'll try to get it in the next few days, and will call the number into the office then.) He also has several appointments at the Children's Hospital in the coming month, to start looking at his treatment plan for his cleft.

Well, that's it. Wishing you all long, peaceful, slumber-filled nights.

K...

Are we there yet?

Um, that would be 'no'. We are, however, back in Canada. We're at the Vancouver airport now waiting for our connection to Ottawa. Our 6 hour wait was shortened to 5 hours because our flight out of Beijing was one hour late leaving. Right now we're all very tired (it wasn't a good flight from Beijing to Vancouver) and just putting in time until we can get on the next plane to Ottawa. Naturally, because we have lots of time in Vancouver, our luggage was among the first bags off, and we sailed right through customs. All told we were probably through and re-checked in for our flight to Ottawa within 45 minutes of landing. Not having to go through immigration was very nice. Another couple, also flying into Vancouver with a new baby from China, told us that the customs officer they spoke to said they had saved themselves a couple of hours by avoiding immigration. I believe it. It looked pretty busy at the immigration counters.

This will probably be my last post for a few days as we all try to get over the jet lag and get into a routine. I will however, try to update again in the next week or so.

K...

Canadian Citizenship

Before coming to China to get B, DoT and I made the decision to try the new process of obtaining B's Canadian citizenship... that is, to not apply for immigration and go straight to the citizenship application, now possible with the change to the citizenship legislation. We weren't sure if this was going to be a wise move, since the process is still somewhat new and we weren't sure all the bugs had been worked out. But apparently they have... at least here in China. Today when our guide picked up B's visa from the Embassy, it came with a letter stating that as of January 20th, B is officially a Canadian citizen! Yeah! So not only did it save us the 1111 RMB (approximately $200 Canadian) charge for a medical check here in Beijing, but it also saved us a whole lot of time and aggravation. (I remember with the girls we had to first apply for a SIN card, which then allowed us to get a health card, which then gave us the two pieces of ID needed to apply for citizenship.) We submitted the (Part II) form at the Embassy on Monday and had the letter today (2 days later!) stating that B's now a Canadian citizen.

K...

More shopping

I forgot to mention in my post below that we did get to WangFuJing last night. We walked there from our hotel, with B in a stroller that Lily has loaned to us. It was a mild night, so we quite enjoyed it. We went to the Children's Store there, but the prices are not as good as I remembered and they don't seem willing to come down too much when bartering. I ended up buying one pair of shoes each for the girls, but that was it. After the work that went into getting what I consider just an okay price on those, I just didn't have it in me to start again with negotiations for another pair each. (Although, who knows, maybe the price I did get is good, and I'm just out of touch on the price of kids shoes in Canada.) You all know how much I like shopping (not!)... well shopping where I have to wheel and deal is even worse. I am looking forward to getting back to Canada where the price is the price.

Here's a shot of WangFuJing at night. Given that we've been told a few times now that no one from Beijing would shop at WangFuJing, only tourists (the prices are too high), there sure were a lot of people there last night. And a lot of Chinese people. So I guess there are a lot of people from other parts of China in Beijing for the Spring Festival starting next week. :-)

But that said, today we set out for more shopping. We went to the Pearl Market and to a Silk Market nearby. In spite of the fact that I didn't plan to, I ended up buying pearls at the pearl market. And I almost bought a quilt at the silk market. They had a very interesting set up in the market that demonstrated how different silks are made. The silk quilts were beautiful and so soft, and they showed me how they vacuum seal them in bags to compress them for travelling. I resisted though. :-)

Here is a picture of DoT and I trying our hands at pulling the silk to make a quilt. They said we need some practice.

After the shopping we had a late lunch at a noodle restaurant.

Then it was nap time. Actually, it was past nap time. Normally, B would nap around noon or shortly after. Today it was about 3:30 p.m. when we got him down for a nap. Yesterday he had a late nap too, and didn't end up going to sleep until after 11:00 p.m. last night. I think we're in for a similarly late night tonight.

Tomorrow we fly home. As I mentioned previously, I am anxious to get home. However, I'm dreading the flight. When we first got B, I thought the flight wouldn't be too bad since he's such an easy-going, laid-back kid. However, over the last few days, he's become a bit less patient. Apparently he's now comfortable enough with us to be a bit whiny when he's bored. And somehow I think a 12-hour flight is not going to be nearly exciting enough to keep him entertained. Hopefully he'll sleep for a good part of the flight. We'll see.

K...

More sightseeing

So yesterday we took in the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower in Beijing. It was pretty interesting, but unfortunately it was pretty hazy in Beijing so the view wasn't as good as it could have been. We got to the top of the Drum Tower about 5 minutes before the next drum performance, so it was neat to take that in.

Here is a picture of the three of us by the drums.

And I took this picture of our guide, DoT and B on the climb down. The steps were very steep.

This is a picture of the Drum Tower, taken from the Bell Tower.

After taking in the views from the Towers we took in a tea ceremony. The room was set up for big groups, but we were the only ones there, so we got the ceremony all on our own. It was really interesting. I wish I could remember everything I learned about the teas, and which ones are better for which, but I can't. And of course, I wasn't video taping it when I should have been. All I remember is that oolong tea is good for digestion. I thought jasmine tea was the one that the guide said should be drunk by those of us who like to drink wine, since it will ward of liver disease; but DoT thinks she said that jasmine tea was good for the eyes. Alas, if only I had video taped the guide as she was explaining the teas, I'd have perfect skin, vision, and digestion, and all my internal organs would be in tip top shape. :-)

Next we headed to the site of the 2008 Olympics to take some pictures. We didn't go into any of the venues, but did get some picture outside. Unfortunately, we didn't really get any good ones -- DoT and I could have sworn the Lily took a picture of us with both the Birds Nest and the Watercube in it, but apparently not since it's not on our camera. Here are a couple of pictures though...

The Water Cube.

In front of the Bird's Nest.

Check out this building, built to look like the Olympic torch. During the Olympics it housed the media, but now I think it is an office building (either that or apartments, I can't remember what Lily said).

On the way out of the Olympic site, DoT spotted this bird, which Lily told us is a "happiness bird". Apparently if you spot it, it means you're going to have happiness.

Finally, we decided to have lunch at a hot pot restaurant (basically, hot pot is fondue as far as I can tell) ... according to our driver the best hot pot in Beijing. It was very good, so he may be right. Here's a photo of us at our first hot pot...

If any of you are going to be in Beijing and want to go to this restaurant, let us know and we'll give you a picture of the outside of it. We tried to get a card so we'd have the name and address of the restaurant, but unfortunately it was entirely in Chinese. Apparently they don't cater to foreigners too often. :-) Anyhow, we have a picture of the outside of the restaurant which I think shows the name and address.

Quiet day yesterday

Yesterday we didn't really do too much of anything. As DoT reported, we went to the Canadian Embassy to do Part 2 of the Canadian citizenship application for B. It felt more like entering a jail than an Embassy, but once inside it didn't take long at all... basically submit the form and pay the fee (in Yuan, which surprised me).

Yesterday B was not quite as happy-go-lucky as he has been. He didn't sleep a lot the night before (we were late getting back to the hotel) so we weren't sure whether his whininess was due to that or if he's just more comfortable with us now and showing his true colours. :-) In any case, I'd still characterize him as a very easy going child. Which is nice.

We had hoped to walk to Wang Fu Jing for shopping yesterday afternoon, but we also wanted B to have a good nap. He slept for about 2 hours, and when he woke up we remembered that we had sent some laundry out the day before which was supposed to arrive back after 3:00 p.m. So we waited for the laundry... which by 4:45 p.m. had not yet showed up. We then left the hotel to go see J&L's apartment and have supper at a Sichuan restaurant they like (Sichuan Yaodianzi Restaurant). It was very good... we decided to stick to more familiar dishes and passed up on caterpillar fungus and other more exotic dishes. :-) (Apparently we'll get our laundry this morning before 10:00 a.m.)

This morning we are heading to Tian'an Men Square and to the Drum Tower. Then this afternoon if we have time we'll try to get to Wang Fu Jing, and maybe the Silk Market. If not today, we have time for more shopping tomorrow.

Sorry no pictures for the blog today. I`m sure we`ll have some for ou though after our visit to Tian'an Men and the Drum Tower. Bye for now.

K...

At the embassy

Hi all here is video proof of something I could have described but is more fun watching. B has apparently been paying attention when we change his diapers (we didn't coach him on this one and I didn't believe it the first time it happened). I seem to be having problems saving video in Blogger so I put this one on Youtube. See below.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcg7CzYUV_U

He even tries to fold up the diaper pad after we are done. I think by tomorrow he'll be able to change himself (a dad can hope can't he?) If only he would enjoy baths. He still won't come over the threshold into the bathroom (the memories of his first experience are still fresh it seems). I added a few photos of our hotel lobby so you can see where we are living these days.

B in the lobby waiting for mom and our guide to complete the paperwork. He looks content there but we actually had to ride up and down the escalator about 8 times while they were working. He also let me know he wasn't pleased when I finally dragged him off of it.

We did get to the embassy and hand over some paperwork to start the process. Given that the embassy is considered to be sitting on Canadian land, our guide commented that this is how she makes a trip to Canada 5-6 times a year. I think we'll investigate that as an option to speed up our trip on the way back. Later on tonight we are headed for J&L's house to visit and go out to a Sichuan restaurant they like.

Shopping at the Markets

So in response to more video from our latest Chinese movie star, here is a video from yesterday of B playing with the Panda from Uncle J and Aunt L. If you listen closely you can hear his little squeal of delight (squealing in a manly sort of way of course) at the start of the clip.

Last night we walked to a restaurant that J&L like (apparently they took J's mom and dad and sister there as well - so the whole family has been there now). On the way there we realized our hotel was only about a block away from the hotel we stayed at the last time we were here. That was good since I now know where to get groceries and how to walk to the Silk market. The restaurant is called Xiheyaju Restaurant. The sesame beef dish was great (as was the whole meal) but to the chagrin of J and I they only served Budweiser - no Chinese beer (no one said international travel was for the faint of heart). It was a long walk to the restaurant and a late meal for B but he was a real trooper.

Today we went to the Dirt Market (with J&L and our guide) and bought some artwork (you will have to visit us to see it). Thanks to Uncle J's bartering skills we got the price down quite a bit. We also considered buying some elaborate hand-carved, floor to ceiling cabinets there but when we found out that they cost about $20,000 Canadian, we decided that money would be better used buying two Hyundai Accents (we told Uncle J not to bother bartering for that). This market had a lot of neat stuff - paintings, statues, books, old swords, Chairman Mao books etc. It is the kind of place you could visit often.

After having some lunch at Grandma's Kitchen (Western-style food), B and I stopped for a shot in front of the Merry-Go-Round. This photo is for A who loves Merry-Go-Rounds and who is still talking about going to the fair as soon as the snow melts.

After that we headed for the Ya Show Market to shop for some clothes. There weren't many great deals to be had, it seems prices have gone up since we were here last. We did get B a pair of shoes but that was it. By then B, K and I had had enough shopping. In typical male response to shopping, B's defense mechanisms kicked in (see below).

Tomorrow we go to the Canadian Embassy to apply for Canadian Citizenship. B took a good passport photo, I wish we had an electronic copy to share.

Greetings from Beijing!

Hi all,

Well, we made it to Beijing. It felt like a long trip (which doesn't bode well for the flight from Beijing to Vancouver). Before we headed to the airport in Guangzhou, we needed to get B's passport. We went to the Security Office and everything went off without a hitch. Below is a picture of us with the Security Office guy who has been looking out for us this week. Both times we had to go to the Security office he spotted us in the lobby (he was the guy who originally took our photo when we first received B) and was ready and waiting for us. That was great since yesterday when we showed up at the Security office, and had taxis outside waiting to take us to the airport, there had to be close to 100 people waiting in the lobby. He spotted us though, came and got us and took us right to a window for B's photo. Then he handed us the passport and that was that. I have a feeling that had it not been for this guy moving things along, we wouldn't have been able to finish all the paperwork by the time we needed to.




















Of course because everything went so smoothly we made it to the airport the suggested two hours before our flight... only to discover that our flight to Beijing was delayed by 1.5 hours. So, we spent a fair amount of time in the airport, before boarding our plane (which was then further delayed by half an hour). We landed in Beijing at 10:30 p.m. And waiting to greet us were J&L (my brother and sister-in-law). So they got to be the first to meet B...

(The bear was a gift to B from J&L - it walks and makes a lot of noise (music), which B loves.)








B was still wide awake when we landed in Beijing and he had only napped about half an hour earlier that day in the backseat of a taxi. But amazingly he was in a very good mood. He finally fell asleep at about midnight, just before we arrived at our hotel. We carried him into the hotel and put him in the crib waiting there, which was great until about an hour later when he woke up, and I guess didn't know where he was. He got a bit upset. :-) He slept the rest of the night in the king sized bed with DoT and I.

Today we headed out to the Great Wall. Of course we'd already been to the Wall the last time we were here, but it truly is worth the repeat visit. It's really something to see. This time we visited a different section of the Wall (the JuYong Pass). Unfortunately it was a hazy day so we didn't get any great photos. Here are a couple though...

As you can see from the ice on the lake, it is still a bit cold here in Beijing (despite the fact that the Spring Festival starts next week). The temperature here today was somewhere around -5 degrees -- I know.. nothing like the temperature in Ottawa these days.











This picture I thought showed the incline of the steps pretty well. Or at least as well as any of our photos. I have a feeling my leg muscles may be complaining tomorrow.






According to our guide Lily, this sign says that if you haven't been on the Great Wall, you're not a real man.
















After the visit to the Great Wall, we visited a jade store, saw a couple of sculptors creating pieces from jade, learned how to tell real jade from glass or fake jade (although I think I'd need to have both the real and the fake together to compare, and know ahead of time that one was fake and the other real, before I could tell), and spent a lot of money. :-) Here are a couple of photos from there...



















These pictures really don't do it justice... there are some truly amazing pieces here.

In a few minutes we will be heading out to dinner with J&L, and then hope to have an early night since I think we could all use some sleep. Tomorrow, we spend more money (probably)... we're heading to the "Dirt Market".

k.

P.S. Our hotel in Beijing is beautiful.

Off to Beijing today

Hi again all,

This morning we went to the Chen Clan temple (http://www.china-travel-tour-guide.com/attractions/chen-clan-temple.shtml). This temple was built by the Chen family in the late 1800's. We had a nice morning of wandering around and checking out the architecture and the gardens. Very peaceful. It truly felt like a late spring day... I don't know for sure but I'm guessing the temperature this morning was in the high teens, maybe even 20 degrees, and it was sunny. Very nice. Here are a few photos...

There were also a lot of shops at the temple selling jade, art work, porcelain, etc. I bought a couple of small hand paintings for my office when I get back. I don't think they're as nice as the ones I bought in Beijing on our last trip, but they are still pretty nice. And very reasonably priced. And this time I paid a bit extra to get them already framed. Not as convenient for packing, but after our last trip I spent a lot of money back in Canada framing some of the artwork we'd bought.

We got back to the hotel at about 12:30 p.m., and it took about half an hour to get B to sleep for his nap. This kid really does not want to sleep. The last couple of nights he's started to be a bit weepy in the evenings, and I think it is just because he's getting tired and doesn't want to go to sleep. Same thing at nap time. So, anyhow, today he fell asleep at 1:00 p.m., and we need to be checked out of our hotel room by 2:00 p.m., so it will be a short nap today. Then we head to the Security office to pick up B's Chinese passport. Then it's straight to the airport for our flight to Beijing. I'm not sure what time we will get into our hotel in Beijing, so I may or may not put up another post later today.

Oh, yes, one other thing. We discovered last night that B is terrified of the bathtub. Poor kid. So, it seems he'll be getting sponge baths for at least the foreseeable future. :-) I remember E was the same way, and now she loves a bath. Can't remember how long it took for her to gain her love of baths, though.

K....

Low key day

So today was a pretty quiet day. Our guide spent the day at the notary office, on our behalf, to verify the documents being prepared for us, and to make sure everything moved along quickly. (Because we're compressing this visit into a shorter time frame than is typically the case in this province, we need everything to go along without a hitch.) So that left DoT, B and I on our own for the day.

We had a relaxed day today. We slept in, had a late breakfast, played a bit in our hotel room, then B had a 2-hour nap. After that we ventured out and went shopping around our hotel. The streets of Guangzhou, at least the area we are in, are lined with little shops selling pretty much everything. We didn't buy a lot, but did pick up a pair of shoes for B, and a couple of little outfits.

Here is a picture of what the shops along the street look like...

Also, since China is gearing up for the lunar new year, everywhere you go you see lunar new year decorations going up, Chinese lanterns, and orange trees. Here's a shot of the trees appearing at the entrances of practically every major business or hotel...

We had a pretty good day with B today, although we've had a few tears this evening. We're not sure what that is about. It might just be that he's a bit bored. Apparently he's gotten used to a faster pace. :-) Well, we'll be back to that again starting tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we are taking in a local temple, and then in the afternoon, we fly to Beijing. So, I have some packing to do tonight. Gotta go.

K.

Orphanage visit

Today we went for a visit to the orphanage where B has spent all but two weeks (and the last two days) of his life so far. I must say that, in terms of orphanages, this is a pretty nice one. The orphanage director met us when we arrived and showed us the ward where B lived. According to her, this is the only ward that currently has babies in it. There were about 20 to 25 babies. She told us, though, that the orphanage has kids of all ages, but once they get a little older they are placed in foster families, which is why there were only babies there.

This is a picture of the front entrance of the orphanage building...














And here is a picture of the three of us outside the building...















We also were able to take a few pictures inside, even though we were told that we can't take pictures of the other babies. The reason for this, we were told, is that some of the other babies have already been lined up for adoptions so we couldn't take their pictures because the other families wouldn't like it. I have no idea why. Before getting B, I would have been thrilled if some other family had gotten a picture of him in the orphanage that I could have seen. But, given that we were guests there, and the director was so nice to us, I didn't think I should press it. We were allowed to take a picture of the crib B slept in, and there were babies all around it.

We asked the director about B's name and got the story behind it. Turns out there is a famous actor here with a name similar to the name the director gave B. B was given a name after this actor, but the name was changed slightly to mean that B will have an even better life than this famous actor. The director said that while some orphanages just give the kids names that include the orphanage name, or the city they were found in, this orphanage gives thought to the names, and gives each baby a unique name. She said that she believes that giving a good name is the first step in starting the child on a good life.

I was a bit worried about taking B back to the orphanage so soon after we had just gotten him, since I thought it might be really hard on him (and us). Turns out it was the best thing we could have done. We had a real turning point today. When we arrived at the orphanage, the director was excited to see B again and held out her arms to him, and he went to her. Oh oh, I thought, this is not going to be good when it comes time to leave. But then we went upstairs to B's old room and the minute we entered the room he started to cry. He only calmed down when DoT took him from the director and held him. Turns out he's adopted us too, and was crying because he thought he was going to be left behind.

When we left the room with him, he was a happy guy again. And since then he seems to really have opened up to us. He's teasing us, playing with us, laughing lots and, for the first time, when we got back to the hotel today he didn't start crying when we came into the room. And while for the last couple of days we haven't really been able to put him down or leave him on his own, tonight he is tottering around the hotel room on his own and checking everything out. (By the way, yes, he is walking on his own, although he still falls regularly.)

Another good thing that came out of today's visit to the orphanage was that they showed me how he drinks out of a bottle. When we first got B, we were told that he drinks out of a regular bottle (not a cleft bottle like we had brought with us). So, we went out and bought a couple of regular bottles. For the last couple of days, he's been drinking out of them, but I wasn't sure he was getting much liquid out of them. (Because of this I've also given him water out of a sippy cup with the valve removed. And while this seemed to work better than the bottle, it too wasn't a stellar success.) So, I pulled out one of the bottles when we got to the orphanage. The director and nannies there looked at it, smiled and said it was a good bottle. But then I said I wanted to compare it to their bottles since I didn't think he was getting a lot out of it. When they gave me his bottle from the orphanage, it was clear that the nipples in their bottles have much bigger holes than a regular bottle. So, I pointed this out and one of the nannies took the bottle I had brought, got out the scissors and made a big hole in that one too. So, now we're all set. They also showed me how to make the formula he is used to drinking. They add some rice powder to it, and serve it hot, hot, hot. Much hotter than I would think you would give a baby. But when we gave him a bottle of it there, he didn't even flinch, so I guess he's used to it that temperature. They were also nice enough to give me a package of the rice powder they use with their formula.

After the orphanage visit, we headed out to see if we could find the spot where B had been abandoned. We had directions from the orphanage director, but still had a lot of problems finding it. In the end we had to pay a guy on a motorcycle Y10 to take us to it. Turns out we were in the right area all along, but where the documents had said he was abandoned at a "tunnel", this was more like a big overpass. But, our guide Lily confirmed it was the right spot. She talked to people at a little store near there, and they agreed that this place was called the tunnel. (Although no one remembered a baby being abandoned there.)

Since it took about 1.5 hours each way to drive to the orphanage, and awhile to get to the town where B was abandoned, by the time we got back to Guangzhou it was mid-afternoon. We thought we would have some down time then for the rest of the day, but we were only back in the hotel room for about 30 minutes when our guide called and said she needed us to get to the "security office" right away. Because we are trying to push our paperwork through faster than normal, we needed to make a quick trip into the office for one of the many steps in the process. That took us through the rest of the day. We stopped at a little noodle shop near the hotel for supper tonight and now we are back in the hotel room for the night. DoT and I are exhausted and feel ready for bed, but B seems to be going strong. It's going to be a long night.

I'll end here, with a picture (us with the orphanage director), and a short video showing B in what hopefully is now his normal happy state. :-)

Oh yeah, one final thing. MJ asked about his size. DoT thinks he weighs about the same as E does, but he is a bit smaller than E and A. We don't have a tape measure with us, so are going by memory, but I'd say he is a couple of inches shorter than the girls. Not much though, given the difference in their ages.

Adoption Day!

Hi all, yes Dad is actually going to contribute something this time. K tried to take the credit for the 111 posts so far until I corrected her by pointing out that 3 of those were actually mine - so this post should pretty much even things up. Look for my next post in about 6 months, or when B graduates, whichever comes first.

Today B is officially adopted into our family. We went back to the Adoption Centre and finalized the paperwork this morning. He is so patient I can't believe it - the girls would have had about 100 tantrums each by now (maybe he is saving the best for later on the airplane).

B went to sleep about 9:30 last night (just barely ahead of his dad) and we basically had to wake him up this morning after 8:00 (I beat him there - I was up at 3 AM for the day). He is now having a nap (I didn't dare lie down with him). He cried once or twice last night but not for long at all. There were some tears this morning though when he woke up and realized where he was (but they didn't last long). Don't worry B, those rumours about us are mostly false.

After paperwork we headed down to the Pearl River (3rd largest in China) and found a restaurant (check the title - it is funny). B seems to be able to eat large amounts of rice and had some goose and broccoli to go with it. Once he had his first poo, life was good - he is such a typical guy it is hilarious.

One sure way to get him to smile is to touch something then wait for him to do the same. On the way back to the hotel this morning, we took turns touching the tv screen in the back of the cab. He would smack his hand on it with much gusto then give you a big grin as if to say "your turn". Last night in the grocery store he was very good at copying however many fingers I used to touch the cans and that was the first smile I got from him. The orphanage report says he likes toys which make sounds (ooops I can already hear my mom heading to the store). We'll likely pick something up for him today (although he played with a chopstick, then a little plastic card for most of the morning).

He is walking (we have so far held his hand but he can probably do it himself). He has been making some baby babble and the orphanage director was interested to know he would have surgery on his cleft soon because she said he is just starting to try and talk. The nurse at CHEO figures they can get him in for surgery in about a month). He also has a bunch of teeth but will definitely need some braces later. His feet are often swinging while you hold him and his fingers are always moving. The two-year old clothes we got for him are a bit big so I guess he is right at average height for his age.


Below are a few pics from today:


On the way to finalize the adoption
















The Pearl River
















Lunch time
















Nap time

Two posts in one day!

So, here is my second post of the day (I think the last time that happened was probably when we were last in China!)

We just got back to the hotel room, with B. So far so good. I'd like to say everything went off without a hitch, but it didn't. Nothing major, just some anxious moments. We arrived at the adoption centre at about 2:15 p.m. B was not there yet, but we saw him arrive about 10 minutes later. We were receiving B at the same time as a group of about 12 or so families, all from the USA I think. B handled the hand off very well. There were very few tears, and the ones we did get were only about an hour or so later. We were still at the adoption centre at that time. And an hour after that. And an hour after that. All told we were in that room for about 3 hours. But some of the delay was our fault... okay most of it was our fault. Turns out we needed to pay the fees in Yuan, not in American dollars, as we thought we had been told. We didn't have the Yuan (see the post below about our difficulties in getting money exchanged, it continues) and DoT and our guide needed to go to another floor to get the money exchanged at a bank. Luckily there was a bank right in the same building. There was quite a line up though, so it took them about an hour to get the money exchanged. I was quite relieved when they finally got back, as the number of people in the room had dwindled to about 3 or 4 and I had visions of the orphanage director demanding B be handed back. :-)

Anyhow, after we left the adoption centre, we headed for a department store since we found out from the orphanage staff that B drinks from a regular bottle. I had assumed he would either drink from a cup, sippy cup, or bottle specifically for cleft palates. So we didn't bring any regular bottles with us. No problem though, we picked up a couple at the store.

We had supper at the food court of the shopping centre -- yummy noodle soup. We also did some more of the paperwork there. Finally we headed back to our hotel room. We got back at about 7:30 p.m. Since that time B has played with DoT a bit, eaten a couple of cookies, cried some more, and is now trying to drink from one of the bottles we bought. We tried one of the bottles with him shortly after we bought it at the store, and I'm not sure how much water he is getting out of it. He works away at it (ind of like biting the nipple) but I'm not convinced he's getting much out. We go for a visit to the orphanage the day after tomorrow, so I'll ask them to show me there, how he drinks from the bottle. Hope we can get enough liquid into him until then.

We were told again today that he only goes to sleep at 10:00 p.m. and wakes up at 6:00 a.m. He seems pretty tired right now, so I'm hoping he will go sleep before then, but who knows. He's fighting it pretty well, right now.

So, here are a few pictures from the big day...



















And finally, yes, for those of you with sharp eyes... he is eating a sucker and holding a second in one of those pictures. Both of which he was given before he came to meet us. After he stuck the first one in his mouth with the wrapper still on, I took pity on him and unwrapped it for him. Seems he has a sweet tooth. He'll fit into our family just fine. :-)