Almost Done

(Wednesday and Thursday in Guangzhou)

What a difference ten days make!
Joseph on adoption day (left) and 10 days later (right)

This week has mostly been about sitting around and waiting for papers to get finalized.  Since our wonderful, amazing, couldn't-do-this-without-them guides do all the leg-work for that, we mostly just wait for them to tell us to "sign here" and have hours and hours of free time.

Zonked out in his "cage" (as Abigail calls it)

Yesterday, Wednesday, was our Consulate Appointment (the CA, in adoption circles and around which the entire adoption trip is scheduled).  This is when we take The Oath.  Everyone makes it seem like a big deal, as if we are taking an Oath of pro-citizenship and anti-treason or something Yea America.  But it is just an oath that says we filled out Joseph's paperwork correctly to the best of our ability. 

This park made up for not staying on Shaiman
Island during this trip.  It is beautiful and we
only saw a fraction of it.

After that, we fed our hungry kids McDonalds for lunch (cheap and fast).  While I feel badly about feeding McDonalds to our kids 3 times while in China, I justify it to myself by (1) Abigail has only eaten McDonalds 1 other time ever and that was when we were looking at houses with our realtor and she bought it for Abigail, (2) we have exposed them to tons of Chinese food here, and (3) we are tired of blowing through our usual weekly food budget every 2 days here.

We finished the day with more swimming and dinner with some travel friends at the Coffee Cafe across the street from the hotel. 

Today, we had a leisurely breakfast and took the kids to the park again.  Larry really enjoyed watching the choir practice.  He concluded that their director is classically trained and he got one of the ladies to show him her music.  He was fascinated by the use of numbers in place of a staff with notes on it.  He wanted to watch longer, but Abigail was getting fussy and Joseph had melted like Olaf in summer, so we moved on.  Abigail did, however, like it when we happened across a woman singing to a few instruments in a more traditional Chinese style of song (which to me sounds like screeching cats).


After that, more swimming.  Joseph really loves putting his face in the water.  He even got several nose-fulls of water and he just kept doing it and giggling.

He ate 3 of these cups of noodles.
We don't know if it is healthy that he has added 1/3 of his
body weight in the past 10 days but we'll worry about that
with his pediatrician next week.

For lunch today, we gave the kids Ramen noodles in the hotel room, for a cost of about 85 cents and didn't feel bad about that either because they are Chinese noodles.  Abigail *loves* them (she first had them last week and wondered why we never have them at home)  and Joseph is a pro at eating long noodles, something he had in the orphanage and he ate more than Abigail.

Tomorrow we begin the 30 hour journey home.  Until we got our travel dates, Larry was planning on playing piano in the pit for our school's musical this week.  As Larry described it in reference to all one time zone, we will leave our hotel slightly before the curtain rises on

"Can we have Ramen when we get home to
Virginia, Mama?"

opening night  and get home well after the curtain closes on the second night's performance.  (And that is if everything goes smoothly and we don't get diverted to Inner Mongolia for hours like we did on our trip to China 2 weeks ago!)

We have a Fish and some Fancy-Pants Outfits

(Tuesday in Guangzhou)

"Abigail, hold your brother for
a picture here."

The only thing we had scheduled for today was at 4:30 PM so we had a leisurely morning with the kids.  We had a long, slow breakfast and then played in the room.  Abigail didn't like any of her clean clothes that she has left, so she stole her brother's swimming trunks and wore them as shorts.  After that, we joined another family for a walk in the giant park and we explored yet another section than Abigail and I did yesterday.  (It didn't have as many tai-chi people, but it was still nice.)  While in the park, Larry made friends with an old Chinese man and did hackey-sack with him!!  I also heard one of my favorite quotes from the trip: "Chinese food is so much better in America.  I miss beef and broccoli."  - Joe, fellow group member.

"Seriously.  Abigail.
Hold him up."

"Mama!  He's ROLLING."

Larry said this was all about learning the culture first-hand

Larry's new friend.

After the 2 hours in the park, we were slightly hot (it was over 90, with 90% humidity that was so thick you could see it).  So we went to the outdoor pool at the hotel.  Joseph LOVED it, although we weren't surprised since he loves bath time.  What surprised me the most is that he kept putting his face in the water, ploop!, and then pulling his face out if the water and giggling like a mad-man and doing it again. Abigail is a good doggie-paddler, but she hates to put her face in the water.

Blowing kisses

She is independent in the water with her
floaties on her arms. 

This evening was the scheduled group pictures, family pictures, and baby group pictures.

Joseph got formal Chinese outfits with pants.
Abigail wanted some too.
(to hell with all the dresses we bought her on the last trip; if only we had known!)

We tried to get a good pic of both kids
together wearing their fancy Chinese
outfits, but it didn't work: one wasn't smiling
or the other wasn't looking or it looked forced.

So we tickled them instead.

 




























We ended the evening with the whole group doing family-style dining at a local Portuguese/ Cantonese restaurant tonight. Larry and fellow group member Kerry have been joking for 2 days about this as a food fusion restaurant, but it was very good.  I think it had the best rice and best noodles of the trip.  (Joseph had 2 bowls of noodles, the second of which our guide Kathy expertly fed to him using chopsticks.  I wish I had a picture!)

Park, Medical Exam, River Cruise

(Monday in China)
Have I mentioned that we love Guangzhou? 

This morning, Larry took Joseph to his medical exam and I took Abigail to the "Central Park" of Guangzhou.  Abigail and I had a great time exploring the little trails and paths.  We saw small groups of people doing dance routines and tai chi -type stuff all over the park.  We also saw a 30 piece orchestra performing in a gazebo, a choir (singing Edelweiss in Chinese) practicing in another gazebo, a man smacking the back of his hand repeatedly on a rock (to toughen it?), a group of old women doing a line dance routine to "I like to Move it Move it", a Koi pond with paddle boats, bamboo gardens, a group of old men playing a type of Badminton using a birdie that was a hacky-sack, and the list  could go on.

This picture isn't just because I love Abigail.
I had her stand there so I could slyly take a picture
of the group of people doing some type of
exercise routine together (one of an infinite number of such groups).

The wind kept blowing my hair onto Abigail.
It cracked her up.

There were signs/ rules posted in the park.
I had Abigail translate some of them for me.
She said this one means "Do not forget your backpack."

And according to Abigail, this sign means
"You must be nice to old people."

At the medical exam, we found out that Joseph weighs 20 pounds now and is 27 inches long!
We can't believe how much he has grown in a week.  One week ago, he was our no-muscle-tone, limp Ramen noodle who easily fit his size 2 Pampers. Now, he needs size 3 Pampers, he can toddle and crawl enough to keep up with his sister in a confined space, his cheeks are chubby, and he is developing plenty of strong muscles.  We estimate that he has put on 4-5 pounds in a week and we don't know if that is healthy, even for undernourished kids, but it is hard to say no to him when it comes to food (and at most meals, he eats more than his sister).   In February, he was so far below the weight-for-age growth curve from the CDC that he couldn't even see the line.  This new measurement puts him at the 5th percentile!!  (His height is still below the curve, however.)

Welcome to the 5th percentile, son.
We hope you are 20 pounds, not 12 pounds
with an 8-pound tapeworm or something!

In the afternoon, we made another trip to the Island to buy souvenirs.  This is when Abigail got to pick out what she wanted to spend her own money on.  She choose an airplane toy and a Chinese fan.  That brings her souvenir total list to:  1 rubber snake (Great Wall), 1 bamboo sword (Shaolin Temple),  1 fuzzy alligator puppet (Wal Mart in Zhengzhou, a bribe for her walking there and back), 4 toy cars (another Wal Mart bribe in Zhengzhou and complete junk we never would have bought her at home), a Jie-Jie t-shirt, a Chinese fan, and an airplane.  We also bought Joseph 4 or 5 different silk/satin traditional outfits, of which Abigail has stolen one for herself and had a total meltdown when we told her she can't wear it all day.  (She has 10 traditional outfits at home, but are all dresses and she wants the pants outfits, so we may be making another trip back to the Island...)

She is very serious when she flies.
I personally don't like it when she plays "Plane Crash"

Hey, JieJie!  Wake up from nap!  I want to play!

Hanging out in the room for a few hours.

 In the evening, we took a dinner cruise on the Pearl River with about half of the families in our travel group.  We did this dinner cruise when we adopted Abigail, but it rained the whole time and the food on the boat (a buffet) was (as described by our guides) "disgusting, and we live here."  So, we all had pizzas delivered to the boat, had a pizza party on the bottom level and then spent the last hour or so on the top deck enjoying the great weather and beautiful city.

Joseph's first pizza.
He gave it two greasy, sauce-covered thumbs up

Nom nom nom.  My carrier tastes good.

My crazy, wonderful, lovable girl!

Such a beautiful night.

Family pics are even more challenging now
to get 2 kids looking at the same time

I love my family!

This child will not get full.

Why We Love Guangzhou, Mother's Day, and Larry's Birthday

Some Guangzhou facts:

• Capital city of Guangdong Province
• Just south of the Tropic of Cancer, it is hot and humid!
• Our guide said 18 million people here in an area half the size of Hong Kong (which has half as many people).  For you non-mathy types, that is 4x as many people per square unit of space.
• The Pearl River runs through it

To me, it feels very alive, but without strangling the life out of you (like Zhengzhou feels).  It very much feels like an Asian version of New York City.


Mother's Day and Larry's Birthday:

The family picture Abigail drew, complete
with Joseph Li (in orange) and
some flowers along the bottom.

Before we left, Larry had Abigail make a picture of our family for Mother's Day.  I was pleased with this, as Larry has never helped Abigail do anything like that for me, although I help her do so for every holiday for him.  And, the picture has made the whole trip with us, which is also impressive.

Larry with his mango-gel type cake.

Larry hates his birthday and doesn't like people making a big deal out of it, but CCAI (our agency) decided to order a cake to our room and while touring around the city today, our guides made everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to him in both English and Chinese.















What we did today:
We went to the Six Banyan Tree Temple, a few minutes by bus from our hotel.  Even Wikipedia describes it as an international adoption hot-spot in its entry.  What is cool about it to me is that it is more than 7 times older than our country.  Most of China's history is like that:  it was established and well  millenia before America. 

Pretty soon Abigail will be carrying me!

At the entrance to the 3 Buddhas, with
our Buddha-bellied boy

Under the 6th Banyan tree with my kids on Mother's Day.

After that, we went to the Chen House, which is a Museum of Folk Arts and Crafts.  There were plenty of super old "bonsai" trees and embroidery that looks like oil paintings.

I tried to grow bonsai trees in my 20's.
Like everything else I ever tried to grow (miniature roses,
gardens, even annuals) they all ended up dead and my
Green-Thumbed Sister In Law Steph got the pots.

Little man is livin' large.
Seeing this is very difficult on Abigail.
She views that as her exclusive seat.

See:  Looks like a painting, right?

But up close, you can see that it is embroidery

Joseph was showing off his new Squeaky Shoes to
Chloe, who couldn't understand why her shoes did
not squeak.

At dusk at the Pearl River.
Again, I am not sure why Abigail isn't carrying me!

 c

"Is it a Karate Day?"

At home, Abigail wakes up early every day and then always asks two questions.  "Is it a School Day?" and "Is it a Karate Day?"

She likes when the answers are yes, which is a testament to how much she loves her Junior-Kindergarten program and how much she loves her Tae-Kwon-Do class.

A very flexible Kung Fu guy. 
He was the only one in the show who was
still enough that I could get a good picture.

The past 13 days in China have been no different.  Every day she wants to know if it is a school day and a karate day and when it is, she asks if we are going back to America for them, karate class in particular.   (Apparently, our 30-hour trip to China has been erased from her memory or she doesn't understand just how far away Tiger Lee's Studio is!)

Anyhow, the other day when we went to the Shaolin Temple, Abigail got to see a Kung Fu demonstration/show.  (It was very commercialized, but she didn't know that.)  She sat on the edge of her seat and whispered "This is SO awesome!"  I asked her if she was that good at karate yet and she said no.  (I thought this was good self-awareness.  A few months ago when she tried ballet lessons and saw a YouTube video of the "Anything Goes" Broadway show-stopper dance with Sutton Foster and I asked her if she danced that well, she said yes.)

Abigail, about to un-sheath her (bamboo) sword.

Abigail was super good at the Shaolin Temple (this was the day Larry had food poisoning) and so I promised her a souvenier if she was good.  (International Rules include bribery and letting your child drink soda.)  Since the cross-bow she liked wouldn't fit in the suitcase, she choose a "sword" that she proudly carries around now.

Guangzhou at last!

Let me tell you about Friday.  Larry was up half the night with food poisoning, violently throwing up everything he ate for the past 7 years or so.  So on Friday, he stayed at the hotel while I took the kids to the Shaolin Temple/ Monastery with most of our group.  Very lucky for me, I am traveling with some great people, so when I needed to comfort Abigail after she hit her head or run to the bathroom, someone was always able to help me with Joseph.  I was wearing him on my front, and a day pack on my back and Abigail did really well not whining about having to walk the whole time.  The place was huge and there was a lot of walking, but it was very pretty in the mountains.  Anytime someone commented on my 2-kids-on-my-own situation (it was exhausting), I said it was better doing that than having Larry's problem.  Since my hands were full, I gave Abigail the camera for the day.  Here are some of her highlights:

Here is how babies ride in vehicles in China
No car seats.  No seat belts.
Good for building core muscles.

An Abigail special

If you give a 4 year old the camera for the day...

At the Temple entrance (taken by someone in our group)

Early this morning (it is Saturday in China), we flew to Guangzhou.  It was a smooth and easy flight.
Once here, Joseph napped while Abigail checked out the play room and playground.  She is excited and much happier here than in the hotel in Zhengzhou.  (Well, we all are, actually.)  Then after that, our family took a taxi to Shamian Island.  It almost felt like home there!  We bought Joseph some squeaky shoes (which he LOVES and they have already increased his walking by about 5-fold) and then went for a Happy Birthday Larry/ Happy Mother's Day Me/ No Food Poisoning Celebration Dinner at Lucy's.  Then we let the kids play on a play ground and walked around, enjoying the island, the breeze, the views, and how wonderful the island is before taking a taxi back to our hotel.

Saying goodbye to Yisha

Waiting at the airport.
We have an almost identical pic of Abigail doing this
with her Baba at the same airport several years ago

Abigail wanted to use the camera again.
I think she was trying to get Joseph to take selfies.

In Joseph news, on Monday when we met him he was a baby with skills of a 9-month old.  But he is learning rapidly and catching up, achieving milestones on 10-12 month old lists.  Many things he needed to be shown how to do, and then he just took it from there.  Other things he is showing us that he can do.  He waves at EVERYONE like a super-friendly crazy person.  He walks while only holding onto 1 finger and tries to "run" a few steps.  He identifies me as "mama" and cries when he is hungry.  He is cruising all over the hotel room getting into everything and doing goofy things like hiding on the shelf in a night table.  He likes to tease us with games he makes up.  He has an irresistible personality and is really a lovable little guy!

Happily playing with stacking cups and teasing me with them.

Genki Sushi

I was not planning on double-blogging today, but we stumbled upon a Genki Sushi restaurant.  We LOVE Genki sushi and haven't had any since SushiFest 2006 (aka: our 3 week Japanese trip in 2006).

If only we had known about this last night we wouldn't have gone to Gross Noodle Shop by the hotel for dinner!

Abigail even ate eel sushi!

I don't know why the Genki logo
is always frowning.  His sushi is delicious.

Trying the eel

Sushi on Parade.

(For future traveling adoption readers:  If you love sushi, you MUST go to Genki Sushi for dinner while you are in Beijing.  You can order off of the menu which has pictures and English or you can do what we do and grab sushi off of a sushi train/ conveyor belt that goes around the restaurant.  Different pieces cost different amounts and they are on different colored plates which correspond to their costs, but tonight we got about $80 USD of sushi for less than $27.  If you want to go, it is on the 5th floor of the mall on the walking street, enter in the Apple store.)