Our first Summer With Emi

Last Full Day in China

Well, it's all come down to this day. This afternoon we are scheduled to go to the American Consulate to obtain Emilia's Visa and to take an oath acknowledging that Emilia is our child. Tom wanted me to mention to all of you that he has jotted down a few words in case the Ambassador wishes him to speak to the group. (yeah right!) Seeing as we are taking this oath with an estimated 30-40 families, his speech will need to be short and to the point (ha!ha!).

Yesterday, we went to D Square Market which is a gigantic outside/inside public shopping center that is pedestrian traffic only. There was a huge 40 foot TV screen in the middle of the square giving the latest Chinese news. The amount of people is just phenomenal!! It makes the Mall of America look like CVS on Forest Avenue!! We got a lot of attention as the obvious outsiders and Emilia always brings people towards us.

We also bonded a bit more with the other two families we are traveling with yesterday. The Limoli, the Staples, and the DePeter families were all out in the hotel hallway (we all have suites that adjoin) with our babies. Picture us all sitting on the floor of the hallway with babies running and screaming; laughing; and playing! Why would we be doing such a thing, you ask? At least one of us had to be in the room from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in case we got a call to clarify any information on our documents. Rather than stay in our individual rooms, we decided to be together and leave the doors to our rooms open so we could hear the phone if it rang. No calls were made to any of us so everyone is set for this afternoon.

Tonight, we are having a banquet all together at a local Thai restaurant to celebrate our daughters, our journeys, and to say thank you to our Chinese MAPS administrator, Aina Ling, as well as to our American Coordinator, Barbara Weisser. Talk about a small world, Barb is from Waterville. Her husband is Dr. Weisser. His office and their home are on Silver Street. Needless to say, we are planning on dropping in this summer to visit with Emilia.

It has been very chilly here in Guangzhou these last couple days (40's/50's), however, I understand that we shouldn't be complaining since it is 20 below with wind chill on your end. Great....

Emilia is once again napping in the hip carrier as we communicate this morning. She is really doing well. She is so very full of personality and spunk! Demure, delicate, and calm would be used to describe another child. Feisty, rambunctious, curious, and adventurous ...that's our girl!!

Our flight for Beijing leaves at 11:55 am local time tomorrow. We'll be heading for Chicago by 2:35 pm (Chinese time) and on our last leg home from Chicago to Portland will have us arriving home at about 10:30 pm. We will hope for on time flights and clear sailing so we can get home as soon as possible. Can't wait to see you all!!

Another Day in Guangzhou

Hi Everyone! Well, all the official paperwork is now out of our hands and being delivered to the American Consulate as we type. After today, we will just be waiting to get Emilia's Visa for the trip back home. Yesterday, we had her Visa photos taken as well as a final medical examination for the American side of things. Emilia was so good through it all.

She has now started to pitch what appears to be the international language of "pay attention to me" or "give me what I want now"! We have lovingly referred to her arching backwards as the "Emilia lunge". It didn't take long for her to test us, and boy, is she good at it!!!

What other little tidbits can we share about Emilia? .... she loves the remote control; she already has figured out what to do with the phone. She converses with herself and proceeds to crack herself up. She loves to play "this little piggy went to the market..."; loves having her feet and hands rubbed; and she likes her books.

Yesterday, we were on our way to a museum of Chinese Folk Art and for the first time, she grabbed my face and kissed me! She then proceeded to reach for Tom and kissed him as well! Can you imagine how overjoyed we were with that??!!!

The night before last, we enjoyed an evening boat cruise down the Pearl River. It was extraordinarily beautiful with all the lights coming from the city on both sides. Guangzhou is a city of 16 million so the stretch of high rises and activity goes on for miles down the river.

I also wanted to mention a moment I had in the elevator with Emilia the first night we arrived at the White Swan. We were riding up and a group of Chinese business men entered the elevator with us. They looked over and asked if I was adopting Emilia. After I told them that we were, they told me that they were very grateful. Another gentleman asked how long we'd had her and said that I was a blessing and an angel. I quickly replied that she was our blessing and certainly our angel. It was a brief conversation, but certainly contained much heartfelt appreciation.

We are definitely ready to come home and look so forward to seeing everyone. Just as many of you have conveyed that you love reading our posts, it is with as much anxiousness that we read your comments. They mean so much and we appreciate all the sentiments and love that are being sent to us.

We need to go now to get back to the hotel just in case any questions arise on our paperwork. We hope you enjoy the latest photos! Until tomorrow.....

Happy Birthday Uncle John!

Emilia wanted to be sure to send her birthday wishes to you Johnny! Actually, it is March 4 here in Guangzhou but as long as we're on time there in the U.S., we're good.

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon. Emilia's first plane ride and it lasted a little over one hour. She had a little meltdown, but nothing we couldn't handle. Can't say we are looking forward to the 14 hour ride to Chicago, but I'm sure like all the families before us, we will manage.

Guangzhou is a beautiful and welcome change from Changsha! It is extremely warm here and there are actual glimpses of sunshine which we haven't seen for about a week. The streets of the city around the hotel are all cobblestone and overhung with beautiful trees. There are also flowers everywhere ... it actually has a little bit of a European or Quebec feel to it. We love it.

Our hotel is absolutely spectacular and after showers last night, Tom and I agreed it was the first time we've actually felt clean for a week.

Emilia had a great night last night and slept in the crib the entire time. She woke up about 5:15 am and spent another hour on Mommy to finish out the night's rest. Tom wants to me to tell you all that he is the one with the bedtime magic to get Emilia down. I give him a lot of credit since the last couple nights I've had to attend meetings to get our paperwork completed for the American Consulate and when I've returned to the room, Emilia is fast asleep. He definitely is the one with the most experience and it's wonderful to work as a team.

If most of you remember, when we completed our adoption application, we did request twins if they were available. Well, one of the men in our travel group has remarked that we seem to have gotten our twins with Emilia anyway with her 'spicy' personality. And, Mom, she's not even a Gemini! (ha!ha!)

She continues to make progress everyday. She now likes to feed us and yesterday reached out her hand on different occasions to have Tom and I hold it while walking. That was a first. She continues to experiment with different food. She seems to love everything the first time but must sense that there is so much more to try that she wants us to move on to the next dish!
She is all done with porridge and bananas... probably a strong reminder of her days at the orphanage.

A little more about Guangzhou before we wrap it up for today. Our hotel is on the Pearl River and we have a beautiful suite which overlooks this busy waterway. At night, the buildings and the bridges spanning both sides of the river are all lit up and they actually have light shows periodically through the evening.

Today is the Festival of Lanterns here in China. The official mark of the end of 2007 Chinese New Year Celebration. This morning, we were taking our laundry to a local shop and we heard drums and music down the street. Seeing a small crowd gathered, we made our way over and witnessed a wonderful dragon dance. What a treat! Emilia loved it and we were fortunate to be able to witness one of these dances in person while here. (We asked them if they were available for the Winslow July 4th parade; they will get back to us after checking their schedule..ha!ha!)

We then strolled along the river and saw elderly people playing the traditional Chinese game of Mahjong. Also, people all along the way were doing Tai Chi. Men, woman of all ages; it's wonderful to see.

We have received many heartfelt smiles and thumbs up from local people when they see us with Emilia. We cannot communicate with them very well, but the message is clear....through their smiles. We have also had many remarks on how 'healthy' Emilia is. Again, not a petite child!

Emilia has fallen asleep in Tom's arms while I've been typing. We are in a beautiful, cozy coffee shop drinking mocha coffees. Almost feels like home.....

Mommy's Corner

You have to love my wonderful husband! As I read his entry for today, I know all of you (ok maybe just the women!) are saying to yourselves..."ok that's great but where are the details about Emilia"?? And, "Tom, those are nice pictures, but we know what you look like and we want to see more of Emilia!" Am I on the right track?! I apologize because I don't have the camera with me to download more Emilia photos, but I promise more once we get to the White Swan Hotel tomorrow.

Daddy and Emilia are at dinner as I type. They have spent most of the day together since I was not feeling well and spent most of the time in bed trying to get over some nausea. Nothing serious, but I definitely want nothing to do with food or any smells that allude to food. I'm really paying more attention to keeping myself hydrated since I think this may have something to do with it.

We were very fortunate in our first two nights with Emilia. Everything went fairly peacefully and she was sleeping straight through. It was on the third night that we ran into a really rough night with her. MAPS did a very good job preparing us for these potential episodes, although I don't know if one can ever be prepared to listen to a baby cry from the depths of their little soul with pain and fear. With that said, it is a positive sign that Emilia is letting all these emotions out and she may continue to do so through the entire time we are here or it may pass within a night or two. We may also re-encounter it once we get home. This is part of the reason why we didn't have a chance to update you yesterday, it was just a long, tiring day for all of us.

Overall, she does very well through the day with her bright little personality and busy, busy nature. When night comes and it's time for bed, she becomes very agitated and clingy. Initially, she was going to both of us equally, but as of the last couple of days, she is definitely a Mama's girl. To the point, that she will not lay in her crib but will only settle down when I've laid her on top of me to fall asleep. Even when we think she is in a deep sleep and we go to put her in the crib, she wakes up and starts to get upset all over again. Needless to say, she has literally slept on top of me for the last two nights. In the morning she is fine and we go on with our day. I think because today she spent more time with Tom, she seems to be bonding quite well with him once again.

This little baby of ours is very curious and pays attention to every last detail. Not much gets by her and she has a very determined nature. From the photos, you've seen that she has the most irresistible smile. When those cheeks puff out and those eyes get all squinted up, well, whose heart wouldn't melt?! My favorite thing about her is her laugh. I think I mentioned she has a raspy voice, but I don't think I mentioned that it is also deep. So think of this raspy, deep little voice speaking gibberish and combined with her laugh which comes in short little bursts of sound, it's just wonderful to listen to!

I never knew how one could fall in love so immediately and completely until now. She makes me smile constantly and amazes me with her strength and resilience during this period of time. What an incredible little trooper!

The other thing I just have to mention pertains to the referral photos that we received (you can see them earlier in the blog). When we first received them, we all thought that her feet looked very long and thing, but didn't know if maybe this was attributed to the angle of the camera. Well, I can assure you it was all angle! She has the most adorable short, fat little feet!!! I want to take a picture of them because they are so cute (ok, is that an example of foolish things that mothers do or what?!).

Our baby is also not quite the petite little child that we all probably expected. She is quite solid, strong, and pretty much on track in this respect for her age. There are many babies in the hotel with their new families who are Emilia's age and she's definitely one of the "sturdier" girls! I think her nanny may have been sneaking her extra rice and noodles because she has very evidently eaten well.

We are also quite grateful to her nanny (ies) because regardless of whatever surroundings she was in in the orphanage, it is apparent by Emilia's nature that she was well taken care of and paid attention to. Thank goodness!

Well, I will leave you with that for now since I want to get back to the room before Tom and Emilia so we can prepare her for bed. Say a little prayer that each night gets better for her.... Once she is in bed, Tom and I also need to pack since we are leaving for the airport at 9:30 a.m. to catch our 11:55 to Guangzhou. Last stop before home --- yipppeeeee!! We absolutely cannot wait for you to meet Emilia in person!

Changsha

The city that we are staying in is called Changsha with a population of 2 million. It is a very large, noisy and dirty city. The Chinese seem to build things very quickly but still need to do some work on city maintenance. The traffic is unbelievable.... the pedestrians DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT-OF-WAY! If you need to cross the street you follow the locals and if in the middle of crossing, things do not go well, just freeze until you can move again safely (A lot different then the Old Port). I (Tom) took a walk the other day to see if I could find some diapers with tape (no tape on diapers is another story), and walked buy a local restaurant with the catch of the day still living in the front window. It looked like you could have a choice of sucker fish, long neck turtle, snake, or ugly fish.

We went to a local government embroidery factory. It was amazing the items that they hand embroidered. The factory was about two dozen women in a room with no heat, stitching away. We purchased a few items and I think we are going back today to purchase a few more. The women in the factory stitch all year long for about $3,000 USD, so I do not need to explain how inexpensive the beautiful items are.

Fireworks are very common here. I do not understand why, but they light them off in the street first thing in the morning and all during the evening. This is an area with very large high rise buildings and fireworks are going off everywhere. I am amazed that the city does not burn flat.

Emilia is doing well but seems to be grieving a bit. It is so sad when she gets into one of her sobbing cries and you know she is missing her Nanny. We did find out that her Nannies called her DanDan. When you use that name she really takes notice. We have been calling her RuDan or Dan Dan and will work into Emilia when we get home. We have been told also that she was a little trickster. She has a smile that will light up the room.

Tomorrow we leave Changsha and fly to Guangzhou. We will be staying there until we leave for home. We are so ready to move on to a new location and closer to getting home.

First Full Day with Emilia

Our first full 24 hours with our beautiful little girl! What an experience and what a blessing we are sharing.

I (Ren) must admit, I'm a little nervous because as her personality continues to emerge, we are seeing a little teaser in our midst. Tom and Emilia spells big trouble for Ren!

Because it rained all day yesterday, our sightseeing tour was at a museum here in Changsha. I can't recall the name off the top of my head, but it was incredible. The museum centers on a family tomb that was discovered in 1972 and dates back to approximately 700+ years B.C. and the remains of the woman of the house are completely mummified and all the possessions that were buried with her are all remarkably preserved. They even found 32 watermelon seeds in her stomach when they autopsied her. I (Tom) suggested to the guide that in the U.S. we spit the seeds out. Amy, our guide was fabulous and it gave us an opportunity to learn about the local culture which we always enjoy.

Today it is still raining so I (Tom) may go for a little swim in the indoor pool, followed by a nap and then a little afternoon shopping. ( I am not sure what Ren ans Emilia are doing....ha...ha). Maybe I will invite them along. Renee has already purchased one pair of shoes. I can't complain because they only cost a few bucks. I think I may have her get all the shoe shopping for the year out of the way at these prices. I am looking for an additional piece of luggage to bring the shoes home. Also the massage in the hotel only cost $12 USD for one hour. I am also encouraging Ren to get her fill before we return home.

That's all for today. Emilia just fell asleep in Ren's arms as we type this entry. I guess swimming will have to wait a couple of hours.