Firsts

First nap (check)
First time Allie let Mom carry her around (check)
First ear infection (check)
First BM (check. Lucky Mom just happened to be getting lunch take out at that time, so Dad had that experience that first all to himself.)

New pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/Roosh1988/20090106?authkey=L6YTs6e-hBw#

We completed the adoption from China’s standpoint this morning, which included an interview with Chinese officials. The Director of the Orphanage mildly scolded us, telling us through an interpreter that we need to dress her warmer (at the time, she had on a onesy, a warm track suit, and a fleece hooded jacket). Keep in mind that it is about 65 degrees in Nanning right now. When we got her, she was wearing what can best be described as a cotton snow suit. He also handed us a tissue and told us to wipe her nose. The other families said they didn’t receive this rough treatment, so we are guessing he may have a soft spot for Lin Shi Yu. Regardless, we made it through the gauntlet and it is now official from a Chinese government standpoint. Next week, we go to the U.S. Consultate in Guangzhou to make it official from a U.S. standpoint.

Allison is one of the smallest kids in the group. She loves the other kids and gets so excited and tries to scoot over to them whenever they are around. She rarely fusses, which is amazing given what must be going through her mind right now. We think she has an ear infection because she goes to bed and wakes up crying and pulling on her ears. We gave her some baby Tylenol and we do have some antibiotics to use if we need to. She is a good baby and we are so proud of her.

Victory!

Well, so far we have the sleeping part down, too. She slept from 9:00 pm and it is currently 5:45 am and she is still sawing logs. Wish I could say the same for me and Darcie. Hopefully her sleep will keep up and ours will get better. We should be adjusted to the time change just in time to go back to the States.

At 8:30 this morning, we have to go to the Child Welfare Institute to complete the adoption paperwork, and then it will be official from China's standpoint.

What was funny about yesterday is after years of countless forms and paperwork, all we needed to pick up Allison was our passports! Then, we just walked out of the building with our kids, with nothing more than a smile and nod from Security.

Gotcha!

The day we have been waiting for for so many years has arrived and it was worth every minute! We have a beautiful, healthy and happy baby girl! I know what everyone really wants to see are pictures, so here they are:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Roosh1988/20090105?authkey=sIxNt5QOR34#

Gotcha was around 3:00 pm and the wait leading up to that could not have been more exhausting and nerve wracking. It really helped to have so many great people in our group going through all of the same emotions.

Allison was a little bewildered during the hand-off, but she did great! She didn’t cry a peep (at first). However, the longer she stared at our new and strange looking faces, the more a furrowed brow turned to a frown, then a cry. (I get that from women a lot). Unfortunately, she is not used to Nana’s yellow hair, so Becky has had to ease in to the interactions more slowly than she would like.

We got to ask the orphanage nanny several questions about Allison, which was helpful. We found out they call her Yu-yu (her middle name twice, which is common for babies in China). She responds to that, so her nickname for now is Yu-yu (we think it's cute).

After Gotcha, Allie clung to Dad from 3:00 until bedtime at 9:00 pm. She let Mom feed her and help change her, but she didn’t want Dad to wander off too far. This is a common reaction for most babies for the first several days, and it is just a question of who is the “lucky one” to get chosen. I have to say, while I love every minute of it, it does make the logistics of daily tasks nearly impossible. However, it won’t be long before she is on Mom’s hip 24-7!

Allison is such a good baby. She rarely cries for more than a minute or two. And she loves to play and laugh. She babbles a lot and squirms constantly! She is also a good eater. She ate ½ a banana, a bowl of rice cereal, and a bottle of formula, so at least we know we have the feeding part down. I also had to stiff arm her with my left hand while eating a slice of pizza with my right.

The next stage is sleeping. They tell us she is a good sleeper, so we will find out tonight. It is amusing to see the parade of crying babies being walked up and down the hotel hallway. Let’s hope others aren’t amused by us later. I guess you will find out in our next posting. Take care!

4:45 am and wide awake

This is sort of a common theme. Go to be exhausted by 9:00 pm, then wake up around 3:00 or 4:00 am wide awake. It is a combination of jet lag and nervousness about meeting Allison for the first time.

Our hotel in Nanning is very new and caters to Westerners (a term used often around here). In fact, they have a restaurant in the hotel that is called the “Western Restaurant” where you can order a Chinese version of a cheeseburger or club sandwich. We went there for lunch and had an interesting experience: 2 burgers a club sandwich and three cokes came to about $45 (compared to the $15 we spent that evening for dinner for three in the Chinese restaurant). So, the food is “Western” and so are the prices.

Speaking of dinner, we have a great experience in the Chinese restaurant near our hotel. We were the only Americans in there at the time, and I don’t think they get that many as a rule. We were greeted with two reactions that I have seen a few times already in China:

1. Surprise (one waitress suppressed a scream), followed by
2. Amusement (as the group of six waitresses pushed forward the one who spoke the best English)

After that, we were bustled to the table and then quickly escorted around the restaurant to look at the pictures on the wall of all the dishes to order our meal. Any question about a dish was interpreted as an order, so soon we had a table full of different dumplings to eat.

We loved the food but the “herbal tea” the waitress recommended tasted like it was brewed from Nyquil and tar – it really made our toes curl. We had several steamed and fried dumplings and thoroghly enjoyed them. We were started Part 7 of Becky’s chopsticks lessons, which a table of locals found amusing.

Our waitress wanted to know what we were doing in China, and we said we were here to adopt a baby. Her face lit up and she struggled to find the right words in English to express her thoughts. She said that she was very thankful for what are doing and that we have a lucky baby. We told her we were the lucky ones.

Travel Day

Finally got the internet in our hotel room working, so this update is a little delayed…

Sunday was a travel day from Beijing to Nanning, so that occupied most of the day. Pretty uneventful, so there are no new pictures to share. Nanning is a beautiful, tropical city with “only” 8 million people. Bigger than Chicago, but small by China’s standards.

All of us expectant parents are becoming quite anxious about getting our babies tomorrow. There is just so many unknowns that we don’t even know what to worry about, so we just worry about everything. I guess that’s part of being a parent.

So, in the meantime, thought I would share just a few observations of China I found interesting:

• Customer service is at a whole different level. We just went to a grocery store, and there were more workers than customers. There were at least 15 uniformed young workers in the candy section alone!
• At our hotel breakfast buffet, I set the bacon tongs back on the plate sideways, and they started to slide off, and one of the uniformed waiters dove to stop the tongs from falling on the floor.
• The hot pot (to boil water) in our room was broken, so we called the front desk to get another one. We then left the room to go to dinner only to see a hotel worker running down the hall with a new one (when have you ever seen that in the States?)
• When you sit down in a restaurant, a waitress (I have never seen a male waiter, nor a waitress older than age 20) will come to your table and stand by it until you are ready to order. It feels like you are being rushed, but I think she would stand there for 20 minutes if she had to. When you do order, they zip off to get things started. If you are a dawdler, you shouldn't work in China.
• In spite of the focus on service, tipping is not common in restaurants, and we had one incident where I tried to tip and the waitress flatly refused the money. I think I embarrassed her so I backed off. However, we learned later that there is a certain protocol with Chinese etiquette, and sometimes things must be offered and refused more than once before they are ultimately accepted.
• Staring is not uncommon and is not considered rude. The locals here are very curious about us foreigners, and we haven’t even gotten our babies yet. We expect the staring to go up considerably after that!
• The beds are firm. Think boxspring with a yoga mat on top. Sleeping is not great, but my back has never felt better.
  
  Well, I am going to sign off, now. We are exhausted from jet lag and lack of sleep and have a lot to do to prepare for our big day tomorrow!
  

Just another routine day

Let's see, got up this morning, saw Tiananmen Square, the Palace of the Last Emperor of China... Oh! and climbed the Great Wall (almost forgot about that one).

I could write pages, but I think the pictures can tell it better than I could:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Roosh1988/20090103?authkey=1dDDc6-Dk7w#

Tomorrow we leave for Nanning (5:15 am wheels-up time). One more day before we get Allison, where things will start to get really exciting.

We Made It!

After a long, long flight -- we made it to Beijing, China! Actually, the flight wasn't that bad. We have to give a shout out to our friend Mike, who signed over some of his precious United upgrades, which made the trip much more tolerable. We even managed to sleep an hour or two. Anyway, this leg of the trip will be a breeze compared to the return!

We were sitting on top of the world (literally) as our flight path took us nearly over the north pole. It was pretty interesting to watch on the map and see the otherworldly icy landscape below. We descended south over Siberia on route to Beijing.

We had a few nervous moments at the massive Beijing airport. First, after getting our luggage and navigating through all of the crowds, we did not find our guide until we neared the airport exit.

Then, Darcie was a little panicked because in a jet-lagged haze, she accidentally brushed her teeth in the airport bathroom with tap water (a no-no when travelling in China). Hopefully, she'll be OK, we are treating her with a preemptive dose of Immodium.

Tomorrow our tour starts at 9:00 am. We will do Tiananmen Square, then the Great Wall.

Click here for a few pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Roosh1988/20090102?authkey=N7b9gyXtrwA#