Sparky

If It's Wednesday This Must Be Changsha

Wednesday was pretty much a "free" day.  We did have the option of going on a tour of the countryside.  We opted to go and we're glad we did.  It was quite an experience.  At 10:00 am we boarded the bus and made our way through Changsha.  I probably should tell you a bit about Changsha first so you can get the full picture.  Changsha is a bustling large beautiful city.  Jackie (our local guide) told us there were 6 million people living in Changsha. I think.  The parts of the city that we have seen are really beautiful.  Beautiful tree lined streets with lots of shops...think Boston's Back Bay with an Asian flair.  There are lots of tall buildings.  Our hotel being the tallest in Changsha at 44 floors (we're on the 33rd).  Traveling through Changsha was fun and quite the adventure.  There's no real  traffic laws here.  You sort of just go and hope you don't hit anyone.  We've been sitting in the front of the bus each day and get a bird's eye view of the chaos. 

About thirty minutes outside Changsha we arrived in a small town.  It was an average looking town with shops and lots of people milling around.  We traveled a bit through the center and then took a right turn down a little dirt road and BAM we were in the countryside.  It was weird.  It would be like coming from Boston to Braintree and taking a right at the South Shore Plaza and ending up in a poor farm area.  We pulled in to our destination which was the family home of some locals.  When we arrived both Grandparents were waiting out front for us.  Three generations occupy the home...grandparents, their son, his wife, and the grandson.  Just the Grandparents are there now as the rest of the family are working elsewhere where they can make better money.  Money is then sent home to support the Grandparents.

Their house is tiny, only three rooms.  First we entered the living room.  It had a small round table with tea, hot and waiting for us, a television and a picture of Mao Zedong.  Mao was from Hunan so it is very common to see pictures of his likeness here (Changsha is the capital of Hunan province).  To the right of the living room was the bedroom.  It had two beds and hung over it was a picture of their son and his wife on their wedding day and a little picture of the grandson as a baby tucked in to the corner of the frame.  That's it...two beds, one picture.  Next we went into the kitchen/utility area. There was a small electric burner in the corner which I think was the only stove, a big wok on a counter and a dried fish hanging from the ceiling.  The house was very tidy but I couldn't help but feel sad at how poor these people were.  It really puts things in to perspective.  We have so much and they have so little.  It hardly seems fair.  Our hosts could not have been friendlier or more gracious.  Grandma seemed to take a liking to Grace and she kept touching her face and talking to her in Chinese.  Grace liked her too.  It was sweet to watch them together.  After we visited inside their home we walked through their garden and around the village area a bit.  Their was a large lagoon type area with raw sewage in it and next to that a bountiful garden with many vegetable growing.  The area is very poor.  It was quite humbling being there.  I kept imagining Grace's town and what it must be like there.  If just 30 minutes outside of a major city you have this then what must it be like four hours from it?  Heartbreaking to think about.

After our visit to the countryside we made our way back to the hotel.  We decided to just chill in our room until dinner and feed Grace the food I scoffed from the breakfast buffet for lunch.  It was a great afternoon.  We played and napped and just hung out with our girl.  I tell ya' she's the sweetest kid in the whole world.  Just a little love bug.  She loves to have her belly rubbed when she's having a diaper change.  And those feet!  They are some cute baby feet for sure.  I love kissing them and she loves having them kissed.  She's cute with a capital C. 

After dinner we decided it was time for her very first bath.  We waited a few days to do this so as not to  stress her out too much.  What's a little dirt, right?  Well no need to worry about bath time stressing Grace out.  She loves the bath....a lot. Splashing, cooing, giggling all come naturally to this water baby.  I think we need to move....to a house with a pool or maybe we'll just be spending lots of time at her cousin's house splashing around in their pool.  Won't that be fun!

**More pictures uploaded in the March 7th album 

Let's Talk Tuesday, Shall We?

Tuesday was another incredible day...exhausting but incredible.  I hope I can remember what happened so I can share it with you.  Everything is beginning to all merge together in my mind and I can't quite remember each day's events clearly.  Is that mommy brain or early Alzheimer's?  Could be either considering I'm older than dirt.  Heh.

Tuesday was the day our adoption of Yong XiaoYuan was finalized for the Chinese government. As far as The Party goes...she's our daughter now.  Yay!  We were told to meet in the lobby at 8:00 am so we could go back to the civil affairs office and sign the paperwork.  Our guides requested the first appointment of the day at 8:30.  We all gathered in the lobby to wait for the bus.  And wait.  And wait.  Our bus was late arriving at the hotel to pick us up so we consequently were late arriving at the civil affairs office.  Not good. The place was a madhouse.  If we thought it was busy yesterday, well today there were even more people in what is now a teeny tiny room on the third floor.  All of the families from yesterday were back as were more families, nannies and babies just meeting for the first time.  I guess we missed our place in line so we all gathered in our little corner again and waited in the hot noisy room.  Soon we were brought to another room to get an official picture taken of our new family.  We'll get the adoption decree and photo back on Friday.  After that each family met with a government official (Tracey) to be interviewed.  She asked us a few questions and then each of us had to put our prints on the documents.  Thumb prints for Bob and I.  Footprint for Grace.  We then returned to the hot noisy room to wait.  When we arrived the nannies from Grace's orphanage were there again.  When Grace came through the door, they all shrieked and smiled.  Our kid was a rock star at the DaoXian Social Welfare  Institute.  I handed Grace to her nanny and they played together for a bit.  I was able to take a few more pictures too.  Grace was happy to see everyone but did not get distressed at all when they left.  She easily came back to me without any fuss.  It was nice to see the feelings of warmth and fondness they have for Grace.  They want us to keep in touch and we plan on updating them with pictures, etc a few times per year.  Bob and I cannot begin to express  the depths of our gratitude to the people at DaoXian SWI.  Clearly our daughter was well cared for and loved.  What more could we ask for? 

Bob was then asked to follow our group leader to another room to fill out a few more forms.  Grace and I stayed behind and watched as more families were united with their children.  It was a lot to soak in.  Very emotional.  Once all of the paperwork was done we had our official interview with the notary.  He asked us if we were happy with Grace.  He made us swear never to abandon her and to provide a good life for her.  And then he shook our hands and congratulated us.  We are now the Mulieros, family of three ....mighty and strong. 

We milled around for another hour or so until all of the families in our group were finished.  We then returned to the hotel for some lunch and to regroup before we took a trip to Wal-Mart for baby supplies.  The Wal-Mart here is big.  Really really big.  It's two floors(second and third) inside of a mall.  We went to the third floor first to purchase diapers and other baby supplies.  We need jammies in a big way.  All of the ones I packed for Grace are feet jammies and they are a tad short on her.  I cut the feet out of them so she had something to sleep in but she needed more.  Our girl has to look good, right?  We bought a bunch of things and a few new toys for her.  I've read so many blogs of families adopting from China that comment on the strange items you can purchase at Wal-Mart.  We didn't see any.  Seemed like the one back home to me.  And then we went to the second floor...where all of the food is.  Now I know what people are talking about.  There was some pretty exotic items for sale.  We decided to pass on them and instead bought more chinese formula, some yummy rice crackers, bottled water and of course a few candy bars and Pepsi for Bob.  It was an interesting place and we all enjoyed it very much. 

You're probably thinking "Enough with this crap, we want to hear about the baby!"  Okay!  Okay!   Grace is a beautiful child.  When she smiles it lights up our entire world.  She has just shown us her talent of blowing raspberries for amusement.  This is a much more sophisticated raspberry than her "I'm tired" raspberry.  This one is big and wet and noisy and is followed by a bunch of cooing and babbling and nodding of the head.  If you imitate her after she does it, she laughs and does it again.  It's very cute.  She is a champion Cheerio eater too.  She lurves her Cheerios.  And watermelon!  Boy does that make her smile.       

She's sleeping through the night pretty much and takes two naps each day.  The naps have been hard to do here but we are trying to maintain the schedule she is used to and she is pretty vocal about letting us know when it's time for a nap or food. 

Each day brings her sweet personality more and more out in the open.  She is getting more and more comfortable with her Daddy.  We seemed to have turned a corner Wednesday morning on that front.  Bob gave her a morning bottle and that was it!  She decided he was okay too. They played for a good hour or so while I showered and snuck down to the breakfast buffet to eat.  She likes her Daddy and is getting more and more comfortable around him.  They play and laugh together on the floor.  It is so sweet to watch.  You think you love your husband but it isn't until you see him with your child that you really know the depths of that love.  We're a family now and it seems so right, so perfect,like this was how everything was meant to be.  Me, Bob and Grace...together.  This is good stuff. 

***More pictures to the right of Wednesday.    

Come Monday....It Will Be Alright

Monday was an amazing day.  Amazing, exhilarating, heartbreaking and exhausting.  We arrived at the civil affairs office in Changsha at 10:00 am.  When we arrived there was a group of Chinese women all holding babies in the parking lot.  Everyone in our travel group slowly made their way down the steps of the bus.  We gathered near the nannies (but kept a respectful distance) and gazed at the babies while we waited for everyone to disembark.  I searched the babies looking for Grace but could not find her.  My heart sunk.  Surely I would recognize her when I saw her.  After all, I had been staring at her photos for two months.  Our guide told us that these babies were not ours.  That made me feel better. 

Today was a busy day at the civil affairs office and there were many groups from all over the world who were there on Monday to meet their children for the first time just like us.  Once everyone made it off the bus  we went up to the third floor and to a semi-large room to wait for further instruction.  The room was already full of people, some waiting for their babies, some recently united with theirs and some nannies with babies as well.  To call it organized chaos would be an understatement.  We all made our way to a corner of the room to wait.  Not long after, one of our travel mates Bill called for me.  He spotted Grace.  She was about 15 feet away playing with one of her nannies from the orphanage.  I walked closer to her.  Her nanny smiled at us and waived.  Maybe she recognized us from the little photo album we sent.  Maybe it was the fact that I was gawking at her and Grace.  She spoke to Grace in Chinese and pointed towards us.  I felt it was okay to then move closer so I went up to her nanny and held her hand and tried to gesture my gratitude to her.  Even though we spoke different languages I felt that we understood each other.  Here is a picture of Grace with her nanny on that day.  

Soon a woman came in to the room and we were told to have our paperwork and passports ready.  The lady from the civil affairs office looked at me so I went over and handed her our paperwork.  She quickly gave it back and said "This is not your baby".  Oops.  I guess I was a little over anxious.  One by one each family presented paperwork and the babies were handed to them.  When it was our turn my mind and heart went to complete mush.  This child, OUR child is breathtaking.  We stared at each other for a few moments and she quickly nodded off. 

More people started arriving in the what now felt like small-ish room.  There must have been forty or fifty families in there meeting there babies.  Bob and I sat in the corner and gazed at Grace while she slept.  I spotted a Chinese woman to our left with a small child.  She was crying and rocking the child back and forth on her lap.  My guess is that she was this child's foster mother or orphanage nanny and she was saying goodbye.  It was very sad.

Once all of the families and babies were together Bob met the orphanage director and thanked her.  He also presented her with some gifts for the nannies, the cleft palate bottles that my sister had donated along with a few other items that we brought for the kids.  Once that was done we all made our way out of the building and on to the bus.  Grace was awake by this time and seemed to be doing just fine. 

Back at the hotel we sat her on the bed and the three of us got to know one another a bit.  Doctor Mike came by to check on her.  He was amazed (as are we) at how healthy and bright she is.  She is a perfect little girl.  All ten fingers and toes (yes I checked.  shut up) are perfect.  Her little outie belly button is baby-licous.   And those cheeks..... ahhhhh!  What can one say about those pinch-able cheeks.  They are adorable. 

She's doing great as are we.  She's a champion eater and pooper.  What goes in must come out, right?  She's very inquisitive and wants to examine everything.  She's not a fussy baby at all.  Pretty easy going if you ask me.  Oh but she knows how to cry.  She has that down pat.  We are slowly learning her cries.  When she is tired, she cries and then blows a series of little raspberries and goes na na na.  Over and over until she calms down and falls asleep.  She sleeps soundly and wakes up in a pretty good mood.  She is starting to develop attachments to us (more me than Bob right now).  At first when I fed her she would move away and face her back to me while taking the bottle.  S-L-O-W-L-Y she is letting me in.  We have the bottle in front of the mirror and I stroke her head while she eats and tell her how much we love her.  She will drink her bottle and stare at us in the mirror.  Lately we have noticed her looking over at me every once in a while.  Progress is being made.  The first signs of trust and security are being established. That is a very good thing. 

Each day brings more and more of her personality out.  She's quite the kid.  We love her very much.  She is truly a wonder.  So bright and inquisitive....we think she's gifted.  Heh.  Yeah the wait was long and painful.  I mean REALLY painful but you know what?  Without that painful wait we wouldn't know her.  This child.  OUR child.  Our daughter Grace.  She fits well with us and we with her and we are very grateful for that.

***More pictures to your right of Monday and Tuesday         

Meet Our Girl!

Way too exhausted to write a coherent sentence so we will leave you with this...

Taken about thirty seconds after meeting each other.  Grace then fell asleep for about twenty minutes amidst the chaos of a room full of screaming babies and crying grownups. 

She's a wonderful baby.  She has an easy going disposition and loves to laugh.  We had a wonderful day together laughing, playing games and blowing raspberries.  Tonight was rough as she refused to sleep NO MATTER HOW TIRED SHE WAS.  No afternoon nap and the poor kid had been up since about 5 am.  She's asleep now so I need to make this quick as we must sleep when Grace sleeps or we're toast. 

I Heart China

More sightseeing today...Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City.  A three hour walking tour.  Again the weather did not cooperate.  It was raw, cold and snowy for most of the day.  It was still amazing to see.  Just the shear size of it boggles the mind.  Did you know that the Forbidden City has 9,999 and a half rooms?  Yup.  It's big and pretty amazing too.  We trekked through the slush and snow for most of the morning learning interesting tidbits along the way.  The architecture is breathtaking.  It really is amazing.  One thing that was very strange...at least to me.  In the middle of all of this rich history and amazing architecture there is a Starbucks.  Yup, smack dab in the middle of the Forbidden City you can grab yourself a grande non fat caramel macchiato.  No joke.   

After our tour we had lunch at a really really good restaurant in Beijing.  I have never had food like this.  Everything was delicious.  My favorite was the pork dish.  It was strips of pork with a crispy fried coating and covered in a sweet sauce that had a bit of vinegar in it.  It was yummy.  The fish was good too and since it was served with the head still on the plate so not many of our travel mates tried it.  More for us.  Good.  Seriously, the food was to die for. Once we were all warm, fat and happy we made our way to the airport and on to a flight to Changsha. It was nighttime when we arrived.  Today is the Lantern Festival so there are lots of fireworks going off as we landed which was fun to watch. The hotel is beautiful.  Deb you are right, the Dolton is wonderful .  Now I must find the store for squeaky shoes before we leave.  Although I must confess that after our bus ride from the airport to the hotel I am more than a little afraid to walk anywhere in this city.  People drive like maniacs and we'd definitely be taking our lives in our own hands if we venture out. 

It is now a little after midnight.  We are all tucked in.  Everything is unpacked.  A makeshift baby changing station has been created and our diaper bag is packed and ready to go.  Tomorrow morning at 10:00 am we will meet our girl.

**More pics to your right as well   

We're In Beijing Baby!

Well, we're here...and all in one piece too.  It is late Saturday afternoon in Beijing.  I'm blogging and Bob is napping.  Some things never change.  Heh.  We arrived in Beijing last night at around 10:00 pm local time which translates to roughly 24 hours of travel.  We were expecting the travel experience from hell but we were pleasantly surprised.  Please say a little prayer that our return flights go as well.  I know what you're thinking.  "What kind of crack are you smoking ?  You're traveling with a baby!!!"  I know, I know.  The return trip will be hell.  A girl can dream.  Can't she?

One of our layovers was in Tokyo.  The airport in Tokyo is very nice.  Everyone is so polite and the place is spit shine clean.  Jey, a member of our travel group was hungry so he went off for a bit to purchase a little snack.  He came back with a bag of octopus guts.  I'm not kidding.  See! 

He's a good sport and let me take a picture of eating scarfing it down.

Once we landed in Beijing we had to clear customs and retrieve our luggage.  then it was off to find Chen Chen, our national guide.  Everything we had heard about Chen Chen was spectacular.  It was obvious the moment we met her that we are in good hands.  She lives up to and exceeds her sterling reputation.  We did run in to a small snafu while walking from the airport to the bus.  Bob was being "helped" by a nice lady with his luggage.  Bob was wheeling his luggage with one hand and the nice lady was also wheeling it.  I assumed this lady worked with Chen Chen.  We arrived at the bus and we started to load our stuff in the underbelly of the bus.  Chen Chen yelled at the lady in Chinese because she wouldn't let go of Bob's suitcase until he gave her money for helping him.  Bob then yanked the suitcase from her hand and the lady started asking us both for money.  We both just said no and got on the bus.  It was weird but no harm was done.  She just sort of mixed in with the crowd and went unnoticed by Chen Chen and then looked for an opportunity to "help". 

We arrived at the hotel, unpacked a bit, had a snack and wrestled with the internet connection.  Had no success getting on line and collapsed around 12:30 am local time.   

Today (Saturday) we had a good day.  The weather is rather crappy.  It's rainy and foggy but that didn't stop us.  We started the day with a tour of a jade factory.  That was pretty interesting until you get dumped in to the store and the sales people pounce.  If you want a lesson in aggressive selling skills you should come here.  Selling furniture at Jordan's is tame compared to these guys.  They would even put Dave McCarthy or Derrick Roderick to shame.  We managed to escape unharmed with just a small purchase.   

After the Jade Factory it was on to the Great Wall.  It is more impressive in person than any pictures you may have seen.  It was especially beautiful today because it was surrounded by mist.  Sure the view while you were on it wasn't that great but the mist made it seem very magical.  As magical as it was, I wasn't going up that damn thing....especially in the rain.  I am more than a little afraid of heights so this was a part of this trip I was not looking forward to.  I was a good sport and climb a teensy bit of The Wall.  I think I could have climbed up no problem but getting down was another story.  Rather than embarrass our entire travel group by coming back down ass first on my hands and knees screaming all the way, I stopped climbing at a somewhat respectable level.....halfway to the first tower.  Bob on the other hand continued on.  He made it all the way to the fourth tower.  Yay Bob!      

After visiting the Great Wall, we stopped for lunch and a visit to a Friendship store and for another lesson in high pressure sales techniques. 

Tonight we are having dinner with the group.  There was an optional acrobatic show that we could have attended but we opted out.  I'd much rather be here with y'all doing a little blogging and besides we're exhausted.  We hope to rest up a bit before Monday morning, which is when we'll finally meet Grace.  Just typing that makes my eyes tear up a bit.  As nice as it is to be here and see all the wonderful things that we are seeing, I can't help but be a little distracted.    I keep thinking about the day after tomorrow.

***Some more pictures from March 1 and 2 are posted in the album to your right.