12/30/09 Wilbur (the pig) gets a bath

For Hannukah, Grandma and Grandpa gave April and Bennett books with matching stuffed animals. Bennett's book is "If you give a Moose a Muffin" and the stuffed animal is a moose he named Rudolph (that is a story for another time). April's book is "If you give a Pig a Party" and of course the stuffed animal is a pig. She went through a list of inappropriate names (no, you cannot name your pig Bennett) until we landed on Wilbur.

She loves Wilbur and he has been elevated to "most favored animal" status. He accompanied us to Duke and he sleeps with April at night.

This afternoon, April came into the bathroom while I was taking a shower. She announced that Wilbur needed a bath. When I rinsed the soap out of my eyes and took a look, there she was in the tub with soap, shampoo, washcloth and bucket. I said, rather quickly, "don't turn the water on!" and she responded, "I just pretend". And sure enough, Wilbur got a very thorough pretend bath complete with a toweling off and then was put down for a nap because he was very tired.

December 2009 - Hannukah, Snow, & other pictures

Carolina Panther's Jerseys. Hmmm, and shortly after Bennett and April selected these outfits the Panthers finally started to win, and win big! Coincidence?


Hannukah Lights


Hannukah Party


"We love each other!"


My 1st watch!


The first snow in NC (for April). 'Hood kids.

November 2009 - Pictures

April and Mommy out to lunch.


April sleeping on the bed with her new best friend. Murphy - "I love this kid!"


Bennett's Birthday


Bennett painting at Cole's birthday party.

More Pictures from October 2009

10/24/09 - Our 2nd flight home was delayed in Newark, after the flight from Hong Kong to Newark. Zzzzzzzz ...

10/24/09 Midnight? Time Zone? - 2 Smiley Faces spotted as we drove home from the airport. Then 2 more. Then a LOT more as we drove into our driveway. Here is a picture from the next day.

10/31/09 Happy campers in their PJ's waving Chinese Flags and wearing their Panda backpacks.

10/31/09 Halloween - The Princess! [April took to aggressive bonding and attachment techniques almost too well - she was quite happy with the hand feeding, being carried everywhere, getting her needs met instantly, getting whatever she wanted, etc. Thus, the nickname Princess applies to her looks, this outfit, and growing accustomed to a high service level!].

Video - Goodbye Guangzhou Part 2

Video - Goodbye Guangzhou Part 1

Random catch-up stuff and prepping for upcoming surgery

Where do the days go?? I can't believe it is December 29th! I will be returning to work on January 4th. I love my job and the work that I do, but I have really enjoyed being a stay at home mom these past 2 months! I will miss my little girl, but I know that she will be in good hands with Mark.

We have a ton of pictures to sort through and post, but since we haven't posted since Halloween, I thought I would provide some updates for anyone who still may be following along :)

April's English has just exploded. She is speaking in complete sentences and understands everything we say!

She got glasses in the beginning of December and I'm sure that really opened up her world. First thing every morning she says "April glasses peas". She also tells us that she can see out of her left eye, but not her right. We have been going to a pediatric ophthalmologist who has done several exams including one under anesthesia. It appears that April had surgery as an infant (unknown to us and not in any of her records) to remove cataracts. As a result of the surgery, scarring formed over both pupils which is causing her vision issues. This surgery and result is quite common and in the US, a followup visit would have detected the scarring and additional surgery to remove the scarring would be performed.

We were referred to a specialist at Duke. We spent the day at Duke yesterday for a consult with the specialist (who concurred with our doctor) and we will be back on Jan. 8th for surgery. Since she has vision in her left eye, the doctor will be removing the scarring on the right eye only at this time.

We were thankful that we were able to get in to see this dr. so quickly and that the surgery is scheduled soon.

The one downside is that April will not start pre-school as planned on 1/4. She was really looking forward to it and asks each day "April school today?". We took her last week to meet her teachers and show her the classroom. She was there for 2 1/2 hours and LOVED IT! It is all she has talked about.

Bennett is still adjusting to sharing Mommy and Daddy. He continues to do great with April. The two of them can play for hours and hours! They love each other and it really shows. Bennett will take April's hand and walk her around if she is unfamiliar with a location or the people around. It is really sweet! They are also very competitive and they both yell "me first" no matter what the activity; washing hands, brushing teeth, getting buckled in the car, you name it!

The buzzer on the dryer just went off and my little helper came in to ask to help me fold.. So I'm off! Check back soon for pictures!

Back amongst the living

We have been home almost a week (today is Friday) and are finally getting back into a routine. My headcold on the plane turned out to be the flu (the "regular" kind) so I was out of commission for a couple of days.
Jet-lag on the way back is a killer! We were all so out of wack. Even Bennett (who we have a rule that he must wait until there is a seven on the clock to leave his room) has been sleeping until 10 or 11! Only Ms. April seems to be up and ready to go at 7am..

Due to my flu, I have been sleeping in April's bed and she and Mark have been sleeping in our bed. We know this will be a hard habit to break. Bedtime is really the only time where she is having some issues. She cries as soon as she realizes it is time for bed. We have gotten to the point where she will willingly get in the bed, but she is a restless sleeper and cries several times in the night. We want to be there to reassure her and help her through the tough times. Right now Bennett is sleeping with April and Mark. When I go up to bed (trying to beat the jetlag by staying up late), I'll move him back to his room and fight for my share of the bed. For a little girl, she sure takes up a lot of bed space!

April seems to understand most of what we tell her to the point where we almost forget that she doesn't speak English. We were at Target today and told her to "hold on" to the shopping cart as we went down a dip. Both Mark and I realized that she had no clue what we were telling her to do and were like "d'uh - how would she know?". She has been picking up words and phrases and uses them appropriately. She knows "daddy", "mommy", "Bennet", "kitty cat", "Murphy" (along with "Murphy sit" and "Murphy lie down", "grandma", 'grandpa" and how to say "please", "up please" (as in - pick me up), "Thank you", "more please" and "no thank you". The use of "no thank you" cracks us up. For example - the other day I took out some clothes for April. She took one look and said "no thank you" and walked over to her closet to take a look at what else was in there for herself.
She still uses a manderin phrase when she needs to go to the bathroom, but she has picked up the word "potty" for urgent situations. This evening I was taking her out of the bath and she seemed a bit distressed and said "potty, potty, potty" and pointed to the toilet. Yup - she had to go bad.

We have been out and about in our 'hood. Bennett beams when he introduces his new sister and explains that she speaks Chinese. April is fitting in and today joined some of the kids in running around like a bunch of crazies! A couple of the neighbors had on their Halloween costumes and Bennett changed into his. April started to get a bit whiney and we thought she might be getting tired. Bennett was walking around with another child's stuffed animal and I thought maybe she wanted it? I offered her a couple of her own stuffed animals and it was VERY obvious that was NOT what she wanted and she started to cry. She finally said "Bennett" and pointed to his costume.. AHHHH she wanted a costume too! I pulled out the princess dressup dress (thanks Lisa M!!!) and that did the trick. We put that right on her and she pranced around outside with the other kids. We may attempt a bit of Halloween after all! We have a bunch of pictures that are still on the camera. Once we download those - we will post them.

Thanks everyone for following along on our journey to bring April home. We will try to continue to post to this blog (though not every day like we did in China).

Flight recap

I posted these messages from my blackberry - but they did not make it to the blog:

We survived the flight from Hong Kong. It was long and painful. April and Bennett slept for a couple of hours, but since Mark had to be standing up for April to sleep, and Bennett fell asleep on my lap, neither Mark nor I actually slept much! We cleared customs and immigration in less than 30 minutes. They really have their act together in Newark. We spent almost 2 hours getting thru immigration in Charlotte when we adopted Bennett. We have a 3 hour layover, so we leisurely made our way down to our gate and grabbed a bite to eat. They just announced that our flight will be delayed 35 minutes. We just want to be home. Mark is trying to run the kids around to tire them out. I came down with a headcold some time during the flight and feel like crap. We are wondering how April's first night at home will go. Please send us happy sleep thoughts as Mark and I have been up for over 24 hours already and the kids are getting cranky and overtired.

It is 7:30pm and we are still in Newark. Delayed from 6:05, to 6:40, then 6:50, then 7:15 boarding, then 7:35 boarding and now due to maintenance delay, our new boarding time is 8:15. It is pouring rain and we are begining to wonder if we are going to get home tonight.

We finally boarded the plane and left the gate at 9:30pm. Bennett was asleep before the plane doors closed and was really mad when he woke up because he didn't believe we were in Charlotte. He thought we were still waiting to take off in Newark! We arrived to a very deserted Charlotte airport @ 11:15. Mark's parents and sister and brother in law were waiting for us at the baggage claim. Boy was it great to see them!! Bennett was so happy to see grandma, grandpa, Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike. We gathered our luggage and headed to the car. Thank goodness we had the family meet us at the airport. There was no way either Mark or I could have driven home.
April did great in the carseat - she seemed to like the view from high up in the seat. Bennett was happy to be "buckled up for safety" as he was quite concerned about the lack of seatbelts in China.
We pulled into our neighborhood and noticed 2 smiley face signs. We didn't think too much about them until we saw 2 more on the corner of our street and then saw our yard. More smileys than we could count and a big "Welcome Home April" sign. We were brought to tears - after such a long journey and to know how welcomed April would be. We love our 'hood!!!

On our way home

We are on the plane ready to leave Hong Kong and begin the long flight to Newark. We stayed at the Regal Airport Hotel last night and it was very nice! Best food we have had in a while and very comfy bed!

We are hoping that the kids fare well on the flight as it is long and we are in 2 rows. Aisle and middle seats on a full flight.

Mark and I are hoping to get some sleep but that is doubtful. Bennett is already asking when we will get there and the plane is still at the gate.

We will check back in at Newark if we have a chance.

Day 15 - Guangzhou - Photos

2346 - kids in the park

Day 15 - Guangzhou - shopping, swimming and a good visa surprise

Today we did not have any organized activities planned. The kids slept in until there was an 8 on the clock! We showered, dressed and headed down to a late breakfast. We met another family from Charlotte who will be traveling home on the same flight. We are getting used to the big buffett breakfast and hope that all the walking we are doing is offsetting the eating! We hope April will not be disapointed when we get home and finds that her breakfast choices are quite limited and do not include , on a daily basis; cereal, fruit, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, chicken nuggets, spring rolls, dim sum, noodles, potatoes, omelets, pizza, oatmeal, yogurt, dumplings, baked beans, sausage, bacon, ham, french toast, steamed veggies, cold cuts, pastries, bread, 4 kinds of juice, 2 kinds of milk and I'm sure there are dishes that I am leaving out..btw.. the coffee in the hotel is awful and I am making a daily journey to Starbucks for my caffeine fix. Mark has
been able to satisfy his caffiene need by buying cokes at the 7-11. That is, once he figured out which bottle with chinese writing was plain coke. He did buy a tasty vanilla coke one day that was not to his liking so he has learned to avoid the yellow cap.

There were a couple of shops that we still wanted to visit so we headed out for a walk. Shaiman island (where we are staying) must be a hot spot for wedding photos. Bennett is fascinated by all of the brides and keeps hoping that we will get to witness the actual nuptual ceremony.

After visiting a couple of stores, negotiating prices and buying more stuff (shoes, wall hanging, chinese dolls, kid chinese music cd) and getting some free stuff (chinese flags, string bracelets and a magnet of the Jiangsu province) we headed back to the hotel for a picnic lunch of noodles and animal crackers. We had a message from our guide that he was able to get our visa a day early and would try to arrange an earlier flight for us! This means that we can get to Hong Kong at a more reasonable time on Friday and let us get the kids some dinner, and a bath before trying to get them to bed.

After the picnic we put on bathing suits (thank you Miriam for lending me a suit for April!) and hit the pool. April loved it and Bennett had fun swimming in the "big" pool.  

We were able to meet up with another family who adopted from the same orphanage for dinner tonight at the Italian restaurant. We had six - they thought we said 16 - and were seated in a private banquet room. Once they realized their mistake, we think they took one look at the kids and decided that we should stay in that room - with the door closed! Good thing as April and Olivia tooks turns exercising their lungs. Bennett was on his best behavior and was trying to console both girls when they were upset.  

April is still awake while I am typing this (9:35pm). The good news is that she is not sobbing or screaming. The bad news is that she is not showing any signs of being tired or going to sleep. She fell asleep at dinner - so we figured that she might not sleep well tonight. Hopefully she will fall asleep before we do!

Tommorow morning will be interesting. Packing time!! We bought way more than we planned on and I'm not sure how we are going to fit it all in. Mark is the super packer - so I have full confidence in his ability to get everything in, packed safely to keep from breaking and still stay under the weight limit. 

This will probably be our last post for while as I'm not sure if we will have a connection in Hong Kong and we expect the jet lag to take over for a while once we get home.           

Day 14 - Guangzhou - Red Couch pictures

2299 - Bennett and April
2305 - Kids group photo
2326 - Family photo 

Day 14 - Guangzhou - COnsulate appointment and red couch

Today was our consulate appointment. Our guide took all our paperwork to the consulate and we were to wait in the room for an hour until we received the "all clear". About 30 minutes into the wait, the phone rang. Oh no! Elvin (our guide) was on the line.  Everything was fine (thank goodness!!) but instead of going to the consulate on Thurs. for our swearing in ceremony, we were to join the other families in the afternoon.    

We were released from lock-up and decided to walk around the island a bit and do some shopping. We headed to Helen's Place as we had heard she had some cute things. Lisa had seen a Burberry jacket for April earlier in the week and wanted to check it out. The shop is the size of a large closet and we had fun trying things on. We decided to keep looking and not buy anything - but she still gave us two kids bracelets. (she knew we'd be back!).

We continued to walk over to Jordon's place. His shop is off the beaten path and we were the only customers. He quickly wrote April's name in caligraphy while we browsed. We found a family ball that we really liked along with some toys for the kids. Mark did some hard bargaining and Jordon told us how business was down and how his rent had gone up. We settled on a fair price and the kids (after visiting the bathroom) were happy with the purchase.

We stopped for a quick snack at 7-11 and went to another shop where Mark had seen North Face jackets. After braving the rain on the river boat cruise and seeing the forecast for the rest of the week, we decided that April needed a rain jacket. We found a kid's size jacket - but April was not cooperating and would not try it on. We bargained back and forth and got the jacket for a steal. It is a light blue color - so even it she won't wear it, Bennett can.

Back to Helen's Place. She had boys Burberry shirts and Bennett really liked them. He tried on a few and found one that fit. He was beaming when everyone told him how handsome he looked. April scored with the windbreaker, a dress and a winter coat. She was quite happy to try on all those clothes. Mark and I are in trouble! Our daughter has expensive taste!

We all headed back to the room as it was getting close to picture time. We changed the kids into the traditional Chinese outfits that we bought and met the other families in our group by the famous "red couch" for a photo session. The kids all looked so cute! We had to bribe Bennett to take off his outfit after picture taking as we needed to get in the van and go the consulate for the swearing in ceremony. At the consulate, we saw the family we first met in Newark the day we left the states, as well as many families we have met over the past 2 weeks. What a journey this has been. Most of those families will be receiving their child's visa on Thurs., however, we will not receive ours until Friday, which is what we expected. (unless our guide has some news for us in the morning!)

April is having a hard time with bedtime and will sob and cry. Mark has been walking the halls with her for about an hour until she falls asleep and then we can put her to bed. I tried to take over tonight - but she would not have anything to do with it! She would nod off for a bit and then wake up, look and me and start to cry again. I can only imagine what is going on in her head - this must be so hard for her!      

We really enjoyed our time in China but are ready to come home.

Day 12 & 13 Guangzhou - pictures

2277 - at the zoo
2281 - more at the zoo
2290 - picnic in the room

Day 12 & 13 - Guangzhou - Shopping, the zoo and river cruise

Yesterday we met up with the famous Ann from Red Thread for some shopping! It was really great to meet her in person after emailing with her over the past couple months. Ann is pretty well known in the China adoption community. She has a website business where you can order care packages for your child and she ensures they are delivered to the orphanage.
We had approx 3 hours and the agenda was: pearl market, jade market and children's traditional clothes. 1st stop - the pearl market. Ann quickly walked us into a shop and started asking to see different quality and types of pearls for us to look at. You choose the strand and then it is strung into a necklace, bracelet, etc. The prices were amazing. Mark kept saying - buy more! I have different types of pearls for me, pearls for April now, pearls for April when she is 16, pearls for when she gets married, for Bennett to give to his wife when he gets married, etc. After we finished selecting what we wanted - Ann wisked us away to a jade seller. I wanted to get a couple of pendants - again - Ann was able to negotiate great prices and we bought a lot more than we planned on. After that - she asked me if wanted a high quality or medium quality jade bracelet. I said "high", so off we went to another vendor. I looked at many bracelets - but didnt' find
one I liked. I like the ones that have more green, apparently the higher quality don't have those "blemishes". Off to another vendor to look for some small jade lions and a family ball. Found the lions, but came up short on the family ball. Picked up a couple of "medium quality" jade bracelets and then Ann took us to another jade vendor. After a couple of minutes - she turned to us and said "this stuff is not good" so back to the first jade vendor and finally I was able to find a bracelet that I liked. 

By this point - we had run out of time so Ann flagged down a cab and we were on our way back to the hotel. We arranged to meet up with her again on Tues. to shop for traditional clothes. The kids were pooped from all the running around and shopping. Mark took April back to the medical clinic for her TB test reading. Negative!!! so no xray needed. While they were gone, I took Bennett to the pool for a swim. There were a lot of other adopting families there are well so it was nice for him to play with the other kids.      

Today we headed out early to the Guangzhou zoo. It was raining so we had the zoo pretty much to ourselves. With all the trees and umbrella's, it wasn't bad at all. We had heard some pretty negative things about the zoo and one of the families had suggested the safari instead. The zoo was included in the cost, the safari was extra - so zoo it was. We were all pleasantly surprised by the zoo. It was not as nice as the zoo in Beijing - but the animals all seemed healthy and the zoo was very clean and well laid out. The monkeys were the highlight again. There was only one panda - and he didn't move around much.           

We had an aborted attempt at a nap (kids were not cooperating) and then an aborted attempt to go out for lunch (rain and whiny, tired kids) so we turned around and went back to the room for a picnic lunch of dinner leftovers and raman noodles on the floor. It was good fun for everyone and snapped the kids out of their cranky moods. We finished up in time to meet up with Ann again for another shopping outing. Ann is amazing. She knows just which shops to go to that have good quality and she is able to get great prices! We bought way more than was on our list and are really happy with everything we bought! (this is begining to become a theme!)

Tonight we did a dinner cruise on the Pearl River. It was raining - but we all enjoyed it. April cried a bit when we went up on the top deck (outside) and she got rained on. Mark put a rain jacket on her and she started smiling and laughing. We are guessing that she was probably never allowed to play in the rain. Our guide let Bennett borrow his little umbrella and Bennett was on top of the world.

We are all pretty tired and ready to come home. Our consulate appointment is tommorow morning. Our guide will take our paperwork to the consulate while we stay back here at the hotel. It is supposed to rain again tommorow so we will be holed up in the hotel. Not looking forward to that as the kids get pretty stir crazy in the room and the hotel has been frowning upon loud children in the more public areas. 

We have 3 more days here in Guangzhou. Friday evening we fly to Hong Kong. We stay overnight in Hong Kong and will then (finally) fly home on Sat.  

Day 11 - Guangzhou - Six Banyan Temple & Liuhua Park

Okay, we think we missed a day there somewhere.  Starting with the first full day in Beijing, we have now been here 11 days, so we are skipping one day ahead today to Day 11.

Lisa and Bennett got up early to go for a walk and get some coffee.  Unfortunately Starbucks does not open until 7:30 on the weekends, which left Lisa at the mercy of the lame hotel coffee and a disappointed Bennett.

After another extravagant hotel breakfast buffet (we are going to gain weight on this trip), we headed out to the Six Banyan Temple.  It is a Buddhist temple.  Our guide arranged for the monk to give our children a special blessing.  It was kind of intimidating to be at the feet of the three massive Buddha statues during the blessing.  The blessing was something high on our must do list for the time in Guangzhou.  We'll take all the blessings we can get. 

While Mark and April checked out another building in the complex, Bennett decided to use up his blessings with Mommy and go poop in a squatty potty again.  20 minutes later, we were wondering what happened to them.  Meanwhile in the stall, Bennett asked Mommy why China does not have regular toilets between his screaming of "Don't drop me in the hole!".  Lisa eventually staggered out for fresh air and told Daddy he owed her big time.  Bennett felt much better even though Mommy would not sing or read a story to him during his leisurely sit.  If Lisa hears "Mommy, I'm not done yet" one more time in a squatty potty she is going to cry.

We stopped at a government run crafts center on the way back to the hotel and bought a Chinese chicken (long story) and a nice tea set.

Bennett and April both had mostly great behavior today.  They got along great and are really bonding as brother and sister.  They are holding hands and wanting to sit next to each other on the bus.  Daddy is going to need a new back after carrying April most of the time and Bennett leaping onto his shoulders as soon as April gets down.

Daddy hit the roof when he went to the front desk of the hotel to complain about someone smoking down the hall with their door open.  Many clerks later, he determined that our floor was a smoking floor and the desk clerks had lied to him & our guide when they explicitly stated our room and floor was non smoking when we checked in.  We had to switch our room which was a pain in the keister since we had already unpacked and the kids were half asleep. We did get comped for free internet for our troubles but were not successful in lobbying for a suite.

After the room swap we were tight on time so hit the deli next to the hotel.  We finally determined we could buy french type stuffed rolls for 1/6 the price of the similar sandwiches.  Courtesy of the sausage roll and the fact that soda was cheaper then the water, April has now discovered hot dogs and Sprite.  Bennett went to the bathroom with Lisa (again) and left his 2nd hot dog unattended, which did not last long for our newest food fan (this was her 2nd one).  He was quite bummed on his return until Mark bought him a 2nd one.

In the afternoon we went to the Liuhua Park.  It was very hot and not as nice as the parks we toured in Nanjing.  We did have a nice tea tasting ceremony afterwards.

April is starting to repeat English phrases we are working on with her - such as "all done", "more please" and "thank you".  She is also singing the alphabet song.

Tommorow we are going shopping with Ann from Red Thread and plan to stimulate the Chinese economy (even further).

Day 9 - Guangzhou - Medical & Prepare U.S. Consulate Paperwork

No pictures today.

Our hotel, The White Swan, is a nice one.  Our room is on the 13th floor with a beautiful view of the Pearl River.  The breakfast buffet looked great, but due to lack of time and the need to feed Bennett and April first, we did not get to eat much ourselves.  The place is a maze and I had to refer to the map to find my way back to an ATM I saw last night.  The hotel even has different lobbies (on 2 different floors) for individuals and tours to check in.  The Swan does have the standard hard beds we have seen. It is like you are sleeping on 2 box springs or a board.

Today we met the rest of our travel group in Guangzhou - 4 families from the U.S..  1 is an ethnic Chinese family doing a regular adoption (NSN for those familiar with the acronyms) and the other 3 are adopting waiting children.  April is the oldest by about 2 years.  It is great to talk and share experiences with other families at the same stage in the process.  3 of the familes are adopting under grandfather i-600 and one is under the new i-800 (i.e. 1 family is adopting under the new rules/processes under the Hague Adoption rules).

After getting pictures of the kids for their U.S. visas (or their Chinese medicals or both?) we were off to do the medicals for the U.S. embassy.  April, as usual, charmed the pants off the different medical staff she saw.  Everything went well.  We get the report on Monday in a sealed envelope for the U.S. consulate, when we visit to get the skin TB test read.

This afternoon Lisa took Bennett to the pool while Daddy unsuccessfully tried to get a very tired April to nap.  After the pool Daddy was left with 2 kids not on their behavior while Mommy was off to do the remaining U.S. forms with our guide and the other families.  Mommy returned 2+ hours later to find everyone sound asleep. 

For dinner we ventured out to the famous Thai restaurant on the island - Cow on the Bridge or something like that. It was good, but not that great.  Plus, it is disappointing to be back in the land of higher priced restaurants.  It will be a lot easier to eat while we are here, but more expensive and likely not as rewarding as Beijing and Nanjing could be at times. 

Nothing special to highlight about today.  The medical clinic was loud and busy.  Bennett enjoyed the newly married couples getting photographed as we walked around today.

Bennett is getting smarter about how to get Mommy to stay in bed.  When he goes to sleep in the hotel or takes a nap with her, she is not allowed to lie on top of the sheets and she has to change into her PJs.  This pretty much guarantees he will not wake up by himself.

It was nice to run into some adoptive families we know from Nanjing and an adoptive family we met on the plane from Newark to Beijing.

Also, we are working to arrange to get a copy of the video the TV cameras took when we visited the Xuzhou orphanage.

Day 8 - Nanjing/Guangzhou - Pictures

2173 - April & Bennett in the Nanjing Grand Hotel playroom at breakfast (yes, the play area is in a corner of the restaurant).
2175 - Bennett introducing April to DVDs (Sing Along With Dora) and Skittles. The latter were her favorite. 

Day 8 - Nanjing/Guangzhou

April woke up for the first time without quiet crying.  This was helped by Daddy sleeping in her bed holding her all night until she woke up.  She is not quick to wake up and takes after her Mommy in that regard, but hopefully will not also be a zombie until she has coffee.

After the breakfast buffet in the hotel we went back to the room to pack.  Our guide brought our laundry (it is much cheaper to send it out and he recommends a place near where he lives).  Very nice of him - it was a heavy bag.  Due to a lack of cooperation, we were unable to finish packing in the planned timeframe and cancelled out trip to the department store for writing pads for the kids. 

April continues to amaze us with her resilience.  At one point while we were packing she was playing with 2 bunny dolls we brought, tucking them into beds and talking to them.  She still prefers Daddy and will cry or resist if handed to Mommy, but is fine once Daddy is out of sight.

On the plus side, we tried a different restaurant (branching out from the great Chinese restaurant around the corner).  Carl's Cafe was a big surprise.  Looks more like a clean hole in the wall next to the larger restaurants, but excellent food.  Bennett and April both chowed down.  We had beef short ribs on rice and dumplings.  The owner spoke good English and insisted on providing complimentary hot tea (the best tea we have had yet) and also brought out complimentary deserts for the kids after talking to us for a bit (red bean and rice pudding or something like that - Lisa keeps telling me I am listing the wrong bean so I probably remembered it wrong again).  April cleaned the bowl after I thought she was full.  What a great meal and experience.

Back to the hotel.  Our guide came to the room and showed the scrolls and chops he had ordered on our behalf after suggesting them.  We could not be happier with them.  Each scroll, one for April and one for Bennett, are done in calligraphy with old Chinese characters on handmade paper, listing their DOB, name, and birthplace.  The chops have their name & Chinese animal for the year they were born.

After driving to the airport, we got the usual escorted service through the check in, luggage check, etc. all the way to the end of the security line.  One could get used to this.  And yes, you also get met as you exit baggage claim by your guide with your name on a piece of cardboard, and are then led to your waiting bus or van.  Not a bad way to travel.

Most of the families we had met at our hotel or at the meeting/gotcha day were on our flight.  We enjoyed talking while waiting at the gate.

April was great on the plane and had a blast.  She also captivated the flight attendants and got an unsolicited kids book & playing cards.  I could have used less "Niah, Niah" or something like that which is Chinese for "I need to go potty now".  But the guy on the aisle seat was accomodating.

We are now in the White Swan ready to head out for the medical exam and start the U.S. consulate paperwork tomorrow.  We could not get a consulate appt until Wed so will be here for a week (it is Friday now, I think).  The A/C works!!!! YEAH!!! Even more important here since it is very hot & humid outside; much more so then Nanjing.

We are not traveling alone for a change.  Our group in Guangzhou has 4 families - 1 got in before us, 1 family arrived shortly after us, and another will get here later tonight.  Our consulate appt. dates vary from Mon - Wed which will be a challenge for our guide to handle sightseeing and the different official tasks for each family required on different days.

We are on the downtown island in Guangzhou.  Eating out will be less of an adventure/challenge, but we will eat well - highly recommended restaurants close by include a Thai, Cantonese, and Italian restaurant.  Not sure I'll get Lisa to try the pigeon the cantonese place is known for, but I'll try.

Day 7 - Nanjing - Pictures Part 2

2158 - With guide at Confucius Temple area
2167 - Reading

Day 7 - Nanjing - Pictures Part 1

2147 - City Wall Steps
2154 - Zhan's Garden

Day 7 - Nanjing - City Wall, Zhan's Garden, and Confucius Temple

We got to see the Nanjing city wall.  Bennett got to run on the wall without fear of being mowed down by the numerous bicycles or mopeds.  It was a beautiful view of the city and we learned some interesting history.  The steps were MUCH easier to climb then the Great Wall.

Next stop was Zhan's Garden.  It is a beautiful setting with waterfalls, ponds, rock gardens, and some historic artifacts.  The kids were actually good in the museum and we actually got to listen without interruption to our guide Micheal and read the captions on the exhibits.  After we exited the museum Lisa asked Bennett if he wanted a cracker.  Bennett replied "Yes, after I go POOP".  Mommy - "Do you have to go poop now?" [pleading].  Reply - "YES, SUPER BAD!!!".  So commenced our rush to find a bathroom, which of course was at the other end of a maze of rock gardens and pagodas.  Lisa and Bennett rushed into the bathroom, only to discover there were no Western toilets or toilet paper (not even outside the stalls as usual here).  Wipes in hand, Lisa ventured into the forbidden land.  Lisa had to hold Bennett over the hole and Bennett was scared he was going to fall in (crying "don't drop me"). Mommy assured him that she would never drop him
in the hole.  But after the longest poop ever in history (and burning quads), he declared he was done.  Then he did not want to wait for Mommy to pee - Hey, I'm done.  Lisa was finally getting the hang of the squatty potty, but it is difficult when you are trying to convince your son not to open the door while you are squatting.

We had the afternoon to ourselves.  After a family nap (preceeded by the usual April crashing quickly and Bennett declaring he was NOT tired ... zonk!, we took out some books and did some reading. April was really interested in all the books and kept asking for more.  We played beach ball toss & kick again with the preschool set and their parents on the green at Nanjing Normal University.  Then we were off to our new favorite restaurant for dinner.  We hit the jackpot with our bus boy (we thought he was the waiter).  The food was excellent as usual, but he took over and really took care of us (and refused a tip when I tried to press one on him).  He corrected the waitresses errors on our order so we got the right pancakes this time, provided forks for the kids, brought special kids seats, and even served the noodles (wish we had him the 1st time before we entertained the restaurant and splooged the table and ourselves when we did it wrong from
the soup bucket).  Bennett ignored Daddy's advice and was scared when the special beer hostess kept coming to our table to smile & flirt with him.  

Tonight is our last night in Nanjing.  We head to Guangzhou tomorrow and will stay there for the remainder of the trip (for the U.S. consulate paperwork & immigrant visa) after we get her Chinese passport. 

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage - Pictures Part 3

2049 - Adoption Director with Bennett and April
2140 - Dad & April crashed on return

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage - Pictures Part 2

1922 - Lunch
1941 - Daddy holding both kids ["heavvvvvy"]
1965 - Orphange Director, Adoption Director, and the Family under the entrance banner (yes, I kid you not)

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage - Pictures Part 1

1892 - Arrival at Xuzhou Orphanage
1907 - The 3 familes on arrival at Xuzhou Orphanage
1903 - Paparazzi

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage

We took the express train from Nanjing to Xuzhou.  Very nice, fast, and clean.  The kids enjoyed it. 

Let me skip ahead one minute and get to the crux - April exceeded our wildest hopes.  We thought she would be distraught and overcome by the visit.  The only time she started to cry was when she said goodbye to her best friend Anna (her family lives in Seattle and we hope to visit them after they bring her home and keep the kids in touch in the future).  Aside from that, April was phenomenal.  She always came back to us, wanted to do so on her own, and was very alert and attentive to us and the many staff and nannies who obviously cared for her deeply.  We were able to let them pick her up, hug her, and hold her without incident.

We arrived at the train station to be greeted like celebrities by the local paparazzi.  Evidently the orphanage had arranged quite a welcome and wanted to document the 3 families who had just adopted at the same time (a rare occurence) and were visiting their child's orphanage.  We think the 2 TV cameras were from different stations, but are not sure.  We spent a lot of the visit posing and being interviewed at different sites (train station, arrival at orphanage, after lunch, and multiple times during the orphanage tour. 

Aside - we are now used to being the center of attention.  People touch Bennett's cheek or pat his head or at least stare (in a friendly way), given he is cute Western child.  As our guide said, you think Chinese children are so cute, we think foreign children are so cute!  Add in April to our family and we stick out like a sore thumb.

Back to the visit. The place is large, well staffed, has a beautiful setting, and is spotless.  The staff is professional and very welcoming.  As we arrived we were interviewed again by the TV crews and did endless poses for the TV crews and staff (who all had cameras).  Our guide Michael in Nanjing went above and beyond (as usual) and took many photos of us for our own use while lugging the bags of shoes we had brought most of the visit.

We were treated to an amazing lunch with many courses and multiple dishes in each course.  The only negative was Captain Fearless was terrified (shocker!) by the crabs on one plate and spent lunch in terror that they would get him.  The dishes included different kinds of chicken, vegetables, fish, crabs, fruit, soup, egg, pancakes, beer, soda, beef, and dumplings, to name a few.  After waddling out and visiting the facilities, we started the tour.

We saw the room and the bed she slept in, visited with her friends and other kids, and got a chance to meet, give messages from waiting families who will be traveling soon, and take pictures and videos to share later.  We toured other rooms including viewing from the outside the baby rooms.  It was really hard to walk by all the kids in the cribs, but they looked well cared for, albeit not with parents right now.  And no, you are not allowed to bring home more.  We would have in a heartbeat.

We even got to visit and take pictures of the place where April was found. 

Xuzhou was much larger (1M people plus) and prettier then we expected.

- Lisa & Mark

Day 5 - Nanjing - Miscellaneous

Some of you have commented on my beard.  I had not shaved for 2 days before we left and had decided it would be simpler to try growing a beard for the trip.  I thought it was scruffy, but Lisa sealed the deal by saying she thought it was sexy.  God knows what her real reason was, but I was sold.  This lasted until the 1st day in Nanjing (going from low humidity in Beijing to hot & humid in Nanjing, along with no A/C in the hotels in the fall).  1 day of an itchy face later, it was history.

Also, a funny story on Bennett.  He may not like Daddy snoring, but the solution was far worse for him.  He woke up one day and suddenly was VERY upset.  It took us a long time to figure out that Captain Fearless was terrified of the Breath-Rite strip on Daddy's nose.  He would not even come near me after I had taken it off and was still holding it in my hand.  I guess you do not need a cast or a sling to incite Captain Fearless.

Day 5 - Nanjing - Presidential Palace part 2

Day 5 - Nanjing - Presidential Palace part 1

Day 5 - Nanjing - At the park

Day 5 - Nanjing - Official Adoption Paperwork

Day 6 - Nanjing - April officially becomes a Slonim & Happy Birthday to Mark!

Today marks two auspicious occassions. First, we finalized April's adoption this morning and second, it is Mark's 48th birthday.

The kids slept for 12 hours last night. Amazing! We were expecting April to wake up during the night, but she slept right through. We woke up Bennett (as we usually do) right before we went to sleep to take him to the bathroom. He looked over, saw April next to him and broke out in a very cheesy grin. We did have to separate them in the middle of the night because April had Bennett pinned up against the wall and we were afraid he would fall between the bed and the wall. He woke up as we were putting him in the roll-away bed. He was not happy about the change in sleeping arrangements. They are in bed together again tonight and we will see how it goes.  [Just before we posted this Bennett was pulled from that bed because he was playing with his stuffed bunny].

April is really picking up on the regular routine of things. This morning we had her watch as we brushed Bennett's teeth and then she let us brush her teeth with no issues and even managed the "rinse and spit".

This morning was a bit tough on April. We had to go back to the CCAA registration office and finalize the adoption. She was great at breakfast and in the van ride over. As soon as we walked in the building, she started crying (quiet sobs and teary, but not loud sobbing like yesterday) and didn't stop until we left again. The process itself was pretty interesting. When it was our turn, we met with the head clerk, signed some papers, made a red thumbprint over our signatures, and then put April's thumbprint on the documents as well.  We then moved over to the notary where we signed another form and handed over the orphanage fee. She put the money throught a counter and issued us a receipt. April was still crying through this, though the money counter caught her attention.

We had the opportunity to ask Ms. Tang a couple of additional questions and then we were through. Its official - she is our daugher!

We actually had some sightseeing planned this morning. We thought sightseeing in Beijing with Bennett was a different experience, with both of them it was almost humorous. We toured the Presidential Palace which was extremely beautiful and full of history. I had carried April for our walk over from the CCAA office and needed to take a break (she is 35lbs of child!). Mark took over and of course Bennett (40lbs of child) wanted me to carry him too. He was very unhappy with walking holding my hand.  We did probably the quickest tour in history and headed over to Carrefour (like Walmart) to buy some new shoes for April. When we asked what we could bring on our visit, Ms. Tang said the orphanage needed shoes for the kids. It seems that April had never been given choices. We tried to get her to pick between 2 pairs and she didn't seem to know how to choose.. So we bought her both :)
We also about bought out the kids sneaker selection to bring with us to the orphanage. The cashier had some difficulty checking us out and had to call in reinforcements to open boxes, check sizes/price and then had to call a supervisor over as she was not authorized to process such a large credit card amount. Instead of escalators, the store had inclined moving sidewalks and the shopping carts have parking brakes that engage on the incline! Pretty neat!  We're not sure April understood only 2 pairs of the shoes were for her - she may have been thinking she hit the jackpot.

By then, we were all tired and headed back to the hotel for a makeshift lunch of drinkable yogurt and peanut butter crackers and family nap. Daddy napped with April and of course Bennett then wanted to nap with Daddy too (the standard cycle today - picking April up, holding April's hand, etc.).  Bennett loudly declared he did not need to nap before passing out for 2 1/2 hours on top of Mommy.

After the nap, we headed over to the Nanjing Normal University with a beach ball to play on the open grassy area. When we got there - it looked like the preschool had just discharged and there were a ton of kids with their parents or grandparents running around. Bennett and April had fun running around, chasing the ball and playing with the other kids. Kids seem to have a universal language of play. Many kids and their parents joined us playing with the beach ball - but everyone was extremely friendly.

By this point, April had decided that Daddy was her favorite and only wanted him to carry her or hold her hand. She is still letting me care for her, soothe her, bath her, etc.. but Dad is definitely the favorite.

Bennett is starting to show some signs of jealousy, but is directing them towards Mark and I. For example, if Mark is holding Aprils' hand or carrying her, Bennett wants to hold his hand or be carried, too.  [Daddy's edit - okay, a lot of jealousy, but he is being very good with April].

We are going to visit the orphange tommorow and anticipate another tough day for April. It is really important for us to make this trip and see where April has spent her life up to now as well as allow her to say goodbye to her nannies and friends.

Day 5 - Nanjing - Gotcha Day - Bedtime

Day 5 - Nanjing - Gotcha Day - Opening up

Day 5 - Nanjing: Gotcha Day: First meeting