Adaptation

This was Sarah's way of adapting to being able too short to get up on the bed at the hotel in Guangzhou.  She tried it first with her socks on and then realized she'd have better traction barefoot.   It's hard to tell from the photos but she first stood on the bottom shelf of the night stand, then pressed her feet up against the side and shimmied herself up to the top, then pushed her way across the top.  I attempted to help but was told "NO" or something that meant don't even think it so I just grabbed the camera instead.

Mama and Sarah's first alone time

Guy had an appointment this morning and this was the first day time Sarah and I would be left alone for more than a few minutes.  Daddy got ready while I fed Sarah breakfast.  Then Daddy told Sarah he had to go somewhere but he'd be back.  She got a little nervous but I quickly brought out the finger paints and we had a great morning!  It went so much better than I expected.  No hitting, no meltdowns, not even any crying!

Home

We arrived home on Saturday, February 13th.  After approximately 36 hours of travel and one night at Guy's Mom's we were finally home.  The travel home was exhausting.  Sarah was sick, Guy was sick and I was getting over something but I was in better shape than the two of them.    By Monday we took Sarah to the local pediatrician for an ear and upper respitory infection.  One Tuesday we were off again to stay at another hotel to make Sarah's 9:00 appointment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  They have a great international adoption clinic and did a very good exam.  They check health issues as well as developmental and attachment.  We were pleased with all of the reports.  She had to have labwork done and Guy was the lucky one to have to hold her for that.
This is the first chance I have gotten to post to the blog since being home.  Motherhood is exhausting.  We have all also been trying to get reacclimated to the time change.  Sarah has been really fighting it and up at all hours but I think we are finally getting closer to normal hours.  It was 5:30 AM wake up this morning which is improved from the 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM's.  Sarah is napping now.  I made chicken congee for the first time.  Congee is a rice porridge that is a very common food in China.  Our little lady needs to be feed very quickly upon waking from a nap.  The only thing that stopped the crying when waking up from yesterday's nap was a chocolate brownie.   It hasn't helped that we are waking her in the afternoon and she still thinks it's the middle of the night.
And the best for last.......I got 4 hugs today initiated by Sarah!

 

Last night in China

Well this is it.  Our last night in China, what a wonderful trip.  We had dinner with the 2 families we were with in Beijing and a third family from our group that we met in Guangzhou.  We had a great meal, our guide ordered us pigeon.  They serve it with the head on it so we asked if they could cut off the head, so they did and left it on the serving plate!  We all had a good laugh.  It is not the type of pigeon you see in the park, these are raised like chickens.  We are the first family to leave, the rest go home on Saturday.  Long day on Friday, we need to be in the lobby at 6 am, 5 pm Thursday PA time.  Our first flight is at 8:30 from Guangzhou to Beijing and then we have a lay over until our 5 pm flight to Newark. 
 
We had a free day today, after breakfast we went to the park and Sarah played on the slide and see-saw.  We met Greg, Cindy and Caroline there, Caroline is a few months younger than Sarah, they live in Ohio. Then we walked along the Pearl river and watched people dancing in the park.  The Chinese people are very friendly.  James, a college student likes to go to the park and find Americans to practice his english. He spent time talking to all of us this past week. Sunday is Chinese New Year, one of the biggest holidays in China, so there are many people traveling.  For many Chinese this is the only time they go home to see there family. 
 
Well, that's it for now.  We need to finish packing and get to bed.  Looking forward to going home but not looking forward to the snow.  It was 75 and sunny here today.
 
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

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Last Full Day

It is hard to believe we will be leaving for home tomorrow morning.  As much as we miss home, our family, friends and pets, we are sad to leave.  We will miss all of the new friends we have made here.  Making this journey together has brought many of us close.  The country is beautiful and interesting and all of the people from China have been very good to us.  We finished all of our paperwork yesterday and took the oath at the US Consulate.  There is also something sad about leaving our daughters original homeland. 
Today is a free day to relax and enjoy ourselves.  It is the first free day we have had in sixteen days.  Tomorrow we leave early at 6:00 am.  We will try to have an early dinner with the other people from our group.  If we can convince the other we may try pigeon, a local speacialty.  It will be the last time we will see each other until we meet at a reunion or we schedule a get together.  None of our group are flying home together. 
We walked around town a little today and everyone tells us how beautiful and smart Sarah is.  The local people are amazed at how good she speaks chinese.  We are amazed at how much english she has already picked up.  She is very outgoing, very talkative and extremely stubborn.  When you mix the stubborn with the beautiful it is so hard to keep a straight face when she is acting up.  She also has a great sense of humor. 
I don't know if anyone has been posting comments to the blog as we cannot see the blog.  We can only post to it by email.  Thank you all for your emails, prayers and well wishes. 
 

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Snake for dinner

It is a good thing we will be going home soon because if we stay too much longer there is no telling what we may be eating next!  Guy wanted to try something new before we went home....I guess scorpion wasn't different enough..... so our guide to us to a restaurant that had snake.  Of course none of the other families cared to come with us.  We had fried snake, fried snake skin, snake congee and and vegetables with wood ear mushrooms.  I will miss wood ear mushrooms.  I love them.  Sarah must have eaten snake before because she was very excited when the waiter brought it to our table and she wanted some right away.  The snake was pretty good but there isn't that much meat on them.  The snake congee was very good.  Everyone in our group thinks we are crazy trying all of the new foods but we both find it very interesting to learn about and experience the local customs.
 
Sarah is doing great and we get closer everyday.  I am still not on bathroom duty but considering the squaty potties and am actually lucking out.  I have become used to using them myself but haven't had to master holding a 22 lb child over one. 
 
All of the guides have told us how smart Sarah is.  They say her language is very clear and she is extremely bright.  We think so too but we are her parents so of course we would think it.  It is truly amazing what she can do and how fast she is learning things.  She is such a character and has the silliest laugh.  She is very outgoing and everyone comments how beautiful she is.  She is out with her Daddy right now walking around the hotel and I stayed behind to rest a bit but now I miss them. 
I hear someone yelling Mama at the door!  They are back.  Guy is claiming Sarah drug him to the ice cream stand in the deli! 
 
 

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more pictures

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Good news!

Sarah passport was issued this morning and should be arriving here tonight.  We also had Sarah's TB test checked today and she is ok!  No x-rays needed.
After going for the medical clinic we played in the playground for a bit then walked through Old Guangzhou.  We visited the market place where all sorts of things are sold for Chinese medicine.  It was as crowded as Times Square on New Year's Eve.  Many people here are on vacation for their New Year's on Feb 14th.  It is a big holiday here.  All of the grocery stores are very crowded and it looks like ours at Christmas.  Both Guy and myself had a roasted scorpion. I only ate one....he had three.  I still can't believe I ate it and it was good.....tasted like roasted chicken skin.  I also held a snake when none of the guys in our group would.  I was a bit afraid.  I quess I was in a daring mood today. 
  
 

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Guangzhou

We have been out a little sightseeing in Guangzhou and Shamian Island this morning.  It was raining but warm.  Everything is so fast paced it is hard to really see much.  We visited the Guangdong Folk Art Museum and visited the Goverment shop for some presents for Sarah when she is older.  The island is beautiful and this hotel is nicer than any I have ever stayed in.  We have some free time now to go wander around the hotel and island.  I attached a few pictures but will add more later. 

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Saturday 2/6

We are in Guangzhou.  We left Sarah's hometown on friday, Sarah took her 1st and 2nd plane rides.  She did very well, the first one as an hour and she slept most of the flight.  The second was 2 hours and we played and had lunch, she played with an I-phone that a guy gave her to play with.  He spoke english and helped us with our transfer, he carried one of our carry on bags and got us to the front of the line to re-board the plane.  we met up with on of the families from Beijing at the airport.
 
We had breakfast this morning and met up with the other family from Beijing.  We then went for the baby's visa photo, Sarah and Lilly were very good, the 2 boys cried.  We then went to get the medical exams done.  What a chaotic place!  Babies and families all over the place, Sarah did well, only cried when she having the TB test, we will get the results on Monday. 
 
Still no passport for Sarah.  We will not get any news until Monday.  Go to go, Sarah is waking up from her nap.
 
Love,
Guy, Linda and Sarah 

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Bath time

Today Sarah wanted to take a bath.  She played with her bath toys and washed herself.  Then to our surprise she dunked her head in the water so she could wash her own hair.  Linda and Sarah spend some good quality time after the bath putting lotion on Sarah and sometimes Linda's face.  She only cried twice today.
 
We went for a long walk through town today, Sarah fell asleep after an hour of walking.  I get many looks from the local for carrying a baby on my chest in the baby carrier.  We saw some interesting shops and a market that had meat hanging from hooks, fresh fish that they were killing and black chickens, yes black chickens.  Linda was taking pictures and all of the locals were laughing at her.  You would never see a sight like that in the US with all of the regulations.  3 people had a bathtub size pot filled with all of the chicken organs.  One section had the pig and beef organs, hoofs, snouts and everything else.  They do not waste anything of the animals. 
 
For dinner we went to a small local restaurant that had hot pots.  Ours had shrimp and squid with potatoes and vegetables.  The table has a gas burner in the center and a 10lb propane tank under the table.  The pot sits in the center on the burner and everybody eats from the same pot.  I like that you have all of the 10lb propane tanks under the table and most people are smoking cigarettes.  The food was very good, we also had an order of some vegetable that looks like a cucumber that is 12" in diameter and about 2 feet long, I have no idea what it was, we did see it in the market.  We also had some sort of bread and 3 sodas and the bill was 80 yuan, or about $12 for the 4 of us to eat.  Good food and cheap!
 
Sarah is doing much better with us, I am still on bathroom duty, getting her dressed, bath time etc.  Now with Linda being sick I have to take care of both of them.  Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou for the last leg of our journey.  Cindy brought us our paperwork today and it has Sarah's story of where she was found.  That made me cry, but she is safe now and has her forever family.  The only problem is her passport was not finished.  It should be done on friday.  Cindy said we can get Sarah on the plane using the "Red Book" stating that she is now our daughter and then Cindy will go back to town to wait for the passport and Fed/Ex it to us in Guangzhou. 
 
Love,
Guy, Linda and Sarah
 
PS.  The picture of Sarah is to show my mother that I can dress my daughter!

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Emotional Meltdowns

Today was a day full of emotional meltdowns by Mommy and Sarah......even Daddy helped us cry.  Sarah is bonding with Daddy fast but isn't too sure about Mommy which was expected but still hard.  Sarah doesn't want me to hold her yet and is taking out her frustration on me but she is coming around slowly.  I thought waiting was like a roller coaster but the emotional ups and downs of bonding far surpasses that.  We had some screaming and a full blown temper tantrum when Daddy left for ten minutes.  A cup of cheerios was thrown across the room and she was downright angry with me. I even got a pinch but she also rubbed my arm, let me kiss her and I got lots of smiles and playtime tonight and even got called Mama. 
Sarah got a full bath tonight, hair and all.  She doesn't like the bath but is great afterwards and loves letting Mommy put lotion and chapstick on her.
She is beautiful, amazingly smart and extremely strong willed and even through the emotions and meltdowns the sweetness shows through. She likes to do things herself, is potty trained and very neat and also can have a wicked temper.  She eats very well and we haven't found any food she doesn't like.  She can get around quite well and do almost any task given what a challenges her feet and her small hand would be for anyone else.  And she is picking up words at an almost alarming rate..........I know she is way smarter than I am.  You can say something to her one time and she remembers the next day. 
Her foster Mom did an amazing job with her and I know she misses them dearly and is very confused.  We owe a great deal of thanks to her foster family.
We will send more pictures tomorrow.  I need some sleep to get ready for the challenges of tomorrow.

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2nd day with Sarah

Today was a good day.  We only had a few crying fits today.  We had gone to the notary to have some paperwork finished, Sarah did well. She had a hard time when we left because 2 women from the orphanage were at the notary with us.  Sarah has great table manners,  she eats with both a fork or a spoon.  She tries everything.  At breakfast she ate rice congee with some broccoli in it, a piece of corn bread and 3 small oranges that our guide bought for her. She peals the oranges herself and spits the pits into daddy's hand.  When she is done eating she pushes her plate away and wipes the table clean in front of her.  Before she eats she pushes up her sleeves and when she is done she takes off her bib.  She is learning quickly,  a few english words today. 
Tonight was her first bath, mostly crying, Linda got in the tub to help Sarah but she still cried.  After that she was fine, we put on her PJs from grandma Ross and played for about an hour before reading her a book and getting her to bed.  For those of you who have adopted from China that are reading this you know how hard it is to live in a small hotel room with a new child, and we still have 9 more days.
Again thank you for your emails and your prayers, both are very important to us.
Love,
Guy, Linda and Sarah

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Napping

We have so many stories to tell but we have been so busy and sometimes too tired to write. 
Sarah seems to like us better today, especially her Daddy.  My job is just the amusement and food provider for now with some occasional affection but on her terms.  We did play together for a long time last night and she is already repeating some english words.  Last night at bedtime she kept looking at me and waiting for me to get in the bed too before she would fall asleep.  She slept without whimpering all night and her and Daddy are napping now, again.
We are both amazed at how Sarah has learned to do so much with her little hand and and how well she can walk.  She can peel an small mandarin orange all by herself and separate the wedges.  She is extremely bright, very strong willed extremely neat!
I hope you can all see the pictures I posted.  I can't look at the blog so let me know.

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