Crazy Days

It’s been harder than I thought it would be to update the blog each day.  Between the traveling, the appointments we have to keep, the time difference, some technical difficulties, Ellie’s sleeping schedule, and trying to spend some time exploring our surroundings and having some fun, it’s been a challenge to find the time to sit down at the computer.  Plus there’s shopping to do.  J

It is hot and very humid here in Guangzhou, but Shamian Island is beautiful and we feel so much more relaxed here than we did in Zhengzhou.  Getting here, unfortunately, was not so easy – our flight from Zhengzhou was delayed five hours due to bad weather in Guangzhou, and we spent much of that delay sitting on the tarmac with very little air conditioning and some very grumpy babies (not to mention adults).  Fortunately we had food with us for Ellie, and she was pretty cheerful about the whole thing – until it was time to go to sleep on the plane, which remained stiflingly hot even after take-off and Ellie was having no part of lying quietly in my lap.  Eventually, though, exhaustion and the motion of the plane won out and Ellie slept peacefully the rest of the flight.  We landed in Guangzhou sweaty, hungry and tired, and finally arrived at the hotel at 1AM on Saturday.  It was an excruciatingly long day for the whole group, but everybody held it together and the kids were amazing. 

On Sunday our group went to the Shamian Island medical clinic for the kids’ medical exams.  The children were weighed and measured, given a brief ENT check, and their physical condition was compared to the information on their orphanage medical report (which we received when we were matched with our children).  The main purposes of the medical exam are to make sure the children don’t have any signs of communicable disease prior to leaving the country, and to be sure that the adoptive parents are aware of the children’s medical conditions prior to taking them home.  If there is any discrepancy between the findings during the physical exam and what the parents were told in the medical report from the orphanage, there can be some issues.  Children over age 2 are also given a skin TB test, which is checked a couple of days later for signs of exposure to TB.  Fortunately, everyone in our group made it through the medical exam without any problems (other than some rather unhappy children, Ellie being one of them), and most of the children were exempt from the TB requirement due to their age.  So one more hurdle cleared.

We finally had time today to explore the island a little, which has a great deal of European influence in its architecture and lots of lovely places to walk.  And they have a Starbucks -  heaven!  It rained twice while we were out - brief, tropical showers that were actually very refreshing.  Ellie enjoyed playing in the puddles afterward, which drew some curious looks, but she was having such fun we didn’t care in the least.  Because of our proximity to the U.S. Consulate, there are so many adoptive families here it is almost as common to see a Chinese child with a Western couple as it is to see a Chinese child with Chinese parents.  People still stare a little, but that seems like more of a cultural thing and we are starting to get used to it.  

Ellie is doing so well.  The more adoptive families we meet, the more we realize how very blessed we are that she received such excellent care from the Hope Foundation.  In almost every way, she is a typical 17-month-old – she walks, runs, smiles, waves, blows kisses, laughs, gets into everything, and hates having her diaper changed.  She sometimes fights the nap (and then sleeps for 2 or 3 hours), likes to be held (until she sees something interesting), and is curious about everything (especially the things she shouldn’t play with, like the potty).  She seems especially drawn to fish (they have a beautiful indoor water feature here at the White Swan hotel, complete with koi), so we will have to take a trip to the Georgia Aquarium sometime soon.  She likes pretty shoes and dresses.  She loves books, and enjoys songs with finger play (like “Itsy Bitsy Spider”).  So far she has learned the signs for “fish”, “candy”, “milk”, “pretty” and “more”, and most importantly she seems very comfortable with us.  Of course she doesn’t understand the full scope of what’s happening here, but at the very least she seems to have decided that we are pretty good nannies.  Hey - we’ll take it.  J 

The only delay we’ve noticed so far is her inability (or reluctance) to deal with foods that aren’t super mushy.  She’ll eat crackers broken into small pieces, and LOVES mini-M&Ms J, but other than that she prefers very soft foods and gags easily on anything else.  But with her palate repaired only six weeks ago, there really hasn’t been much time for her caregivers to introduce a lot of different foods.  Hopefully her diet will advance quickly once we’re home.  She also still takes a bottle of formula several times a day, but that is very typical for these children and it creates a nice opportunity to bond.  So we will not be taking the bottle away anytime soon – but I am trying to get her used to having her teeth brushed, because I do worry about the effects of extended bottle-feeding on her little teeth (which are often a source of problems for cleft kids to begin with).  

Tomorrow we have our consulate appointment, which will include an interview of some sort and a ceremony to take the oath for Ellie’s citizenship.  They do not allow cameras, so we probably won’t get any pictures – but it will be a big milestone, as it is the last official step in the adoption process.  I don’t think we’ll exhale completely, though, until we’ve passed through Customs and Immigration in Atlanta and it is truly finished.   

Just three more days…

(P.S. – These are a few pictures of our walk along the “Green Way” on Shamian Island.  Please pardon the appearance of my hair in these and any future pictures from Guangzhou.  Folks, there isn’t enough hair goo in all of China to get my thick, wavy mop to behave in this humidity.  Thank God my hair is short.)