Home!

We made it! I always used to get annoyed when a family wouldn't blog as regularly once they got home, but now I get it.

The flight was ok. Nora did ok, save for a spot of turbulence which forced us to attach her little seat belt to ours which lead to a tantrum bad enough that a well-meaning stranger asked if I wanted her to hold her so I could have a "mental break" and a flight attendant asked what she could do, to which I may have lost it a bit. Hooray for breakdowns in front of strangers! As soon as the light went off, Kevin stood up with her and the screaming stopped. She hates being confined.

We're doing ok, but still fighting the jet lag. Nora wants to wake up at 12:30 every night to play for a while, but in a couple weeks she should be all adjusted. Kevin has been amazing in every way and is taking Nora and Tikka on a walk right now before dinnertime. I went to the doctor this afternoon and confirmed that I have some sort of weird chinesey form of bronchitis. Here's hoping that the antibiotics and narcotic cough syrup will result in the first night of sleep without coughing in over 2 weeks.

I'll write more tomorrow, probably, but for now I have a wonderful world of drugged sleep calling my name. Until then!

Day 16: Away We Go

Hey, friends... sorry I don't have any pictures for you right now.  I've been out grocery shopping while Jen has been doing all the packing and early tomorrow we get on a whole bunch of airplanes and hopefully our child won't scream and no one will want to murder us.

I admit that I'm a bit sad right now.  I'm sad to be leaving China.  I'm sad to leave our travel group... we've made such good friends here.  I'm sad to leave the protective bubble that is everyone we know all attempting to parent at the same time to children from somewhat similar backgrounds.  We meet every day in the playroom to share stories and Jen and I lap up the advice and the encouragement toward what we're doing.  I freely admit to needing a lot of that to keep going.

But HOME!  That is exciting indeed.  I'm a Dad now, and that is pretty awesome.  I have a little girl that is adorable and sweet and playful, and who needs a lot of care.  I have a wonderful wife whom I absolutely adore with all my heart and wouldn't want to do this without her.

We're coming home, everyone!  Please send your prayers and good vibes and all that so our flights go well with her.  Then, after some adjustment time, we'd love to have you all meet our wonderful little Nora YinCi.

Peace out, China... it's been amazing.  Thank you for every little thing.

 - Kevin

Day 15: Guangzhou - Nearing the end

We are nearing the end of our trip and, like Kevin said, we are ready to be home. Don't get me wrong, I will miss China terribly. We love it here and plan on coming back when we can, but living out of a hotel while trying to understand your very active toddler is tricky on a good day, and those are few and far between. This post will be a bit random, but that's what you get at the end of a long day.

We've been lucky enough to make some good friends here and plan on staying in contact with as many of them as we can. Sean and Nora especially seem to have taken to each other and we'll be sad to say goodbye to their family. Tonight at dinner we met downstairs for another impromptu get together with our travel group and when we walked over to Sean and family they both lit up and started babbling to each other.

Things are improving so much with all the families, and Nora is no exception. Her tantrums, though still intense, seem to be fewer and we are doing better about dealing with them without letting her frustrations become our own. They mostly stem from a change to her routine, so we can avoid many by just staying on the ball. her smiles and giggles come more frequently and she checks in with us more and more while she plays, which is great progress. It was pointed out to us that even though Nora's tantrums are difficult to deal with, she is at least not hiding how she feels. The fact that she trusts us enough to show her emotions is actually a big deal and we are so grateful for that, no matter the headaches her screaming causes.

Today we had our consulate appointment at the US embassy. After everything it was rather anti-climactic. We stood and swore that the information we provided was true and complete, we got more papers to sign, we went down the many escalators to the ground floor and that was it. The final bit of adoption business to be conducted in China. After lunch and a nap, we went with Jim, Joslyn, and Sean to visit the smaller park in the area. Aside from the oppressive humidity, the need to carry the babies, and our poor decision to wear sweaters, it was a lovely time. I'm quite sure we were the only Americans there and we got many stares, as we typically do. I don't care for it, but I'm more used to it. We saw a man fishing from a small boat in the lake, the amazing performance of the "70's Experience" band, and older men with cages filled with birds in order to bring them to visit their bird friends outdoors. I loved it. Only in China.

Some more playing, followed by a meeting about our departures and dinner from a local Chinese place made for a full, but enjoyable evening. We will miss our little makeshift family here. The first-time parents (we affectionately call ourselves the noobs) getting great advice from the experienced folks. The kids of various ages running around and playing together. The common thread we all share that our decision to adopt from China happened simply because it felt "right". We know that we've been on the receiving end of so many miracles with this adoption, but I never thought that the group we went with would be part of the plan. We are so very blessed.

I was also thinking today that I never really got a chance to post my thoughts, etc. on Nora day. Here's what I remember. We were all very anxious to meet the babies and new they would be coming at any moment. We scrambled around trying to make sure that pictures and video of the moment we met would be taken care of. The first group of kids came in and I lost it a bit. How could this be real? How could it finally be happening? How could it get any better? Lisa and I (the mother of the 12 year old) stood together wiping away our tears and asking each other how we could be so lucky to be a part of something so beautiful as seeing families united.

After the first group, I think they said Nora was coming in the next one. I don't know if they really said that or I just new that she was next. I looked out the window and saw a van open it's door and saw our sweet girl in person for the first time. I remember wanting to be sure it was her, but I knew it was. She was wearing the same orange scarf and hat we had seen before and I recognized her Ayi. She was there. only separated from me by a door. That's it. I think I told Kevin a few times that she was here and I saw her. Then she was inside and they called her name, meaning we were to go up and meet her. I could hardly believe it, but amazingly I wasn't crying anymore. I think my brain decided it wasn't real, so I shouldn't get all worked up about it. I went to hold her, but with all the layers she had on and as tight as she was clinging to her Ayi, I couldn't get a good hold on her. Finally, I managed to get her in my arms and she looked at me with big scared eyes. She reached for her Ayi a couple times, and that's when the picture book we sent was pulled out so that Nora could see we were the same people. When she realized that the Ayi wasn't going to rescue her from the strange people she started to cry a bit, but a banana quickly remedied that problem.

We got to ask the Ayi a few questions about her routine (warm bottles, hold her to comfort her) and early information (first words were "mama" and "baba") while she made sure I took note of Nora's new shoes. All the while she clung to that banana and looked dazed and so scared. I managed to thank her Ayi and we both got a little teary as it came time to say goodbye. And that was it. We were suddenly parents of this amazing little person. I remember looking at her sweet face and thinking how beautiful she was. How perfect her eyelashes were. Why did my brain need to point out that detail to me? Her skin was as soft as I knew it would be, and she was heavier than I was prepared for.

For two solid days she clung so desperately to me and I felt so inadequate to heal her wounded heart. I had read that a child's play can offer insight into their emotions and she played by throwing her ducky to the floor with all her strength, knocking over towers, and ripping tissues to shreds. She never smiled while she played. She refused to eat bananas. It was an incredibly hard time and I am so glad we are through that rough patch. There are miles yet to travel with her attachment, but the foundation is being built and I love seeing her progress.

Day 14: Guangzhou, City Zoo, Group Dinner

Gonna keep this short.  I won't name names, but someone was a little stinker last night and decided to wake up every 30-45 minutes to remind us that she could cry really loudly.  She's out right now (thankfully) and it looks like she should sleep tonight, and so should I.

Today was another optional tour, so we got onto a bus and went to the Guangzhou city zoo.  We were actually both completely exhausted after a night of no sleep, and we didn't really decide to go until the last minute... we figured we'd be even more miserable staying back at the hotel room.

We're so glad we went, though, because we had a great time and Nora got to point at all the animals and make happy little noises.  For 10 yuan you could get a handful of branches with leaves and feed the giraffes, and I had Nora with me when we did.  We got a great video which I will post when we're home and video isn't a huge pain to work with.  I'll also spare you pictures of animals, because you know what animals look like, and taking pictures of animals at the zoo always sounds like a good idea at the time, but then you feel like a total tool for taking pictures of zoo animals, because who is going to want to look at those?  People who haven't heard of Google, that's who.

Our little group arrives.

Nora, being a year of the tiger baby, communes with her kindred spirit animals.

Um... we took this picture of what appears to be the life cycle of a zebra.  Apparently zebras get born, play, study hard, eat McDonalds, shoot some hoops, then sprout wings and soar?  My college zoology class is a bit distant now, but I think some steps are missing.

Nora took a big, fat nap after we got home (hooray), and apparently I curled up on the little lounge chair here in the room and totally crashed myself (hooray).  I don't even remember Nora getting up or Jen taking her down to the playroom so I could have some quiet.  Jen is a wonderful wife, that one.

This evening we had another group dinner and went to the Cantonese restaurant around the corner from us, and as always, the food was amazing.  What was more amazing was that we tried feeding Nora a regular dinner before we went, made sure to find quiet tables away from large bunches of people, and she completely behaved in my lap, as long as I kept some noodles or an occasional sesame-crusted cashew coming her way.

No one seemed to know if the restaurant had a name.  Everyone just called it "the Cantonese restaurant."

Being mainly a seafood restaurant, here is where you can have a little meet 'n' greet with your dinner before service.  This also serves as the neighborhood seafood market, and there were a lot more tanks than pictured here.

Alligator tail, anyone?

And finally... a new contender for the Award for Best English Mistranslation: Clothing Category.

Tomorrow's big plan is our visa appointment at the U.S. consulate... when that's done, we can officially leave for home.  Wow, home...

I love China, I love the people here, the culture, the food, the art, the history, but living out of a hotel room gets really, really old, even if it's a nice one.  I just want my own bed, my dogs, my own shower (okay, that's not true, the giant overhead rainfall shower here is joyous), and the joy of not worrying about where to go for food two meals a day.

I love China... but I'm ready to be home.

Day 13: Guangzhou, Part 2

So Jen just staggered up to where I was putting some things away and managed to communicate through some primitive grunts and gestures that her Robitussin had kicked and she would need me to finish her blog post.

Here are some pics from the morning's little photo gathering:

I'm aware of how corny this is to all dress up our Chinese kids in traditional Chinese dress, but dang if it wasn't the cutest thing ever.

Our little CCAI travel group.

Yuexiu Park!  It was enormous, full of green things, and immaculately maintained.

Seriously.  Your pretty will regret it for years to come.

We thought about taking a paddle boat ride, but then remembered we have two sometimes very squirmy kids with us.

The pictures were fun, the park was very beautiful and green and featured several little lakes, one of which had bajillions of koi, and another of which featured what I could only guess was a koi hatchery.  Bajillions of tiny koi in tanks everywhere.  You'll just have to trust me on how cool it looked... my camera battery died because I forgot to plug it in last night.

My take on the food here:  a couple that we've become friends with here actually spend two years in the Peace Corps teaching English to rural teachers.  The first night they were served a family banquet, there were brains and intestines and unidentifiable parts in many varieties.  I guess it's safe to say that I'm experiencing quote-unquote real Chinese food, but I'm experiencing the side of it that Westerners are more familiar with anyway.

That said, holy crap it's delicious, and no I couldn't get sick of it in the quantity we're eating it.  I cherish our big, giant, western-style breakfasts.  I'd probably be thinking differently if I were eating noodles for all three meals instead of my waffles and bacon at breakfast, but I really have loved about everything I've eaten here.

The really cool thing about ordering food in a big city is that it's apparently a Chinese thing to have pictures of all your dishes up on the walls to attract more customers, so even if you didn't speak any Mandarin you could just go in and point, then hold up a finger or two to represent quantity, then the order taker tallies your bill, types the total into a calculator and shows you the number so you know what you owe.  Often there is someone in the restaurant who can speak some English and will help through the ordering process.  My new favorite place in Guangzhou helped me out at lunch big time, so at dinner we came back and ordered twice the amount of food.  It's just really, really good.

So after lunch and the park we went down to the playroom to find that most of our travel group had spontaneously gathered at the outside playland to burn off all the excess energy before bedtime.

How many different ways could YOU play airplane baby using only this equipment?

Good day today.  Good food, good company, another bit of Skyping with some family.  I'm really starting to itch to come home, and I wish that the official paperwork parts of this trip weren't so far apart.  I love China and I'm going to miss it terribly when we're gone, but I just want to sleep in my own bed, eat food of my own making, and curl up with my ladies and my dogs and have a massive snuggle party.

Of course we'll be inside a couch-cushion fort.  What are we, barbarians??

Day 13: Guangzhou - Pictures, gardens, and playdates

It's starting to hit me that we will be headed home soon. I still find myself not believing that any of this is real. I wake up and look to my left to see the tiny little person still there and wonder when her parents are coming to get her. I suppose it takes time to get used to the idea of a permanent new person in your life.

As Kevin previously mentioned, I found Nora's sleep button and evenings are so very much easier now. We have a nice little routine. I have to quickly strip Nora of her clothes as the tub fills up before she can try to climb in the tub, she splashes around for 20 minutes or so, then it's dry-off time followed by a quick rubdown with lotion while Kevin heats her bottle. Even though she chugs down her formula in about 1 1/2 minutes she is asleep by the end of it. I rock her gently for a few minutes, carefully lay her on her back and it's night night for baby. Other than waking for a diaper change and the occasional night terror, she sleeps soundly in spite of my coughing.

I am feeling a bit better and finally got some cough syrup tonight. Apparently, you can get Robitussin in China. Of course, the instructions are all in Chinese, so I may have overdosed by accident...we'll see.

Today was blissfully underscheduled. We met in the lobby of the hotel for family pictures with the babies in traditional Chinese dress. I have to say, Nora in a red qipao with squeaky shoes and a little silver bracelet that our friends bought her was pretty adorable. She was in high spirits right until the cameras came out. Then she decided she was no one's performing monkey and immediately put on her serious face. No tears, though. After that it was time for a nap, then a quick lunch before a playdate with her little friend Shawn. The two of them are hilarious together and today was no exception. The 6 of us all have a good time together and opted to go to a nearby garden that had the best sign ever.

We enjoyed the nice weather, moderate humidity, and clean air while strolling though a beautiful garden and talking about what we are most excited to go home to and what we will miss most about China. The unanimous vote was not having to go out for every single meal. These kids seem to eat all the time and trying to come up with a place to eat 2-3 times a day is a bit taxing, particularly in this area where there aren't a ton of options.

By the end of the walk, the kids were pretty tired, so we gave them some snacks and rest time before Kevin and Jim ventured to a nearby takeout place for a very tasty dinner. A big thing of pork noodles and dumplings costs a whopping 30 rmb, or just under $5 US, so that is a bonus. We've had people ask us about food, so I will try to answer those questions. No, we are not sick of Chinese food. It is delicious and has so much variety that I don't think I could get bored after only 2 weeks. It probably helps that our breakfast buffet is huge and includes western options as well. My favorite things have been the sweet and sour chicken we had in Zhengzhou, steambuns in Beijing, and four season green beans in Zhengzhou. Basically anything we ate in Zhengzhou was amazingly good. We haven't eaten anything crazy, but we've eaten whatever someone puts in front of us. The food hasn't been terribly different than in the states. Less thick gloopy sauce and no neon pink colors. The taste is fresher and better, though.

After dinner we let the two littles run around together in the room. They decided today was the day they should form a band together. We discovered the other day that Nora is a pretty good imitator of noises and pitch. Shawn would make a little noise, then Nora would make the same noise, which set them both to giggling. It went on like this for a while and the "songs" became louder and higher. Then they set up their drum section in the bathroom, banging on the toilet lid until Nora decided to be a good friend and show Shawn how to open the lid and stick your hand in the water.

It's been great to be able to have a bit more of a routine and set some structure for Nora. I'm sure once we get home it will be even better. I was going to write more but my cough syrup is apparently a nighttime formula and has kicked in. Maybe I'll have Kevin finish up.

Day 12: Guangzhou

I shortened the title of my recurring entries.  Whoomp, there it is.

A prelude:  we've received a bunch of personal emails that have been amazing and have done wonders for our very souls.  Thank you to all of us that send personal messages over Facebook or by email.  They mean so much to us.

First, a short video interlude!  Sorry, I can only post video that I took on my mobile phone since our super new camcorder has out-supered the little Windows XP laptop that we brought that only ever otherwise ran the sound at my band's gigs.  It really can't handle the HD video... I'm working on it.

This is an intersection in Zhengzhou, across from where our hotel was.  Now imagine that those scooters are all cars, and you basically have a busy Beijing intersection.  The rules of a China intersection are that there are no rules.

Now imagine that those scooters are the neurons in my brain when I sit back and realize that there's this completely adorable little girl asleep next to my adorable wife on a bed in a hotel room in China.


Yesterday's Recap

Yesterday was one of the optional trips that we can take while here in Guangzhou, and of course we want to do all of them (except for the dinner cruise, but nobody went because it interfered with bedtime). Yesterday we did the Guangzhou city tour which included the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, which was amazing, featuring a large central pagoda that is unfortunately closed to enter because it leans a little bit to the side.  Apparently this is some sort of structural hazard.

This temple was extremely beautiful and Jen relates a moment that I missed:  while I was off somewhere else, one of the monks, in full robes, passed by Nora being goofy, took her face gently in his hands, and touched his forehead to hers.  Many adopting couples visit this temple while in Guangzhou and the monks are happy to leave their blessings on the children.

The next stop of the day was at the Chen Clan Academy, one of the oldest surviving family houses in China.  today it serves as a museum full of jade carvings, embroidery, and other art from that era.

I'll post some of mine and Jen's pictures...  I didn't get to go inside because it was my turn to walk around with the little baobao...  she was super tired and over stimulated and just wanted to be held and walked around, but was quickly reaching the Land of Unconsolable Spazzing when Jen came back, picked her up in the baby carrier, and she went right to sleep.

We finished our tour with a stop at (of course) a shopping center, where there was some nice jade and porcelain tea sets and lots of very pretty things.  I walked to the little market across the street and bought a Coke Zero.  There is no Diet Coke in this country from what I can see, and Pepsi Light (my preferred foreign diet beverage) is very difficult to find.  My life is an empty shell without my precious daily caffeine fix.  Hey, if I'm being forced to give it up cold turkey, I may as well stay off it.

The rest of the day was more daddy time so Jen can feel better and then we had a pizza party in Jason and Christie's room... three couples got together with the new kids and we actually ordered Papa John's.  It was pretty good.


Today

Bringing us to the present, I only had two goals for the day, and the first was going to visit a supposedly reputable pearl shop, but you can't help being kind of skeptical in a shopping center that was SIX FLOORS OF JEWELRY.  There was gigantic sea of pearl shops, agate, jade...  It was all very pretty, however, and we trust our guides to help us buy good quality stuff.

Hmm... am I hungry for pizza, chicken, or BRUCE LEE'S FIST???

Sneaky picture of some very armed guys who don't know the gun rule about not pointing your gun at things.

Yes, enough pearls to have the raw ones in giant bags on the floor, like almost all of the other jewelry shops.

This last photo is an example of why I eventually got nicknamed the "pack mule," carrying my man-bag with camera gear, full diaper bag, and baby carrier attached via carabiner, and sometimes baby.  I am learning to be PREPARED for things, should things occur.

My second goal of the day was to give Jen the afternoon off.  She's been working so hard with this little girl and is sick besides, so I took Nora for the last half of the day so Jen could sleep.  We went to the playroom, the outside play area, and then the Liu Hua Lake Park, which is a beautiful park where I also saw people practicing Tai Chi, playing table tennis (every court was full), badminton (same) or exercising in the outdoor exercise equipment.  I absolutely love that aspect of the Chinese people.  (shot these with the photo feature of our camcorder... didn't want to bring the Nikon as well)

Haven't you ever wanted to see the great scenery with the special feature?  I think this sign broke my brain.

I read this sign and had to immediately move Nora further back from the bank.

Liu Hua Lake and Guangzhou.

Lots of daddy time today, lots of great time with my girl.  Today is good... if only Jen would get better.