Good morning!

Ready for breakfast.

Good morning! Ready for a subway ride and a park.

(When you have as many outfits as this girl does, you change at least 3 times a day!)

We are seeing dimples!

Day 6 - Medical Exam and Passport Application

Day 6 – Medical Exam and Applying for Passport

First, to finish about yesterday:

Yesterday afternoon (while I was blogging), Sarah took a 3 hour nap. We had to wake her for dinner. We remember this from Aaron – that often children who have lived in orphanages do not regulate sleep as others do. They go to sleep because someone told them to (tired or not) and they wake up when someone says it is time to get up. It is common for them to either stay sleeping for long periods of time or to wake up and just lie in bed waiting for someone to come and tell them it is okay to get up.

We walked down to a new, modern mall about 10 minutes from here. We ate dinner at a fantastic hot pot restaurant. Sarah did great. She ate squid balls, shrimp, noodles, and beef. The only thing she did not like was tofu (She may now officially join the club. Our family score is now 4 people dislike tofu, 1 person likes it – that one person being Rupert.) In that mall is a huge grocery store (we’ve not seen anything like it in Guangzhou before) – quite similar to American grocery stores, and had some American products (at very high prices). We picked up a few Chinese treats for Sarah.

Sarah slept great again last night. We woke her up around 7:30 for breakfast. She woke up quiet and calm (no crying). Once again she was thrilled to put on a pretty dress and have her hair done. She ate another fantastic breakfast.

Today we had the morning to ourselves. We walked around the local area, and did some shopping. We’ve (well, Nicole at least) done so much shopping (especially Chinese dresses for Sarah), we realized we could not go home with our 3 checked pieces of luggage we brought. So partway back to our hotel, I noticed a luggage "store" in an alleyway off the main shopping area and we bought a suitcase for the equivalent of $20. Walking beside Rupert as he carried the suitcase on our 20 minute walk back to our hotel was hysterical. (Forget rolling it, the sidewalks are too uneven.) This got even funnier later in the day when I was telling our guide Richard (Alexa’s husband) how I was buying so many Chinese dresses, etc. for Sarah that we needed to buy another suitcase. He then said that he SAW us walking back to our hotel, with Rupert carrying the suitcase. He was apparently with another family (who is staying at the Garden Hotel and wanted to come to see the Pet Market, etc. in our "Chinese" part of town!) and he saw a blond lady pushing a stroller and a Chinese man and the Chinese man was carrying a suitcase and he wondered if it might be us. YUP. He said it looked like I was laughing at something very funny....yup!

We then spent some time in our hotel, and Rupert got some noodle dishes for lunch. Sarah packed it away in no time. She’s a great eater.

Sarah is showing her personality more today. She’s talking a little bit in Mandarin, being silly, and smiling and laughing a lot. She loves music and dancing. Later this evening she was hysterical. She was laughing, dancing, and being very silly. It is so great to see her personality!

I did have a parenting FAIL moment today…I should have KNOWN better. She’s my 3^rd child for goodness sake. At 12:15 I thought, well she could nap for about an hour before we have to leave for our appointments. For some reason, foolish me thought well at least she’ll have an hour’s worth of napping. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Waking a child from a one hour nap when they really want/need 2-3 is WORSE than no nap at all. She was NOT happy to be woken up. But that quickly changed when she saw her pretty dress, luckily.

Our guide, Richard (Alexa and Richard are married – they work together as guides, so some days we have Alexa, and others we have Richard), picked us up at 1:45 for Sarah’s Medical Exam. All people immigrating to the United States must undergo a medical exam. For Sarah, this includes a TB test. (This frustrates me to no end, because if she were a biological child who had been born abroad to a U.S. Citizen and was arriving in the U.S. with active TB, she would be allowed to enter. But for a child adopted by US Citizens, the US will not allow them to enter with a positive TB test. We have no reason to believe her TB test will be positive, but after following the story of a family a couple of years ago who was stuck in China for WEEKS due to their new daughter’s positive result, it is of course on my mind. Our guide recently had a family stuck here for THREE MONTHS due to a positive TB test!!)

We had a waiver so Sarah did not need any immunizations today. (There was a period of time between our adoption of Aaron and Sarah where the US government would not allow waivers. All children, even with medical conditions, needed to be immunized.) Luckily, waivers are allowed now. We have Sarah’s immunization records. Our pediatrician will run blood titres to check her immunities, and we will immunize only those illnesses she is not immune to already. So, no shots today!

First they checked Sarah’s height and weight. 

Then they checked her ears (who knew immigration to the U.S. was contingent on being able to hear… sarcasm here…). 

Then it was time for a quick (and I mean quick) physical exam. She didn’t even have to remove her clothing (my thinking was she could have a contagious rash and no one would know!). However, as soon as they had her lie down, she started screaming. Luckily it was pretty quick. They had to measure the circumference of her head and she became hysterical. (Keep in mind this was a fabric measuring tape, so not painful at all.) Rupert and I said, “Just wait until the TB test.” What no one had told us was that for the TB test she would be taken away from us. (UGH! Don’t get me started! Absolutely NOT in the best interest of a child who has just had their life turned upside down and has begun to bond with his/her parents!). This is so different from the U.S. where your child can sit on your lap for bloodwork! So, as soon as they took her the screaming started. Down the hall, the entire waiting room of 100+ people waiting could hear Sarah. Luckily we had the custard cake pastry she likes, waiting for her. Suffice to say, we have no photos!

After the Medical Exam, we went to a Chinese police station to apply for Sarah’s Chinese Passport. (She will travel to the U.S. on a Chinese passport, with a U.S. Visa inside.) We saw Wensi again as she is the official we dealt with. We saw two of the other families from Monday. It was interesting to talk to them and see how things are going. One of the families flew on ANA like us, and loved it. After we were done, we headed back to our hotel.

When Richard met us today he said, “Has she stopped crying yet?” I thought he meant because of what Alexa told him how Sarah had been on Monday. That was not the case. He reminded me he went to Bao’an three times to get photos and video of Sarah for us and every time she was screaming and crying. He never once saw her not acting that way. He said everyone said, “She cries a lot.” He was glad to see her not crying, and instead laughing and smiling.

Tonight we walked back to Shamian Island and did some shopping (well, now I have another suitcase to fill up!). We went to dinner at the Cow and Bridge Thai restaurant. It was the same as 3 years ago. Felt like we were JUST there. We met up with another family who is staying on the same floor of our hotel as us. They leave tomorrow (at 5:30 am!). They know this is our 2^nd adoption/trip. They asked us if we had any advice and said they have FOUR flights home. Rupert was very honest and said, “Oh that is NOT good. I would NOT want to be you.” I jokingly suggested EARPLUGS, but then just told them not to worry about it because they will never see the people on the plane again.

Tonight Sarah was SO SILLY. She was trying on some of her clothing and her bathing suit (supposed to be 99 this weekend, and we are GOING IN THE HOTEL POOL!). She kept running out to show Rupert and twirling around. However, she’s not always steady on her feet, so Rupert and I were joking saying, great she’s going to hurt herself during her fashion show (like some runway model who falls down). She took her bath, but did NOT want to go to bed tonight. She kept pointing to her toys. Now if I had just skipped that darn attempt at a nap today she probably would have been fine!

Tomorrow we are planning on taking the subway to the Xiangjiang Safari Park.

Today there was lots of talk about politics. Chinese do not often speak of politics in public, for fear of the consequences. Speaking out against the government can result in losing one’s job, being sent to jail or having your family also sent to jail. However, in private, Chinese people often speak of politics. We heard quite a bit about how huge the gap between rich and poor is in China right now. It is evident for sure. There is no Welfare in China. Those who are poor either are homeless/begging or they work. There is no shortage of jobs in China.  There are not labor unions in China to advocate for workers’ rights. Rules are not enforced. People work 7 days a week, with only 1-3 days off per month. This is against the rules but no one complains because they need the money…

Also we heard about how difficult it is to go to university here. One of the most well known universities in Beijing only accepts maybe 20 students from Guangdong PROVINCE, but from the province Beijing is in, they accept close to 300. It would be like if Harvard only accepted 20 students from a rural, farming state, such as Vermont, but 300 from a major city. Or they accept a certain number from wealthy families and not at all from poor families…

Well enough for now! More tomorrow! One week from today we will be leaving Guangzhou.

Hysterically Laughing Here in China

First of all, any of my students from this past year know that there were moments I would start laughing and just could not stop for several minutes. (I remember at least once when I was laughing so hard I was crying.) Keep in mind I am not a funny person and I have very little sense of humor (or at least up to this school year, when some of you helped me develop a bit of a sense of humor and appreciate humor more). So, it's a little out of character for me to be hysterically laughing, but today I was.

I've bought a lot - especially Chinese dresses for Sarah. It is clear we are not going home with just the 3 checked pieces of luggage we brought with us. So, on the way home from MORE SHOPPING this morning, I noticed a luggage "store" and we bought one for the equivalent of $20 (quite a deal). Walking beside Rupert as he carried the suitcase on our 20 minute walk back to our hotel just struck me as so funny. It was hysterical to me. (Forget rolling it, the sidewalks are too uneven.) Now you see ALL SORTS of things on the streets of Guangzhou, but seeing the look on the people's faces as the Americans walked by carrying a suitcase was just hysterical. I could not control myself. I was laughing, near crying, wiping my eyes and trying to get it under control. It was just hysterical.

Rupert and Sarah with our new suitcase. (Rupert looks thrilled that he has to buy a suitcase for all the shopping I've done for Sarah.) Especially for my students - this is a luggage STORE. It's in an alley along a major shopping area. This is what the stores are like in China. There is some sort of awning above in case of rain.

Now you can see the rest of the store and a man shopping (or working, I'm not sure as he's not the worker we paid). Love Sarah looking at the suitcase, like, yes my Mom has bought SO MUCH STUFF FOR ME, they had to buy this thing).

It was quite a walk back to the hotel! With me laughing almost all of the way. And OMG, it just got every funnier! This afternoon we were telling our guide Richard (Alexa's husband) how I was buying so many Chinese dresses, etc. for Sarah that we needed to buy another suitcase. He then said that he SAW us walking back to our hotel, with Rupert carrying the suitcase. He was apparently with another family (who is staying at the Garden Hotel and wanted to come to see the Pet Market, etc. in our "Chinese" part of town!) and he saw a blond lady pushing a stroller and a Chinese man and the Chinese man was carrying a suitcase and he wondered if it might be us. YUP. He said it looked like I was laughing at something very funny....yup!

Belly Laughs for the First Time

Rupert is playing some games with Sarah (the silly, Daddy kind) where her animals and toys are trying to kiss (or eat?) her toes. She was hysterically laughing (big belly laughs). She is incredible!

The resiliance of these children is incredible. 1 and a half days of 1:1 attention and love and she is such a happy, joyful, loving child. We are so lucky!

She loves sitting on the couch and having Daddy play with her.

Dinner Last Night

Sarah is so easy and such a complete joy. She took a 3 hour nap (I blogged and inventoried what size dresses and colors we still need to buy for her!). She woke up happy and ready to have a new dress put on and eat dinner.
Loves the stroller (phew! it's way too hot to be carrying her everywhere). We walked to a new, modern mall and had dinner at a fantastic hot pot restaurant. Sarah ate everything we gave her (squid balls, shrimp, noodles, rice, beef) except...TOFU (which is quite funny because now our family has 4 members who do not like tofu, and one member - Rupert - who does).

Before dinner (outfit #3 for the day)

sitting right beside Mommy at the restaurant

Breakfast Time (Wednesday)

Sarah slept great last night, woke up calm, quiet, and ready to put on another pretty dress and have a hairbow put in. She at fantastic at breakfast. She LOVES milk. Not sure she's ever had real milk, probably only soy milk and powdered milk. Right now she's warming up to Daddy again, smiling and laughing as he plays with her and her assorted Minnie Mouse toys. She and I are trying to convince Daddy that 8 Chinese dresses is not enough for this special girl who loves dresses! (We WILL be going back over the Shamian for more dresses will be the verdict! I just inventoried what we have and made a list of the sizes and colors we don't have.)

Think good thoughts because we have the very yucky medical exam this afternoon. It will take all my strength to remain silent while observing the very inferior medical protocols and procedures we will observe...I remember all too well from 2010.

Day 5 Adoption Day - She is OURS

You will find as you look back upon your life  that the moments when you have really lived,

 are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love.  
                                                                                           -  Henry Drummond

Sarah slept great last night. (I on the other hand was awake at 3 am. I ended up getting up and using the laptop to go through photos and start future posts for our blogs. So much for no jet lag!) Sarah fell asleep in 5 minutes, slept soundly all night between us in our bed, and woke up happy. She was calm, quiet, and ready to go. She was thrilled to put on a pretty dress and have her hair done. 

At breakfast, she LOVED all the food. She ate eggs, watermelon, cantaloupe, rice congee, and a bit of a steamed bun. She drank a big glass of milk. She loves the front pocket in her bibs (purpose of that "pocket" is to catch crumbs, etc. but she puts her little Minnie Mouse in it!). Here are some photos from before breakfast.
                                       


                                       

                            

Breakfast time

After breakfast, we had about 90 minutes in our hotel room before our guide picked us up. Sarah had a lot of fun playing. She is very quiet, calm, focused, and very smart. Rupert taught her a Chinese nursery rhyme game and she caught on fast, even though he was speaking Cantonese and she only knows Mandarin.  She LOVES MUSIC. (Later today she started dancing to music on one of her toys. SO SWEET.) Here are pictures playing the game with Rupert.

Clapping hands with Daddy

Arms up high

Watching Daddy intently. 

Our guide, Alexa, picked us up at 9:30 this morning, and took us to Civil Affairs for the adoption of Sarah. (Ironic that our guide's name and Sarah's middle name are the same. Alexa told us when she was in grade 9 in high school there was an American teacher - very unusual for that time in Guangzhou. The teacher gave them a long list of English names to choose from. She chose Alexa for herself and that is what she goes by now.)

Both yesterday and today, we saw our guide from 2010, Wensi, and she remembered us. She now works at Civil Affairs in Guangzhou. She was the registration official who we saw today. She asked a lot about Aaron, asked to have a photo taken with us, and told us that we had been featured in a book about Bao'an orphanage. Here is the book and that page! 

Those family photo was Father's Day. The bike photo was about a week after we got home. The top left one is Aaron on his Lunar/Chinese birthday.

                                  

Back at Civil Affairs to finalize the adoption. It was a MUCH difference experience than yesterday! Sarah was calm, quiet, and wanted to be right with us all the time. Everyone commented on how different she seemed from yesterday! 

Above and below we are with the Registration Official, who was our GUIDE back in 2010 when we adopted Aaron. We had no idea she now worked full time for Civil Affairs. It was wonderful to see us. She remembered many details about Aaron and our time in China. She had no idea we were coming back! We will see her tomorrow when we apply for Sarah's Chinese Passport (which is how she will travel to the U.S. - on a Chinese passport with a U.S. Visa inside).

Waiting for the Notary to finalize the adoption.

With the notary. There's something very emotional this beautiful child is sitting on your lap and they ask you, "What do you think of her?" and then, "So, do you wish to adopt her?"  "YES PLEASE," was our answer!!!!!!!

After the appointment, we came back to our hotel room and had lunch. Sarah devoured two steamed meat dumplings, and a big bowl of noodles. She has a great appetite.

After lunch, we headed out to the bakery where we have been buying Chinese cookies and pastries. There is a very kind 19 year old girl who when we first went to the bakery on Sunday,  immediately asked me to help her practice her English. She is the absolute sweetest young woman. Very friendly and kind and so interested in us.  We went in there yesterday and ordered a small birthday cake for Sarah, and told her we would be bringing our daughter today for her to meet. I wanted to take a photo with her and also have her write down her Chinese name so I can practice saying it correctly. We also want to bring her a Hershey chocolate bar. For the average person here in China, a Hershey chocolate bar  is quite expensive  and not something they would indulge in. We took a photo with her. 
                                         

We went shopping on Shamian Island. Sarah rode in her stroller no problem! Phew! I had been worried about that. It is just TOO HOT AND HUMID to be carrying a 26 pound child everywhere. Carrying her up and down the stairs of the overpass to and from Shamian Island is enough! We had to pick up Rupert's laundry, and a teapot we had Sarah's name painted inside of that was being finished this morning. We bought her a pair of "squeaky shoes" (pictured above, as the pair of shoes she came with are a little bit, really stiff material, and do not look comfortable), several Chinese dresses (including a white one for her Baptism next summer), and a bracelet. 

We came back to our hotel room, had a snack, played, and I put her down for a nap. She was asleep in 2 minutes! When she wakes up we plan to go to a new, modern shopping mall that has a hot pot restaurant in it (and the mall and restaurant are well air conditioned!!!). (Thursday and Friday are supposed to be 98 degrees. We will be in the hotel pool!!!)

Something humorous from yesterday. After Sarah had calmed down (this was after 55 minutes of screaming), someone told her she would have two big boy brothers. Oh my gosh! She started hysterically crying. She apparently told them NO, she wants a SISTER.  There was much laughing and the guides and workers said, "Oh you'll have to come back for ANOTHER ONE." Let's just say that was NOT what Rupert wanted to hear. We were both very clear - no, this is our final child! 

Sarah is an absolute joy! We are starting to see her personality in just 24 hours since we met her! I can't wait to see what the rest of our time in China brings!