Sleep deprived in Seattle

We're home! The journey was a long one, about twenty hours from the time we left our hotel until we entered our home in Seattle at 10am Saturday. We barely got any sleep on the plane rides, except for Lilia who got a couple of hours. So the first order of business was to pass out. Thank goodness, James' sister Grace picked us up. Not even James was in a condition to drive.

When we woke up around 5pm, Lilia was back into quiet clingy mode, but she was interested in crawling around her new home, as long as one of us was within hugging distance. She LOVED her bath though. Ryan has plenty of bath toys. We forced ourselves to bed at midnight.

Now, it's 4:30am Sunday. Ryan, Lilia and I couldn't sleep. Already, Lilia's broad smile is back. She'll get to meet grandma and grandpa Tjoa today, and maybe a few other folks, if she's up for it.

Before I forget, Lilia's now a US citizen! We were sworn in at the consulate on Friday in a massive group of 56 adoptees. But the kids didn't become citizens until reaching US soil. "Soil" became the operative word for us, as when we arrived in Seattle, ready for the Kodak moment of turning in a sealed brown envelope to immigration, Lilia had a complete diaper blowout. While we were changing her, she tested her bladder on US territory. Let's just say that turning the paperwork in was anticlimatic.

Okay, Miss USA wants to play now, so I'll post more later when my photographer gives me some new material to work with...

And now a word from our sponsor...

Sunshine

It’s a sunny morning in Guangzhou. I’m reminded of that old “hello muddah, hello faddah” song where the kid is writing from summer camp, begging to go home, until the end of the song when it stops raining and he tells them to disregard his letter. Now that the rain’s stopped here, we’re smiling again, engaged in our favorite pastimes. James and Lilia are shopping for electronics (okay, that may not be Lilia’s favorite pastime yet, but she gets to ride in the carrier). Ryan and David are playing at the park (Ryan’s plan was to hop on stones while David practices his trumpet). And I’m sitting outside a coffee shop on a warm, peaceful morning, watching people stroll under the canopied central path of Shamian Island. Life is good.

There’s an elementary school a few doors down. Every morning hundreds of kids, wearing white shirts and royal purple shorts or sweat pants, fill the outside square to go through their calisthenics. Right now, they’re running around in circles, yelling and laughing. All the open spaces on the island are decorated with beautiful bronze statues and well-used by the residents. At lunchtime, the park along the Pearl River is crowded with adults grouped in circles playing hackey-sack or practicing tai chi. At one end of the park, couples waltz to music blaring from a boombox. The vibrancy of daily life that we’ve seen in every place we’ve visited on this trip is a paradox to the stringency of government mandates such as the one-child policy.

Getting back to the true topic of this blog, I’m pretty sure at least one of Lilia's parents was an acrobat, or should’ve been. She's very petite, but incredibly physical. She won’t sit still in a lap for long, and if we aren’t keeping her amused, she’ll try to backflip out of our grasp. Everything is a huge bouncy, rolling, climbing game. She readily rewards us with huge smiles and laughs. Although she spent a year in an orphanage, I think she got a decent amount of attention, stimulation and love. She’s such a happy, inquisitive, playful baby. For that, we are so thankful.

p.s. If you click on the photo with the preschoolers wearing red, you can see what their teachers' tee shirts say.

A Lotta Rain, A Little Homesick

It's Tuesday in China, a week since we got our sweetie. She's such a sunny, funny addition to our family that it's already difficult to imagine our life before her.

The past couple of days have been very rainy. We're a bit weary of being couped up in the hotel room. Every time we venture out though, we get soaking wet. Our umbrellas (and hair care products) aren't much of a match for the torrential rain. It'll be comforting to get back to our gentle Seattle soggy rain.

Before the onslaught, we got in a visit to Yuntai Garden. It looked like the backdrop for Teletubbies, but was pretty to stroll through. Below's a picture of our travel group. Going left to right are the Larson family (Todd, Wendi and their daughter Alanna), the Graubergers (Kevin, Tonya and their daughter Natalee -- Ryan's been desperately waiting for the rain to let up so he and Kevin can go play hackey-sack in the park), us, and David. Their babies came from the same orphanage as Lilia, so the girls are all "sisters" in a sense.



Lilia is happiest in her carrier, on the move.



Ryan is happiest getting undressed. With the humidity here, it would feel SOOOO good to emulate him.

Yesterday was Lilia's medical exam. The clinic was crowded with Chinese patients of all ages and dozens of babies being adopted. Basically, the babies are run through three stations like an assembly line, 1: Weigh in/temperature, 2: A quick exam of the body, 3: A ENT check. Each station took about two minutes. Lilia went ballistic. They said she weighs 17.7 lbs and is 71.5 cm long. Another appointment checked off our list. Next steps are the US consulate on Thursday and then the US visa/swearing in on Friday. Saturday, we return home!

Out and About

We haven't had any appointments for the past few days, so we've been relaxing and seeing a little of Guangzhou. Our guide took us through an open market yesterday. Lots of herbal and traditional remedies. Got rheumatism? Try some snake or scorpion wine. Virility issues? You'll need some dried sea horses.

The evening before, we strolled along the Pearl River. See below. It had rained heavily earlier, so we were able to catch a glimpse of blue sky before it clouded over and rained some more. James and I took turns piggy-backing Ryan as we jogged forty minutes back to the hotel. We were sticky head to toe by the time we returned. While the humidity is oppressive at times, for the most part it's an enjoyable change from the cool crisp weather back home. I love being able to walk around in the evening in short sleeves.


As for Lilia, she continues to surprise us. Just when we think we've got a handle on her personality, she shows us a new facet. Seen less often is the quiet, snuggly girl. In her place is a silly jester who doesn't seem to tire of bouncing and giggling. The orphanage staff had told us that she loves to laugh and doesn't like strangers. Now that we aren't strangers, she's turned into a giggle-monster who has us laughing at her antics. She and Ryan were in such hysterics for so long last night that I finally had to send him to David's room for a bit so she could get to sleep.

Harmonious Family Bonding Time

The official title for the period after receiving our babies is "harmonious family bonding time." After the first day of shock, Lilia spent the next two days whimpering, clearly confused and missing her normal surroundings. We figured out a few things she likes: walking outside in the hip carrier, eating congee (rice porridge), glugging water from a cup. But her smiles were very few and far between.

Today, Friday, she seems to have figured out that we're okay to hang out with. She'll sit on the bed, rocking gently as she plays with her toys, smiling when we make funny faces, and even laughing when Ryan does his crazy-boy dance. Her smiles and laughs are heaven!

This morning we visited the Six Banyan temple for a baby blessing by a monk. The serenity of the setting was marred only slightly when Ryan got upset by the monk splashing us with holy water. All was better when we stopped by a Papa Johns pizza place on the way back to Shamian Island. After a week and a half here, the pizza was a treat.

The heavy mugginess finally gave way to a rain shower this afternoon. Lilia's been sleeping on James' chest for the past two hours. Ryan and I explored the hotel before he settled in for some BBC cartoons. These cartoons are different from the US variety. The last one featured kids that shrunk and rode through the human body in a microscopic ship. Today's destination was the bowels. With Lilia and James' content breathing in the background and Ryan's odd cartoons next to me, all feels well with the Tjoa/Ryan family unit.

Harmonious, family, bonding. Yes.

Gotcha Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a difference a day makes! We filed into a waiting room at the Civil Affairs Bureau at 2:30 p.m. and about fiften minutes later they called our babies' names out one by one. When Lilia arrived, she fussed for minute and then went into wide-eyed "what's going on here?" mode. The orphanage staff said she was sick with a small fever and that we should get her to a doctor as soon as we could. We took her to the physician at the White Swan who diagnosed mild bronchitis. She seems a little congested, but otherwise healthy and well-cared for.

We've spent much of the past day just cuddling, playing and trying to get her to eat. Yesterday, she was very quiet. Today, she just wants to be held chest-to-chest. Anything else will set her off crying. It's clear she's confused and needs lots of comforting. We're marching to her tune and enjoying our very cuddly baby!

Ryan is completely in love and eager to comfort and coo to her at every opportunity. He's probably told us a dozen times since we got her how happy is is to be a big brother. We'll see how long the honeymoon continues. ;->

Today we completed all of the official appointments for the adoption. She's officially ours! We'll pick up the decree tomorrow and then start on the passport applications.

Well, she just woke up from her nap, on my lap, of course. So I'll see if I can get her to take a bottle. James is out now buying a Chinese bottle in the hopes she'll like it better than our American ones. Cross your fingers.

Thanks for the good wishes in your comments and emails. We appreciate all the good tidings and can't wait to introduce you to our new daughter!

Today's the day!

We arrived in Guangzhou last night. We'll be staying in a district of town called Shamian Island, originally created as a western ghetto to keep the barbarians in one spot. Now it features colonial architecture and grand hotels. And, of course, barbarians. Believe it or not, there's a 7-11 across the street and I've heard there's a Pizza Hut and Walmart as well. We'll have to cross the bridge to experience the Chinese version of Guangzhou.

Ryan woke up yesterday morning and his first words were, "we get little sister tomorrow." Today he jumped on me and announced, "Zero days till we get little sister!" Our appointment is this afternoon at the civil affairs bureau. We'll go with the two other families and all pick up our girls. In the meantime, we'll explore Shamian Island and buy some thank-you gifts for the orphanage nannies.

So hard to believe that after two and a half years, we're finally here...

Running through Beijing

Our local guide is good at cramming as much stuff as possible into our itinerary. We're with two other adopting families now and I think the goals are to gain an appreciation for our daughters' birth country and to keep busy enough to avoid counting down the hours till we see their little faces.

We visited Tiananmen Square (crowded), the Forbidden City (crowded), the Beijing night market (crowded), the Great Wall (crowded) and various outlets for jade, tea, and artwork. James and I also saw "Arachnoid Man" III last night. They served caramel popcorn instead of the regular stuff at the theater. The movie started exactly on time, no previews.

We get Lilia in 32 hours.

Boys in Beijing

We flew from Shanghai to Beijing on Friday. If Shanghai is the younger sister sporting Minolo Blahniks and an MBA, Beijing is the older sister who studied the classics and wears scuffed, low-heeled shoes.

Despite massive pollution reduction efforts underway for the Olympics, the city was immersed in smog for our first half day here. (Guess older sister is also a heavy smoker.) We walked along a major shopping route, dodging cars, bikes, buses -- red and green lights seem to be taken more as suggestions than imperatives here. At one point, James, Ryan and I split off from my brother David (who came along as our manny/sherpa) to check out a massive toy store (Toys R Us has better prices). Afterward David reported meeting a young woman eager to study English, so much so that she wanted him to take her out for a drink so they could "practice."

Later that evening, James had a massage in the hotel spa. When I asked him how it went, he got a funny look and said she'd tried to "upsell" the massage. Turns out upselling meant that she offered to provide a "Hong Kong" massage in his room, promising it would be more comfortable. She then made a hand gesture clarifying what a Hong Kong massage entails.

David and James say that Beijing is nice. You will like it.

Shanghai: It is nice. You will like it.

We sat on the runway in Seattle for two hours waiting for a repair, knowing our layover in Tokyo was only scheduled for an hour and a half. Figuring we'd never make our Shanghai flight, which was the last of the day, we wrote off that short leg of our trip. Either we'd spend some extra time in Tokyo or go to Beijing a little early.

We arrived in Tokyo ten minutes before the Shanghai flight, and despite having all our bags selected for extra checking at security, we made the flight. And are we glad we did! Shanghai was eye-opening. Our guide there described each item on itinerary by saying, "It is nice. You will like it." She was right. The city is steeped in ornamental tradition interspersed with beautiful new buildings. Contrary to what we see at home, it IS possible to build a skyscraper that isn't a boring rectangular stick. Shanghai is also surprisingly clean for such a big city. The picture above shows Ryan in front of the TV tower and part of Shanghai's gorgeous skyline.

China bound!

We leave for the airport in a few hours. Last night, we watched the Lost Girls of China video. It had been a couple of years since we saw it and we thought it would be fun to get a preview of the places we'll be seeing in the coming days. What we didn't expect were the probing questions Ryan would have about the one-child policy in China and what that meant for little girls. We also found ourselves teary-eyed watching all the adoptive parents eager to meet their daughters. No doubt, we'll be basket cases on the big day.

Time to finish packing...

Where in the world is...?

For those of you who like to follow things geographically, here's a little map. We'll arrive in Shanghai on the evening of May 9th. Then it's north to Beijing on the 11th and south to Guangzhou on the 14th. That's where we'll meet Lilia and stay for the rest of our time in China. The weather in Guangzhou should be summer-time hot. Yeah!

Have pharmacy, will travel

Today's mission was to purchase medical supplies. Going through the list recommended by the adoption docs made me (Jeanne) think about my visit to China eleven years ago. I think I brought a few bandaids and a couple of syringes and called it good. What a difference traveling with kids makes. Or maybe I should say what a difference a little knowledge makes.

Below's an excerpt from what the adoption doctor gave us. It doesn't include the stuff our travel doc recommended we bring for ourselves.

Prescription items:

Bactroban cream (see “Skin infections”)
Elimite cream (see “Scabies”)
Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment (see “Conjunctivitis”)
Polyvisol with iron (see “Multivitamins”)
Zithromax (see “Bacterial infections”)
Syringes/needles (see “Syringes”)

Non-prescription items:

A&D Ointment or Boudreaux’s Butt Paste (see “Diaper rash”)
Benedryl elixir (see “Hives and itching”)
Dosage spoon
Eucerin cream moisturizer
Hydrocortisone 1% cream (see “Eczema and Contact Dermatitis”)
Ibuprofen
Mycelex or Lotrimin cream (see “Diaper rash”)
Nix, two boxes (see “Head Lice”)
Pedialyte or Kaolectrolyte (see “Diarrhea”)
Thermometer
Tylenol

Getting Ready

So we've purchased an extra suitcase, bought dozens of recommended packing list items, sorted through loads of super-cute hand-me-down clothes, nailed down our itinerary, painted Lilia's room (thanks, Per!), consulted with an adoption doc, gotten shots, met with the agency to review our paperwork, and so on...why does it feel like there's still a ton to do?

Gotta focus on what's important: In less than two weeks, we're getting our girl!