Forgot to include 1 note in the earlier post on Food.
When they finish a meal, April and Bennett bring their dishes to the sink and put their sippy cups in the fridge themselves.
This morning after finishing second breakfast, Carter was very insistent about something (i.e. lots of excited babbling). He handed Lisa his bib, signaling he was done with the meal, and pointed to the kitchen. After he was removed from his booster seat, Carter took his milk and walked to the fridge and pointed. Lisa opened the fridge and Carter tried to put his milk bottle inside. When Lisa put the bottle in on the shelf next to April & Bennett's, he was very excited and clapped his hands.
Side notes:
o When Carter decides it is time to eat, he grabs his bib off the chair and brings it to you.
o Since Carter will not sleep under a sheet or blankets, we tried PJ's with feet on them. Carter tried to take the feet off and was not happy, so we changed him back to regular PJs. Bennett was disappointed in the morning and wanted to know if he could have them.
Yes, we are very proud of our boy.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
3/31/11: Food
List of things Carter will not eat:
List of things Carter will eat:
Anything not stapled down.
This morning when the kids came downstairs for breakfast, Carter jumped up and followed them to the table. I could eat! Never one to miss a meal, Carter joined them in Cheerios and his new favorite drink - milk. After taking the kids to the bus, Carter had 2nd breakfast (he is a bit of a Hobbit in meal frequency). Carter tried oatmeal for the first time and enjoyed it.
Last night Carter wandered into the kitchen while Lisa was making dinner and tried cucumbers and tomatoes. It was like we were feeding him candy. He could not get enough.
This morning Carter was woken up by a big slurp from Murphy, our 80 pound dog. Carter woke up, but was not upset. So far Carter seems basically unperturbed by the dog or the cat, which is a huge improvement over the initial screaming April & Bennett did on meeting the four legged ones.
Off to change a stinky diaper.
List of things Carter will eat:
Anything not stapled down.
This morning when the kids came downstairs for breakfast, Carter jumped up and followed them to the table. I could eat! Never one to miss a meal, Carter joined them in Cheerios and his new favorite drink - milk. After taking the kids to the bus, Carter had 2nd breakfast (he is a bit of a Hobbit in meal frequency). Carter tried oatmeal for the first time and enjoyed it.
Last night Carter wandered into the kitchen while Lisa was making dinner and tried cucumbers and tomatoes. It was like we were feeding him candy. He could not get enough.
This morning Carter was woken up by a big slurp from Murphy, our 80 pound dog. Carter woke up, but was not upset. So far Carter seems basically unperturbed by the dog or the cat, which is a huge improvement over the initial screaming April & Bennett did on meeting the four legged ones.
Off to change a stinky diaper.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
3/28/11: Venture outside on Monday
Lisa and I are now very sleep deprived. The last 2 days are becoming more of a blur.
We did not have dinner ourselves and just fed the kids Friday night. We were not able to grab breakfast at the airport Saturday morning (even though we got to the airport about 7:45 for a 10:25 am flight - there was a long check in line, followed by security and departure lines, then we had to take a train to a different terminal, followed by hiking to a gate toward the end). After we took the kids to the bathroom and changed Carter it was time to board the flight. No time for breakfast, change our remaining HKG dollars back to USD, or to check out the duty free shops. On the plus side they did allow us to board first with the kids, unlike the the 2009 flight from HKG.
We got to bed around midnight our time on Saturday, which was about noon the next day on our body clocks which were still on China time. Except for a short nap Lisa had on the plane, we had both been up for 30 hours straight by then.
We got less sleep the last 2 nights we have been home then we were getting in China. Carter was an intermittent sleeper Saturday night. Sunday night Carter barely slept, April woke up sobbing loudly a few times, and Bennett came into our room the few times I actually fell asleep to wake me up and tell me he could not sleep or was having nightmares. April kept claiming she was not tired and could not sleep (we were not buying this). We both felt more awake Sunday then we did today!
I resisted letting April and Bennett crawl into our bed and eventually got them back to their own beds. Lisa gave up trying to get Carter to sleep in his crib, our bed, or on her in the rocker and headed downstairs with Carter. Lisa brought Carter downstairs to rock him so his crying would not wake everybody up, but Carter figured they were heading downstairs to go to the playroom and happily started banging toys together. I think he finally slept a bit on the couch with her.
The cat was happily purring away under our covers on the bed only to start making the choking noise that means you have 10-20 seconds before he starts puking. Somehow in my stupor I reacted in time to get Sebastian into the bathroom before he threw up.
On to today. Lisa crawled off the couch to start feeding little man Cheerios so he had a good start to the day. April stumbled downstairs to start whining for the day (Princesses are not used to lack of sleep), and we woke up Bennett at 10am which he was not happy about.
We picked up Murphy from his babysitter today. Kim took great care of him and she claims he had very good behavior until a thunderstorm last week. We doubt he was that good, but are happy she still likes him. Murphy spent the afternoon shivering in the car (no, it was not that cold) while we did our BJ's Club and Walmart shopping, and is now sleeping it off on the couch. Hopefully the rest of us will sleep half as well as our cat and dog will tonight.
Our plan was for the kids to do more homework today before heading back to school tomorrow when they were well rested. We will attempt to get them to school tomorrow, but the last set of homework and the well rested parts may not happen.
We did not have dinner ourselves and just fed the kids Friday night. We were not able to grab breakfast at the airport Saturday morning (even though we got to the airport about 7:45 for a 10:25 am flight - there was a long check in line, followed by security and departure lines, then we had to take a train to a different terminal, followed by hiking to a gate toward the end). After we took the kids to the bathroom and changed Carter it was time to board the flight. No time for breakfast, change our remaining HKG dollars back to USD, or to check out the duty free shops. On the plus side they did allow us to board first with the kids, unlike the the 2009 flight from HKG.
We got to bed around midnight our time on Saturday, which was about noon the next day on our body clocks which were still on China time. Except for a short nap Lisa had on the plane, we had both been up for 30 hours straight by then.
We got less sleep the last 2 nights we have been home then we were getting in China. Carter was an intermittent sleeper Saturday night. Sunday night Carter barely slept, April woke up sobbing loudly a few times, and Bennett came into our room the few times I actually fell asleep to wake me up and tell me he could not sleep or was having nightmares. April kept claiming she was not tired and could not sleep (we were not buying this). We both felt more awake Sunday then we did today!
I resisted letting April and Bennett crawl into our bed and eventually got them back to their own beds. Lisa gave up trying to get Carter to sleep in his crib, our bed, or on her in the rocker and headed downstairs with Carter. Lisa brought Carter downstairs to rock him so his crying would not wake everybody up, but Carter figured they were heading downstairs to go to the playroom and happily started banging toys together. I think he finally slept a bit on the couch with her.
The cat was happily purring away under our covers on the bed only to start making the choking noise that means you have 10-20 seconds before he starts puking. Somehow in my stupor I reacted in time to get Sebastian into the bathroom before he threw up.
On to today. Lisa crawled off the couch to start feeding little man Cheerios so he had a good start to the day. April stumbled downstairs to start whining for the day (Princesses are not used to lack of sleep), and we woke up Bennett at 10am which he was not happy about.
We picked up Murphy from his babysitter today. Kim took great care of him and she claims he had very good behavior until a thunderstorm last week. We doubt he was that good, but are happy she still likes him. Murphy spent the afternoon shivering in the car (no, it was not that cold) while we did our BJ's Club and Walmart shopping, and is now sleeping it off on the couch. Hopefully the rest of us will sleep half as well as our cat and dog will tonight.
Our plan was for the kids to do more homework today before heading back to school tomorrow when they were well rested. We will attempt to get them to school tomorrow, but the last set of homework and the well rested parts may not happen.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
3/26/11: Home
Both of our International flights were on time and we made it home Saturday night. Grandpa had booked a shuttle service for the ride home from the airport and that came in handy after I did not sleep at all on the flights home.
The trifecta of puke by the kids actually occured as we were landing at Newark. It was very turbulent and the food had been so-so at best. Carter started the parade and did a minor burp/liquid splooge followed 5 minutes later by more globs of food and liquid. While we were scrambling to clean his up without unbuckling our seatbelts, Aril started crying. April had been complaining her stomach hurt for 2 hours. We turned to see April had woken up and thrown up large quantities. Her left hand (attempted landing spot) was covered, as were large parts of her sweatshirt, pants, and seat. For future reference, check seats 42B and 42D on CO 98 have new seat covers.
Bennett informs us he is not feeling too well after witnessing this in sensaround. I hand him a barf bag and review the rules on where he can throw up if he gets sick. That bag is soon used.
We scrape off the worst of the debris and fluids while completing landing and taxiing. As soon as the plane is at the gate we grab the spare clothes out of the backpacks and change April & Carter, barely finishing in time to deplane when it is our turn. A very nice man a few rows back takes the bags of urp & soiled napkins/wipes from me and puts them in the trash in the rear of the plane. (I cannot get back there since everyone is standing waiting to get off the plane).
Things start looking up when the kids actually make it past a bathroom (if I remember correctly) and we make it to the immigration line (unlike the two long poops by the kids after deplaning in 2009 while 3 more planeloads got in line in front of us).
We can go into the foreign passport or U.S. citizen line when we have an immigrant with an IR3 visa with us. The lines looked about equal and the agent put us in the U.S. citizen line when we asked. The line moved fast and about 10 minutes later we were by the agent who tells you which window to go to. I show the agent the famous brown envelope (the culmination of months of paperwork - you get this from the U.S. consulate with your child's visa) and the agent sends us to the Diplomat / VIP line (which has 5-10 people in it and we could have gone to without the 10 minute wait in the commoner's line). No big problem.
The agent at the window says we need to go to the room downstairs (not a good sign - last time the agent at the window handled it in 5 minutes at the window). No one comes when he calls, so he takes us down in the elevator himself and hands us off to another agent. The new agent takes our paperwork & Carter's passport and tells us to sit down. Lisa heads to the bathroom with the kids. Before Lisa even gets back the agent returns, congratulates me, and hands me Carter's passport with the U.S. entry stamp. Carter is now a U.S. citizen!
The agent opens the automatic door to baggage claim manually (very entertaining) and we join Grandma & Grandpa in time to get our luggage and queue up in 2 very short lines for customs. The nice custom agents only ask once why we have 5 passports and 3 people while Grandma & Grandpa (in another line next to us) have 2 passports and 4 people and let us through without delay. All in all a pretty quick and painless experience on landing. Review with the guilty parties why the passports need to match the lines next time.
We recheck our bags for the next flight and take the airport tram to our terminal. The security line at our terminal is very short and we are through quickly. Unfortunately there is no USAir Club in our terminal and we wait at the gate. After some crappy and pricey muffins we wait for our flight while Carter proceeds to run & climb everything in sight despite our best efforts. Our prediction is Carter will break an arm (or leg) a lot sooner then the 3 years after getting home that it took Bennett. Lisa buckles him in his stroller so we can eat, he nibbles on a muffin, and promptly falls asleep again (at least I think he did).
The gate agent lets us board first and we are soon off after a slight delay due to weather at our destination. There is some confusion and anger in the baggage claim area when we arrive and the conveyor belt is stopped, but our bags are already on the conveyor belt. We grab them and exit, connect with our shuttle bus, and head home!
Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike are back in town from FL but leaving Sunday morning, so Aunt Linda meets us at home for a quick hello. Mommy and Daddy get to sleep about midnight Saturday.
It is now almost noon Sunday. Lisa, April, Carter, Bennett, and the cat are still sound asleep in our bed. It is very good to be home!
Carter was not with the program to go right to sleep last night but was happy enough for most of the time. Bennett went right to bed after kissing his bed and pillow and bedroom floor. April was crying loudly when faced with the reality of sleeping alone (Carter's crib is in Bennett's room and she evidenly expected to sleep with us in our bed like we did when she came home in 2009). We have another bedroom for Carter but it is next to the stairs, so we decided to bunk him with Bennett.
After taking a shower, I crawl into bed and pass out while Lisa is chasing Carter around (hey, she slept a little bit on the plane). I wake up shortly and Carter is now crying when being held in our bed. Lisa moves Carter to his crib and he stays there this time instead of doing the "Up Please" routine. Blurry recall of Carter crying at different times and April waking up crying from nightmares (which we translate to "drama" from being told to sleep alone in her bed). Somewhere around 4 or 5 a.m. we just put April in our bed (not at all our normal parenting approach to bad behavior, but this fell into the treat this as adoption related category and let slide). After this easy to rationalize decision to quiet April down so we can sleep, Carter starts crying again but this time moves happily from his crib to sleep on top of Lisa. Lisa, April, Carter and I crash quietly (finally!) in our bed. The cat curls up on top and all is good.
Bennett's radar alert goes off and he comes into our room. Fine, get a blanket and lay on the floor, just be quiet. We definitely need a larger bed (do I hear King size?). Murphy (our dog) will be very put out when we get him today and he finds out there is no room left for him to try hopping on the bed wth us in the morning tomorrow (his usual routine).
The trifecta of puke by the kids actually occured as we were landing at Newark. It was very turbulent and the food had been so-so at best. Carter started the parade and did a minor burp/liquid splooge followed 5 minutes later by more globs of food and liquid. While we were scrambling to clean his up without unbuckling our seatbelts, Aril started crying. April had been complaining her stomach hurt for 2 hours. We turned to see April had woken up and thrown up large quantities. Her left hand (attempted landing spot) was covered, as were large parts of her sweatshirt, pants, and seat. For future reference, check seats 42B and 42D on CO 98 have new seat covers.
Bennett informs us he is not feeling too well after witnessing this in sensaround. I hand him a barf bag and review the rules on where he can throw up if he gets sick. That bag is soon used.
We scrape off the worst of the debris and fluids while completing landing and taxiing. As soon as the plane is at the gate we grab the spare clothes out of the backpacks and change April & Carter, barely finishing in time to deplane when it is our turn. A very nice man a few rows back takes the bags of urp & soiled napkins/wipes from me and puts them in the trash in the rear of the plane. (I cannot get back there since everyone is standing waiting to get off the plane).
Things start looking up when the kids actually make it past a bathroom (if I remember correctly) and we make it to the immigration line (unlike the two long poops by the kids after deplaning in 2009 while 3 more planeloads got in line in front of us).
We can go into the foreign passport or U.S. citizen line when we have an immigrant with an IR3 visa with us. The lines looked about equal and the agent put us in the U.S. citizen line when we asked. The line moved fast and about 10 minutes later we were by the agent who tells you which window to go to. I show the agent the famous brown envelope (the culmination of months of paperwork - you get this from the U.S. consulate with your child's visa) and the agent sends us to the Diplomat / VIP line (which has 5-10 people in it and we could have gone to without the 10 minute wait in the commoner's line). No big problem.
The agent at the window says we need to go to the room downstairs (not a good sign - last time the agent at the window handled it in 5 minutes at the window). No one comes when he calls, so he takes us down in the elevator himself and hands us off to another agent. The new agent takes our paperwork & Carter's passport and tells us to sit down. Lisa heads to the bathroom with the kids. Before Lisa even gets back the agent returns, congratulates me, and hands me Carter's passport with the U.S. entry stamp. Carter is now a U.S. citizen!
The agent opens the automatic door to baggage claim manually (very entertaining) and we join Grandma & Grandpa in time to get our luggage and queue up in 2 very short lines for customs. The nice custom agents only ask once why we have 5 passports and 3 people while Grandma & Grandpa (in another line next to us) have 2 passports and 4 people and let us through without delay. All in all a pretty quick and painless experience on landing. Review with the guilty parties why the passports need to match the lines next time.
We recheck our bags for the next flight and take the airport tram to our terminal. The security line at our terminal is very short and we are through quickly. Unfortunately there is no USAir Club in our terminal and we wait at the gate. After some crappy and pricey muffins we wait for our flight while Carter proceeds to run & climb everything in sight despite our best efforts. Our prediction is Carter will break an arm (or leg) a lot sooner then the 3 years after getting home that it took Bennett. Lisa buckles him in his stroller so we can eat, he nibbles on a muffin, and promptly falls asleep again (at least I think he did).
The gate agent lets us board first and we are soon off after a slight delay due to weather at our destination. There is some confusion and anger in the baggage claim area when we arrive and the conveyor belt is stopped, but our bags are already on the conveyor belt. We grab them and exit, connect with our shuttle bus, and head home!
Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike are back in town from FL but leaving Sunday morning, so Aunt Linda meets us at home for a quick hello. Mommy and Daddy get to sleep about midnight Saturday.
It is now almost noon Sunday. Lisa, April, Carter, Bennett, and the cat are still sound asleep in our bed. It is very good to be home!
Carter was not with the program to go right to sleep last night but was happy enough for most of the time. Bennett went right to bed after kissing his bed and pillow and bedroom floor. April was crying loudly when faced with the reality of sleeping alone (Carter's crib is in Bennett's room and she evidenly expected to sleep with us in our bed like we did when she came home in 2009). We have another bedroom for Carter but it is next to the stairs, so we decided to bunk him with Bennett.
After taking a shower, I crawl into bed and pass out while Lisa is chasing Carter around (hey, she slept a little bit on the plane). I wake up shortly and Carter is now crying when being held in our bed. Lisa moves Carter to his crib and he stays there this time instead of doing the "Up Please" routine. Blurry recall of Carter crying at different times and April waking up crying from nightmares (which we translate to "drama" from being told to sleep alone in her bed). Somewhere around 4 or 5 a.m. we just put April in our bed (not at all our normal parenting approach to bad behavior, but this fell into the treat this as adoption related category and let slide). After this easy to rationalize decision to quiet April down so we can sleep, Carter starts crying again but this time moves happily from his crib to sleep on top of Lisa. Lisa, April, Carter and I crash quietly (finally!) in our bed. The cat curls up on top and all is good.
Bennett's radar alert goes off and he comes into our room. Fine, get a blanket and lay on the floor, just be quiet. We definitely need a larger bed (do I hear King size?). Murphy (our dog) will be very put out when we get him today and he finds out there is no room left for him to try hopping on the bed wth us in the morning tomorrow (his usual routine).
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Almost home!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Friday, March 25, 2011
FINALLY Asleep
He was next to the bed hitting a sleeping April's arm. Mean mommy said "Boo!" (Chinese for No), wagged my finger No, and tapped his hand gently. He lay on the floor by the bed to sulk and promptly fell asleep.
Debating whether to risk transferring him to the crib and waking him up.
Day Something Part 2
... Decided to eat lunch first due to clouds and haze blocking any views from higher up. Headed to Stanley St. Found it but disagreement over earlier commitment led to search for alternate lunch spot.
Finally find likely spots. Find very long lines in front of the 3 selected restaurants after locating them from mall directory. Give up and try 2 expensive places. Also booked.
Eat pricey sandwiches at Subway by ferry terminal. 5 minutes later locate bakery with cheap and better sandwiches and another place. Say "Oh well!"
Make 1st good tour choice of the National Lampoon tour of HKG and take awesome Harbor Tour.
Head to train and back to the hotel. Stop at kiddie playground. Kids could have stayed here all day. Kids would have liked to be here all day.
Medicate daddy and mommy with beers while kids eat picnic (from bakery) in between running around. Grandma and Grandpa headed to room to finish their Scotch and then check out very attractive dinner spread at the hotel restaurant buffet.
Realize grandma and grandpa were wise to our plan to get them a room with 2 queen beds and do not plan to invite April and Bennett to spend the night. Watch kids play, drink more beer, and realize once again Carter is transitioning way beyond our hopes but will be a HUGE handful when home!
Sent from my iPhone
HKG
Day "Something":
The plan was to eat at renovated food stalls on Stanley St in downtown HKG (per magazine article and buyin by all adults). Then go to Lantau Island and take gondola to top. Hahaha.
Took airport express train downtown. Uncovered issue 1 - agreed upon gondola and selected gondola were different. Later - Numerous "discussions" about directions and which way to walk. Found bus stop to Victoria Peak gondola. Decided
Sent from my iPhone
Thursday, March 24, 2011
3/24/11: Took car service from Guangzhou to Shenzen (Border). Switched to 2 cars for the trip to the Regal Airport Hotel at HKG airport. The trip took roughly 3.5 hours.
Ate dinner in the hotel (same good food as 2009 but poor service this time).
We will try to take the gondola to Victoria's Peak tomorrow.
3/24/11: Took car service from Guangzhou to Shenzen (Border). Switched to 2 cars for the trip to the Regal Airport Hotel at HKG airport. The trip took roughly 3.5 hours.
Ate dinner in the hotel (same good food as 2009 but poor service this time).
We will try to take the gondola to Victoria's Peak tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
3/23/11 - Day 14: Liu Hua Lake Park
After a challenging morning and a trifecta by the kids of "I need to go poop", we finally made it out to the van. Today we went to Liu Hua Lake Park, the main park in our district in Guangzhou. The kids found a well equipped kids playground aka "Best Amusement Park" and had a great time. We then retired to the hotel for Ramen Noodles & muffins for the kids.
3/22/11 - Day 13: Consulate Apointment and Shopping
We had Carter's visa appointment at the U.S. Consulate at 8:30 am. We dropped ... er ... left April & Bennett with Grandma & Grandpa, had a quick breakfast (good with Mommy & Daddy but not Carter), and headed off to the Consulate at 7:30 am.
We got to see Elvin at the consulate. He was our guide in 2009. It turns out he is the guide this week for a group of adoptive families from another agency (CWA?) that we met at our hotel in Beijing. We had a fun time talking with Elvin and catching up with the other adoptive families until our medical exam results were delivered to the lobby of the building where the consulate is. After our guides/facilitators received the exam results for their groups, the adoptive families headed upstairs to queue up for security.
The new procedure that just started about 1 month ago is for the guides to wait in the lobby and the parents to have a personal interview. You get the child's visa and your other immigration paperwork the next day. Previously, the process took 3 days instead of 2 days and the guide handled the paperwork directly with the Consulate.
The lady in charge of adoptions for the consulate came out and gave a short speech to the 12 - 15 adoptive families who had 8:30 appointments.
We paid our visa fee and were soon called to the window for our interview. Very straightforward and no surprises (knock on wood). Once again, completely different process and experience then what happened in 2009.
One update for those who follow the paperwork. Today is the last day the consulate will fix a missing or an incorrect (e.g. missdated) vaccination affadavit waiver. They went downstairs and told the guides/facilitators that were waiting that going forward, you will need to make an online appointment to resubmit, 4 days minimum in the future.
After the appointment we chatted with the head of adoption for the consulate before making our way downstairs and heading back to the hotel.
At 10:30 we met Ann of Red Threads. In additon to her gift package business, Ann also provides a personal shopper service in Guangzhou. We used her in 2009 when we adopted April. Basically, for a modest hourly fee she will take you to stores to buy jade bracelets/beads/pendants, pearls, traditional silk chinese outfits, or whatever you want. She will handle identifying the quality and arrange the best price.
We were planning to only buy a few things (some outfits for Carter, a purse for Lisa, a few more pearls, and a Northface 3 in 1 jacket for Carter).
Given the season and the climate in Guangzhou, most stores no longer carry winter jackets. This matches what we found on the island earlier this week.
We bought a few more pearls but this time but we (i.e. Lisa) also selected some black and purple ones and then had some necklaces & bracelets & earrings made. We purchased jade bead necklaces & bracelets this time instead of jade bracelets. We had them restrung & replaced the clasps with sterling silver clasps at the pearl market. We also had some earrings made from extra pearls left over from the strands we purchased and extra jade beads provided along with the jade we purchased. Lisa worked with the store to have some different styles prepared and was very happy with the suggestions and results. We also bought some jade pendants and earrings.
After the jade and pearls stores, Lisa bought 2 purses and then we were off to a place called the Toy Factory? that contains rows of small stalls where we purchased traditional Chinese outfits for Carter and some gifts. I'm probably the only husband that keeps pushing his wife to buy more in Guangzhou. Usually we are not big shoppers and rarely buy anything. But the prices and quality are very good here on certain items. And the opportunity cost to get here is high in time & $!
In the middle of this Ann asked if we would mind taking a break for lunch. Given this was our first day not gorging ourselves at a breakfast buffet (solely due to limited time this morning to be honest), we were all for it. She took us to a Dim Sum restaurant that was excellent. We would never have been able to eat there ourselves.
Instead of taking a taxi back to our hotel, Ann was glad to take the subway when we insisted (more due to speed then cost given the traffic here). So we also got to experience the Guangzhou subway and we were impressed.
On the way back to the hotel Grandpa texted and asked where we were! They were a huge help today and the kids had their usual great time with them, but we were not planning on leaving the kids with them so long. All we can say is thank you. Grandma claims Grandpa took a nap in the hotel room at one point. In my opinion, Grandpa is welcome to his nap given he is the one who handles any issue from sunset to sunrise when the kids stay at their house. Sorry mom!
We talked with the other family in our group who has their CA tomorrow and is also planning to go shopping with Ann after their CA. This will help them work with Ann to plan where to go and gave them some ideas on what to consider. Lisa had a fun time showing them some of the things we purchased and describing our day to them.
We got to see Elvin at the consulate. He was our guide in 2009. It turns out he is the guide this week for a group of adoptive families from another agency (CWA?) that we met at our hotel in Beijing. We had a fun time talking with Elvin and catching up with the other adoptive families until our medical exam results were delivered to the lobby of the building where the consulate is. After our guides/facilitators received the exam results for their groups, the adoptive families headed upstairs to queue up for security.
The new procedure that just started about 1 month ago is for the guides to wait in the lobby and the parents to have a personal interview. You get the child's visa and your other immigration paperwork the next day. Previously, the process took 3 days instead of 2 days and the guide handled the paperwork directly with the Consulate.
The lady in charge of adoptions for the consulate came out and gave a short speech to the 12 - 15 adoptive families who had 8:30 appointments.
We paid our visa fee and were soon called to the window for our interview. Very straightforward and no surprises (knock on wood). Once again, completely different process and experience then what happened in 2009.
One update for those who follow the paperwork. Today is the last day the consulate will fix a missing or an incorrect (e.g. missdated) vaccination affadavit waiver. They went downstairs and told the guides/facilitators that were waiting that going forward, you will need to make an online appointment to resubmit, 4 days minimum in the future.
After the appointment we chatted with the head of adoption for the consulate before making our way downstairs and heading back to the hotel.
At 10:30 we met Ann of Red Threads. In additon to her gift package business, Ann also provides a personal shopper service in Guangzhou. We used her in 2009 when we adopted April. Basically, for a modest hourly fee she will take you to stores to buy jade bracelets/beads/pendants, pearls, traditional silk chinese outfits, or whatever you want. She will handle identifying the quality and arrange the best price.
We were planning to only buy a few things (some outfits for Carter, a purse for Lisa, a few more pearls, and a Northface 3 in 1 jacket for Carter).
Given the season and the climate in Guangzhou, most stores no longer carry winter jackets. This matches what we found on the island earlier this week.
We bought a few more pearls but this time but we (i.e. Lisa) also selected some black and purple ones and then had some necklaces & bracelets & earrings made. We purchased jade bead necklaces & bracelets this time instead of jade bracelets. We had them restrung & replaced the clasps with sterling silver clasps at the pearl market. We also had some earrings made from extra pearls left over from the strands we purchased and extra jade beads provided along with the jade we purchased. Lisa worked with the store to have some different styles prepared and was very happy with the suggestions and results. We also bought some jade pendants and earrings.
After the jade and pearls stores, Lisa bought 2 purses and then we were off to a place called the Toy Factory? that contains rows of small stalls where we purchased traditional Chinese outfits for Carter and some gifts. I'm probably the only husband that keeps pushing his wife to buy more in Guangzhou. Usually we are not big shoppers and rarely buy anything. But the prices and quality are very good here on certain items. And the opportunity cost to get here is high in time & $!
In the middle of this Ann asked if we would mind taking a break for lunch. Given this was our first day not gorging ourselves at a breakfast buffet (solely due to limited time this morning to be honest), we were all for it. She took us to a Dim Sum restaurant that was excellent. We would never have been able to eat there ourselves.
Instead of taking a taxi back to our hotel, Ann was glad to take the subway when we insisted (more due to speed then cost given the traffic here). So we also got to experience the Guangzhou subway and we were impressed.
On the way back to the hotel Grandpa texted and asked where we were! They were a huge help today and the kids had their usual great time with them, but we were not planning on leaving the kids with them so long. All we can say is thank you. Grandma claims Grandpa took a nap in the hotel room at one point. In my opinion, Grandpa is welcome to his nap given he is the one who handles any issue from sunset to sunrise when the kids stay at their house. Sorry mom!
We talked with the other family in our group who has their CA tomorrow and is also planning to go shopping with Ann after their CA. This will help them work with Ann to plan where to go and gave them some ideas on what to consider. Lisa had a fun time showing them some of the things we purchased and describing our day to them.
Monday, March 21, 2011
3/21/11 - Day 12: Six Banyan Temple and TB Skin Test Read
We started off the day by visiting the Six Banyan Temple. Dating from around 1,400 years ago, the Buddhist Temple is beatiful and moving. Our visit this year was special since it was not a holiday and very few people were there in the morning when we went.
We did the blessing of our new child (rough translation). We figure we can use all the help we can get. This time we were the only ones and got a private and quieter service. Bennett sat very still for the whole blessing, Carter restrained himself with Lisa's help from throwing Sippy Cup, and April stayed in approximately the same spot with a lot of help from Mark. We did enjoy the comic relief of the guide waiting to request our blessing from the monk until the monk finished texting or reading email on his cell phone.
After the blessing, there was a melodic chanting service of some sort going on in one of the buildings that I found very interesting. It reminded me of some of the devout Russian Orthodox services we saw in Russia in 2007. The secondhand explanation I heard was that there is a daily morning reading of the Book of Confucious.
After the temple we went to the Guangdong Arts & Crafts store. Not a cheap place, but there are some very pretty arts and crafts that appear to be high quality in this government store. We browsed but did not purchase anything. We were also able to leave without any of our kids breaking anything except maybe damaging a few ear drums.
Yesterday at the Safari Park Bennett started walking hand in hand with our guide Grace and then sat with her apart from us at the Tiger Show. He is quite the charmer with the women. One of the store owners on the island on Saturday raved for 5 minutes about how cute his eyes were.
Danielle and Kelly are the other family in our travel group in Guangzhou from our agency (actually 1 lady adopting with her sister-in-law along to help). Today Bennett and April decided they evidently missed the children they left at home and talked their ears off in the bus. Kelly's 6 year old never stops talking (just like our princess when she is not afraid or upset), so they provided a nice public service.
Next stop was the TB skin test results at the Medical Clinic on the Island. Carter passed with flying colors. Yeah!
We grabbed a quick lunch at the White Swan deli and took some updated pictures on the Red Couch (classic adoption photo spot) in the White Swan Hotel. The kids remembered the deli and the White Swan and had a blast. Carter enjoyed the change in food from pre lunch snacks to lunch to post lunch snacks, and also had a good time.
We were surpised at how empty the tourist shops were on the island. The shops are mostly aimed at adoptive families. I guess the move to other hotels beyond the White Swan and the victory along with the continuing drop in foreign adoptions from China are impacting their business. One shop stated our sale at about 1 pm was their first of the day. The atmosphere in the stores is the same - very friendly and fun. We bought a few things for Chinese culture and heritage and a few things due to the great buys on certain items. Okay, a lot of things! We knew which items we wanted to get at which stores from our previous trip.
The store owners were amazed that Carter is only two and after watching him snacking his way through our shpping expedition told us that we would have to work a lot to pay for all he will be eating.
Tomorrow we have our visa appointment and then go shopping with Ann from Red Threads (who provides a great private shoppingservice we were very happy with on our last trip). Grandma and Grandpa will be spending a large part of the day with April and Bennett from the 7 am dropoff while we are away - hopefully everyone will have a good time. If the weather is good, there is a large park nearby our hotel they hope to explore.
Carter will love the alone time with Mommy and Daddy but will NOT be happy with our planned drive by of the breakfast buffet on the way to our 7:30 departure for the consulate. Wish us luck (with the brief repast and with the consulate).
We did the blessing of our new child (rough translation). We figure we can use all the help we can get. This time we were the only ones and got a private and quieter service. Bennett sat very still for the whole blessing, Carter restrained himself with Lisa's help from throwing Sippy Cup, and April stayed in approximately the same spot with a lot of help from Mark. We did enjoy the comic relief of the guide waiting to request our blessing from the monk until the monk finished texting or reading email on his cell phone.
After the blessing, there was a melodic chanting service of some sort going on in one of the buildings that I found very interesting. It reminded me of some of the devout Russian Orthodox services we saw in Russia in 2007. The secondhand explanation I heard was that there is a daily morning reading of the Book of Confucious.
After the temple we went to the Guangdong Arts & Crafts store. Not a cheap place, but there are some very pretty arts and crafts that appear to be high quality in this government store. We browsed but did not purchase anything. We were also able to leave without any of our kids breaking anything except maybe damaging a few ear drums.
Yesterday at the Safari Park Bennett started walking hand in hand with our guide Grace and then sat with her apart from us at the Tiger Show. He is quite the charmer with the women. One of the store owners on the island on Saturday raved for 5 minutes about how cute his eyes were.
Danielle and Kelly are the other family in our travel group in Guangzhou from our agency (actually 1 lady adopting with her sister-in-law along to help). Today Bennett and April decided they evidently missed the children they left at home and talked their ears off in the bus. Kelly's 6 year old never stops talking (just like our princess when she is not afraid or upset), so they provided a nice public service.
Next stop was the TB skin test results at the Medical Clinic on the Island. Carter passed with flying colors. Yeah!
We grabbed a quick lunch at the White Swan deli and took some updated pictures on the Red Couch (classic adoption photo spot) in the White Swan Hotel. The kids remembered the deli and the White Swan and had a blast. Carter enjoyed the change in food from pre lunch snacks to lunch to post lunch snacks, and also had a good time.
We were surpised at how empty the tourist shops were on the island. The shops are mostly aimed at adoptive families. I guess the move to other hotels beyond the White Swan and the victory along with the continuing drop in foreign adoptions from China are impacting their business. One shop stated our sale at about 1 pm was their first of the day. The atmosphere in the stores is the same - very friendly and fun. We bought a few things for Chinese culture and heritage and a few things due to the great buys on certain items. Okay, a lot of things! We knew which items we wanted to get at which stores from our previous trip.
The store owners were amazed that Carter is only two and after watching him snacking his way through our shpping expedition told us that we would have to work a lot to pay for all he will be eating.
Tomorrow we have our visa appointment and then go shopping with Ann from Red Threads (who provides a great private shoppingservice we were very happy with on our last trip). Grandma and Grandpa will be spending a large part of the day with April and Bennett from the 7 am dropoff while we are away - hopefully everyone will have a good time. If the weather is good, there is a large park nearby our hotel they hope to explore.
Carter will love the alone time with Mommy and Daddy but will NOT be happy with our planned drive by of the breakfast buffet on the way to our 7:30 departure for the consulate. Wish us luck (with the brief repast and with the consulate).
3/20/11 - Day 11: Our cozy abode at The Garden Hotel (post upgrade)
Now this is a great hotel room. I was disappointed to find out we don't qualify for the normal executive suite perks (laundry, cocktail hour, complimentary limo to the airport, etc.) due to our complimentary upgrade, but we will grin and bear it.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
3/20/11 - Day 11: Safari Park
Before we left for the Safari Park, we had some behavioral challanges from our kids. Carter was fine. The others were not. A great time was not had by all. Grandma and Grandpa have got to be loving being on a different floor instead of next door.
We finally made it to breakfast. This time Carter's sherpa procured a bread roll when passing the bread station before attempting to sit at a table. The meal started with everyone in a better mood. And the meal ended without major problems.
Then we headed off to the Safari Park. I realized our guide did not plan to join us inside the park. I asked her if she wanted to go and said that if her company was not paying for her ticket we would like to. She said thank you but it was too expensive. After getting past this I said we would be glad to buy the ticket if she wanted to join us. Her big smile and hand clap said it all. Bonus - we later determined it was her birthday so we had great timing! Grace also said she had been to the safari park before but had not seen the different animal shows, which she really liked. Hey, I can do some things right occasionally.
The Safari Park was excellent. Everyone had a very good time. We took a tram ride through the safari part first, and then hit the walking part. Carter has decided to sit happily in his stoller and we all took turns pushing him (April & Bennett love helping and we allow this depending on crowds and if Carter is not napping). There were more of each animal in most sections then we had seen before in different zoos or animal parks (we have been to many zoos and animal parks in the U.S., Russia, and China at this point).
The animal habitats were well laid out, the kids loved it, and the shows we saw were great. The elephant show was basically a long circus act. The tiger show was almost as good. We missed the panda show due to arriving late in a crowd but saw the panda exhibit later when it was almost empty. We saw baby tigers up close. We had read great reviews and now know why everyone raves about the Safari Park.
For dinner we headed off to a place we had learned about close to the hotel. This time our directions were spot on and we found the Irish pub without wandering around. Since it serves Western food the pub was our most expensive meal to date, but it is all relative. And I am sure HKG will make this one look cheap in turn. Back to the meal - ahh, BEER. Did I say we had a few pitchers? Bliss. And the food was surprisingly good also. The kids had Spaghetti Bolognese kid meals per a recommendation (our selected bangers & Mash was sold out), I had chicken cordon blue, Grandpa had a Reuben sandwich, Lisa had a chicken & mushroom pie (or some type of pie), and Grandma had Irish Stew. Plus we had English chips for an appetizer. Carter had a little of everything and was in a severe food coma by the end of dinner. Carter could not stop smiling. The dishes were all made differently then we are used to and the changes made them special and tasty.
Unfortunately, after dinner Carter was not tired (hmm, long nap in the stroller at the Safari park and almost no walking at the park or anywhere all day?). Mommy was wiped out so Daddy carried Carter back to the hotel on his shoulders for the first time, which Carter really liked. April & Bennett were snoring in 5 minutes without argument but Sir Stinky Pants fought it (sometimes loudly) for 2 hours.
Tomorrow we go to the Six Banyan Temple (very neat place plus we will get Carter blessed by the monks - we'll take any good vibes we can get), hit the Guangdong Government Arts & Crafts store, get the TB skin test read at the medical clinic, and plan to stay on Shaiman Island after the medical clinic (to pick up our laundry, try to get some requests for friends, and do some shopping at the souvenir/adoption focused stores on the island). We will try to pick up some NorthFace rain jacket/shells for Carter & Bennett given the weather forecast.
My editor has crapped out before me again so any errors or bad posts are my sole responsibility.
We finally made it to breakfast. This time Carter's sherpa procured a bread roll when passing the bread station before attempting to sit at a table. The meal started with everyone in a better mood. And the meal ended without major problems.
Then we headed off to the Safari Park. I realized our guide did not plan to join us inside the park. I asked her if she wanted to go and said that if her company was not paying for her ticket we would like to. She said thank you but it was too expensive. After getting past this I said we would be glad to buy the ticket if she wanted to join us. Her big smile and hand clap said it all. Bonus - we later determined it was her birthday so we had great timing! Grace also said she had been to the safari park before but had not seen the different animal shows, which she really liked. Hey, I can do some things right occasionally.
The Safari Park was excellent. Everyone had a very good time. We took a tram ride through the safari part first, and then hit the walking part. Carter has decided to sit happily in his stoller and we all took turns pushing him (April & Bennett love helping and we allow this depending on crowds and if Carter is not napping). There were more of each animal in most sections then we had seen before in different zoos or animal parks (we have been to many zoos and animal parks in the U.S., Russia, and China at this point).
The animal habitats were well laid out, the kids loved it, and the shows we saw were great. The elephant show was basically a long circus act. The tiger show was almost as good. We missed the panda show due to arriving late in a crowd but saw the panda exhibit later when it was almost empty. We saw baby tigers up close. We had read great reviews and now know why everyone raves about the Safari Park.
For dinner we headed off to a place we had learned about close to the hotel. This time our directions were spot on and we found the Irish pub without wandering around. Since it serves Western food the pub was our most expensive meal to date, but it is all relative. And I am sure HKG will make this one look cheap in turn. Back to the meal - ahh, BEER. Did I say we had a few pitchers? Bliss. And the food was surprisingly good also. The kids had Spaghetti Bolognese kid meals per a recommendation (our selected bangers & Mash was sold out), I had chicken cordon blue, Grandpa had a Reuben sandwich, Lisa had a chicken & mushroom pie (or some type of pie), and Grandma had Irish Stew. Plus we had English chips for an appetizer. Carter had a little of everything and was in a severe food coma by the end of dinner. Carter could not stop smiling. The dishes were all made differently then we are used to and the changes made them special and tasty.
Unfortunately, after dinner Carter was not tired (hmm, long nap in the stroller at the Safari park and almost no walking at the park or anywhere all day?). Mommy was wiped out so Daddy carried Carter back to the hotel on his shoulders for the first time, which Carter really liked. April & Bennett were snoring in 5 minutes without argument but Sir Stinky Pants fought it (sometimes loudly) for 2 hours.
Tomorrow we go to the Six Banyan Temple (very neat place plus we will get Carter blessed by the monks - we'll take any good vibes we can get), hit the Guangdong Government Arts & Crafts store, get the TB skin test read at the medical clinic, and plan to stay on Shaiman Island after the medical clinic (to pick up our laundry, try to get some requests for friends, and do some shopping at the souvenir/adoption focused stores on the island). We will try to pick up some NorthFace rain jacket/shells for Carter & Bennett given the weather forecast.
My editor has crapped out before me again so any errors or bad posts are my sole responsibility.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)