Welcoming a Sister for Blessed Leaf!

After a long wait, we are very happy to announce that Katie is getting a sister! Please check out her blog at www.scoobydoobollo.blogspot.com.

Epilogue

Home at last, home at last!!! It feels sooo great to be at home! Besides many of the obvious home comforts we are enjoying, one thing I can really appreciate is having clean running water. No more having to boil the water before drinking it or even washing the baby bottles - we are so lucky to be living in such a wonderful country as Canada and having ready access to clean water (among many other things, of course). I even tried to shower with my mouth open - I don't think I normally do this, but it's good not to have to worry about the quality of the water.

Yesterday, our travel day was long and tiring. Unlike the morning we left CQ for BJ, we enjoyed a late breakfast with our friends, Madison's and Ella's parents. Here are Sue and Madison. Sue has a rare injury diagnosed by Dr Marty (not a real doctor, but could play one on TV) as bloggeritis - she has been diligently updating her blog as much as we have, staying up late at night with very little sleep, and has a bruise where her arm would rest against the computer table. Hubby Aubrey is off the hook - we didn't really think he was a wife-beater!



On the way to the airport, we had to go to the Canadian Embassy to have Katie's visa revised. I thought this would be a great photo op to have Katie touch Canadian ground before getting to Canada, but we were not allowed into the building and had to wait outside the gate. Because we were not sure how long it would take to have the visa revised, I stayed to wait until it was done while our bus with the rest of our group went ahead to the airport. Not more than one second after the bus left, did Kath, an Embassy worker, come out with Katie's visa. Luckily, our guide Lucy left her cell phone number so I was able to call her to ask our bus to wait for me while I took a taxi to where they were - in the time it took me to get a phone to call them, they had travelled a short distance but too far to walk. Thanks to Kath, who helped ask the security guard in Mandarin if I could borrow his phone, flagged a taxi for me and gave the driver instructions in Mandarin to take me to the tour bus location. She mentioned to me that the Embassy workers process the adoption documents but don't always know how the families match up or whether the adoptions work out so was glad to hear how happy we are with our match. I will try and forward to her our blogsite later - it should be self explanatory on the success of our adoption process.

Once we got to the airport, a bit of mayhem. Our group lined up to have our carry-on bags approved/not approved - each item had to fit within the metal apparatus. Needless to say, my knapsack could get in but was stuck getting out. The bag checker and I struggled to wrestle it out actually lifting the entire apparatus off the ground with my knapsack - Marty said we looked quite comical. We then proceeded to another line-up to receive approval to leave China - a rare experience because we've never been to a country, Canada included, where approval is required before allowing us to leave. Here we are at Beijing Airport with our oversized document in the brown bag.



Eventually, we made our way to our gate and onto our plane. I felt some joy getting onto Air Canada and hearing the English and French versions of instructions - something familiar and that much closer to home. The 10 hour flight went by easily as Katie was asleep during take-off as well as landing. We decided not to drug her with Gravol or Benedryl or any of the medication we brought as she seemed to have a good temperament about most things including our previous flight from CQ to BJ. In fact, we did not have to use any of the medicine we brought for her - a different story for us as we needed the adult Benedryl, throat lozenges and vitamins. The only mishap - I spilled a cup of orange juice splashing the leg of the poor girl sitting next to me - sorry! If it's any consolation to her, my entire right leg and right sandal was soaking in OJ.

Going through Immigration at Vancouver International Airport went quite smoothly. I did ask, out of curiosity, why we could not bend the oversized visa document and were told - "yes, you can fold it, many people do - just don't write on it". Oh.

Here are photos of Katie meeting members of her new family. With Grandma and Grandpa, Marty's parents.



With Gung gung and Po po (Chinese words for Grandpa and Grandma), Donna's parents. My parents and several other people have commented that Katie looks like me particularly the eyes and chin. I'm not sure whether matching facial features is one of the criteria that the China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) uses when matching orphans with families but they only had a few photos of me to go by.



With Auntie Sachi and Uncle David. Katie has now met all of the family in Marty's immediate family. They can still all fit in one car.



With Cousin Jonathan and Auntie Linda. Katie has now met a fraction of Donna's immediate family.



At home with Katie and our cats, Meese and Pudly. Note the food bag separating the two cats from each other's view so that they don't get distracted and want to eat each others' food. If you get a chance, check out Meese & Pudly's blog at www.meeseandpudly.blogspot.com. Meese & Pudly say, thank goodness Katie isn't allergic to us!!!



An update on our quints, the birds: they still come home at night to sleep (like teenagers!) but are too big to all fit in the little nest, so they just stick their heads in.



Although the adoption process for us went relatively quickly (being expedited due to my parent's being originally born in China) and smoothly, we heard that the CCAA (the government organization responsible for foreign adoptions) will soon be setting stricter regulations than exist now including those related to potential adoptive parents who are single, handicapped, obese, diagnosed with depression, etc. Sounds unfair, but we don't know their rationale and their primary concern is the well-being of the children, not upholding common human rights of Canadians. On the positive side, the process may go more quickly after recent delays due to the CCAA's review and those already in the process may not be impacted.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank several people:
Bonnie Wong of Tribo Services Inc., our facilitator dealing with China's adoption requirements and organizing our entire trip - I would highly recommend her to anyone even just considering a Chinese adoption.
Family Services of Greater Vancouver, our local adoption agency dealing with requirements of the local governments - very friendly and supportive staff including Linnette, Shelley, Melanie, Sutinder, Cathy to name a few. Also, highly recommended.
All of you, our family and friends, for giving us your support throughout this journey and your continued support in the future. We realize now that our support is worldwide, including our friends across Canada, in Sweden, the U.S., Chile, Donna's brother Warren and his family wife Amy and son Neil in Hong Kong, her niece Jillian and nephew Conrad while travelling in Asia. We loved sharing our joy with all of you.

Katie continues to thrive with her loving family and has easily adapted to her new home environment. A picture of Katie - everything she plays with must be given her seal of approval ... through tasting.

Last day in China

This is our last full day in China because we leave for home tomorrow. We already planned to make this a shopping day at the Silk Market again, but this time the husbands/Dads were going to come see what we were raving about. Poor Marty did not feel up to even a brief outing so stayed behind to rest while the rest of us including Katie ventured out.

We were given the visa for Katie to enter Canada and to check it over carefully for any mistakes. I noted a mistake when I saw Marty's name with "mother" underneath - our facilitator said the Canadian Embassy has to correct it, so we will stop by on our way to the airport tomorrow. One thing I thought was Monty Pythonish in it's humour is that we were given the visa as an 11 inch x 16 inch document with carbon copies and told to bring it with us but do not fold! Not sure how this can be achieved with our numerous pieces of luggage and a baby to handle! And this is the same predicament for each of the 26 families.

In the evening, all 26 families were supposed to get together for dinner at ... you got it, the dumpling restaurant! All of the food was ordered, but unfortunately, there was a rain, thunder and lightening storm and many of us did not want to risk having our babies and us get wet and sick. Some of us decided to stay dry at the hotel and our share of the meal was delivered to the hotel for us to eat. The hotel was kind enough to let our group get together in their dining area as we would like to interact with each other rather than go to our individual rooms on our last night. Just before dinner, we tried to have a group shot of the babies. Here is a photo of most of the babies with a parent.



Here is a photo of what the other parent was doing.



This is a photo of 6 of the BC Group families and their babies including the twins.



Here we are with Sue, Aubrey & baby Madison (far right) and Lara, Vladimir & baby Ella (centre).



Visiting China has been a fantastic experience, not only because we adopted our wonderful Katrina but we also were exposed to some of the beauty of the country and people. It's a bit sad to leave, but we are tired and ready to come home to Canada. Here's our little Miss Sunshine playing with some of the medicine we may need on our flight home.

The Temple of Heavens

We were supposed to start our tour today with a walk around Tiananmen Square, but it was pouring rain. We decided to opt for just having our tour bus driven around Tiananmen Square a couple of times while our tour guide, Lucy commentated. We then went to the Pearl Factory and learnt a few tips on how to tell a fake. The Pearl Factory is government run, so no fakes would be sold here. The pearls are all freshwater and there is a huge variety of colours. The manager knew that our tour was of adopted babies and gave each of our babies a pearl bracelet as a gift. Here is Katie receiving hers on her ankle.



Next, we were off to the Temple of Heaven. Because it was still raining, several families decided to stay on the bus while the rest of us explored the Temple park-like site. Walking around and exploring I found the experience very beautiful and tranquil. We had umbrellas to protect us from the rain and there is a long series of covered corridors along which people played cards, sang and danced.



The primary building, called the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, was built in 1420 and is the largest round wooden ancient building in China. From 1421 to the early 20th century, the 18 emperors held the ceremonies of worshiping in the Hall.



The rain helped keep the temperature down and the crowds away. The architecture of the Hall and other surrounding buildings are impressive and beautiful. Here we are just outside the Hall.



Despite the rain, this tour was most enjoyable! One interesting event was when an older Chinese women looked at some of our babies and said something in Mandarin, which one of the other parents translated and told us she said, "they are all girls". Not sure what to make of this comment. We also received a comment from what is sometimes referred to as the "clothes police", well-meaning Chinese who tell Westerners that their babies are not covered enough - Katie had on an outfit, jacket and socks, but her legs were exposed. We had on shorts ourselves.

After the tour, we went back to the hotel for a rest. Unfortunately, looks like Marty is catching a cold and both Katie and I have not recovered yet. Several others in our group are catching colds as well. Before coming to China, we had been forewarned by another adoptive couple that we would catch the nastiest head cold - for me, it's more of a nasty cough. Both Marty and I also have queasy stomachs since coming to Beijing which unfortunately means we cannot go to a famous peking duck restaurant where many dignitaries have eaten (sorry Fred). We did go back to the dumpling restaurant for another take-out order, but this time we did not order dumplings - too much of a good thing made us want to try something else. We got another fabulous meal this time of pineapple prawns and seafood vegetable mix. Here is the front of the restaurant.



Thank you to everyone for sending us your warm and supportive comments. Although we cannot view the blog, we can view the comments on our e-mail and look forward to reading them. Oh, and a very big happy birthday, Teen! From M, D & cousin Katie!!!

Frenzied Shopping vs Quiet Time

Today, Sue, Lara & I (Donna) went to the Silk Market to shop while the husbands had quiet time with the babies. We had heard great things about the market, where you can get great deals as long as you know how to barter. Before leaving the hotel, we changed some of our larger bills to smaller ones, to reduce the risk of getting counterfeits as change. The 3 girls had never bartered before, so we talked beforehand about putting our money in different pockets, being wary about pickpocketers, sticking together and applying the tips we had heard from others. As you walk through the market, if there is any item you are interested in, have a set price in mind, then ask how much - whatever they say, drop it significantly (some suggest to 10-30% of the price) then do the bartering dance. They suggest a price by punching the numbers into a calculator to display it to you, you might say no, too much and bring it up a bit. Or, if you are not really that interested in paying any more, then walk away. If they are willing to pay your price, they will let you know. If they agree too soon, you probably paid more than they would have dropped to. We found for the most part, many of the salespeople are young girls and the bartering is done in a very friendly, social way. We even received friendly tips from several salesgirls on how to spot a counterfeit bill. Occasionally, a salesgirl may be upset at not making more off of you but will meet your price, so they are not so friendly in the end (they practically pout)!

With the 3 of us working together, once one got the price down to an agreeable price on both sides we could get the price a bit lower if we bought several. We got some terrific deals on all sorts of stuff: golf shirts for $5, baby clothes, etc. I realized later that I could have negotiated a better price on a couple of items, but in the end we are talking about the difference of a few dollars. The fun is in finding something you like and seeing whether they would agree to your price. I found myself quite adept at bartering, even if I say so myself, as I would step in and barter for Sue or Lara if I found they were a bit overwhelmed by the pressure sales tactics for something they really wanted. We did this for each other as we cruised the market. Here are Sue & Lara at the stall with the salesgirl from who we bought the most stuff.



After a while, we felt like we were experienced barterers and could spot novice barterers who only countered with a price about 80-90% of what the salesgirl would quote - the salesgirl would feign upset at the slightly lower price, then quickly agree. One funny incident occurred while we were waiting for a merchant to do some engraving. An American man walked over with his Asian-American girlfriend and announced loudly that you know when there is a good place to buy something when there are a lot of Chinese around it (referring to Sue and I). I said to him that actually, we are from Canada. He was a bit embarrassed and his girlfriend said to me, "white guy", as an excuse. This I find quite amusing as both of them were stereo-typing in their own way.

We had a terrific time and plan on coming back before the end of the trip - hopefully with the guys!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the guys had a nice relaxing time just hanging about with their daughters. They even got together for a while in Aubrey's room and let the babies play together. The babies played very well, as they are probably familiar with each other from their time together at the orphanage. Unfortunately, no photos of this event as the girls had the cameras with them while shopping. However, once we got back to the hotel, we did have a baby get together in the hallway and were joined by David, the lone boy adopted baby in our group. From left to right are: Ella (Lara & Vladimir's), Madison (Sue & Aubrey's), David (Christine & Henry's) and Katie.



When I got back from the market, Katie was happily playing on our bed with her toys, babbling every so often. She continues to smile at us often, laughs and occasionally gurgles with laughter at some things. For example, while she is lying down on her back, if we quickly rub our heads against her tummy she will peel out with a big squealing laugh. One thing she does that Marty observed and finds extremely amusing is that before sucking on her wrist or back of her hand, she stretches both arms out for several seconds in preparation, then bends one arm to bring the wrist to her lips using the hand of the other arm for support. In just the one week since we met her, she has improved significantly. She now readily takes to the bottle when she is hungry surpassing the recommended quantity, her legs are firm when she stands and her eyes look for us as we move around the room.

Random Thoughts

BJ is quite different from CQ in many ways. Although both are 2 of the largest cities in China, CQ is quite mountainous (therefore few cyclists) and Beijing is quite flat. Our guides have told us many interesting bits of information about China. The population in BJ is 13 million plus 4 million “floating” population, meaning travelers such as us. There are 6 million bicycles in BJ and throughout China, and there are 300 traffic fatalities per day – we are surprised the number isn’t higher given the many near misses we have witnessed and/or experienced. Pedestrians do not have the right of way and as we crossed the street in front of our hotel, we were almost hit many times over when cars crossed right in front of us even with our baby strollers. Here is a photo of how wide the bicycle lane is; note the car cutting through the cyclists (Joan, don't worry - no one was hurt!)



BJ is much cooler than CQ – thank goodness – and luckily we packed a variety of clothes for Katie and us. BJ feels like a more cosmopolitan big city than CQ despite having a smaller population. We have heard that the girls of CQ are the prettiest in all of China, and based on Katie’s beautiful features as well as the attractive CQ girls that we have seen we agree. Everywhere we go, people smile and admire our babies. Some even play and touch them saying “ho guai” meaning very good/pretty. People are very family oriented but we have not seen any strollers and very few kids, but we did see this bottomless baby.



I presume the people know that many of their orphaned babies are adopted by Westerners – the newspapers publish “finding ads” whenever a child is abandoned hoping to locate the birth parents. However, the birth parents never come back to claim their babies as it is illegal to abandon your children in China. Although in BJ and in other cities parents are only allowed one child, in the countryside, if you have a girl as your first born, you are allowed to have a second child, girl or boy – this is in recognition that farmers want a boy to help with the physical farm chores. In the city, parents do not mind having a girl or a boy as they have equal entitlements. The military is composed of primarily people from the countryside because they are the poorest and although the wages are not very good, the benefits are excellent including free university education. A city resident told us that the army prefers country folk because they are viewed as being tough, whereas the city folk are considered soft.

Our hotel in CQ was very baby oriented with cribs and wash tubs ready in our rooms, strollers available, excellent food and extremely friendly service. Unfortunately, our hotel in BJ is not up to par with the standard we received in CQ, but the location is excellent and within walking distance of many shops and restaurants including a wonderful dumpling restaurant where we just had a takeout costing about $2.50.

Katie continues to make progress. She resists eating during the day, but when she is partly sleepy (usually in the middle of the night), she will drink quite a bit of formula. She is only just today drinking the expected quantity of formula. We had a better night’s sleep last night as she only cried out 5 times, 3 of which required attention. She makes excellent eye contact with us, an important feature in the process of attachment, and likes to touch or grab our faces. She is an excellent baby. I asked the doctor at the clinic whether we should be concerned as Katie took to us so easily and we had been told in one of our many adoption workshops that this could be a concern in the attachment process; he just smiled and said no, there was nothing to be concerned about – he’s probably thinking that adoptive parents are always worried even if there isn’t anything to worry about! Unfortunately, because I don’t want to pass my cold to Katie, I try not to get too close which does not help with the attachment process. Yesterday, she started doing more kicking with her toy, so we expect that “Kick it like Katrina” will be the next movie following the success of “Bend it like Beckham”. Today, she has started to stand with her feet more firmly planted – she used to curl her legs up when we tried to get her to stand before. She does have to work on her table manners as she likes to put her feet up.



We are starting to see the differences in the personalities of the babies – Katie seems to be quite good-natured about everything (except for eating) and just seems to take life in with a fairly relaxed manner. Some of the other parents have had to contend with bigger issues: temper tantrums, chest colds and minor infections requiring antibiotics. Our group is very fortunate to have all of our babies pass their medical exam because without it they cannot immigrate to Canada.

Before and during this trip, we have gotten to know 2 other couples: Sue & Aubrey and Lara & Vladimir.



Sue & Aubrey have a blogspot for their daughter as well at

http://www.journey-to-madison.blogspot.com/

which I believe may have a photo of us on it (unfortunately, we are unable to view blogs from within China.) The 6 of us provide support for one another, share our baby supplies and generally talk about our experiences and progress. Many of the families in our group have connected with one or 2 families and this helps with the support system. Our group is too large to get to know everyone (26 families) but the BC families (12 of us) are together on the same tours. Here we are at the cloisonné (enamelware) factory standing by a 2 million RMB ($300,000 Cdn) vase – we decided not to buy it as we don’t have any flowers that would fit.

The Great Wall

Today, we went on a full day tour taking us to the Great Wall, a Jade Factory and a late lunch. Here is Katie and I at the point where the steps become very steep.



I did make it up about 300 steep steps above this point (not carrying Katie), which is as far as anyone in our group got, and surprised many people as I am still recovering from being ill. Not to worry, I think having a cold combined with the nausea caused by the flight and the smell of dirty diapers on the plane (yes, people were changing their babies in their seats) was what hit me. Nothing that Tylonel with codeine can't cure! It has been a very long and tiring few days and we notice some development in Katie already. Most, if not all of the babies are slightly developmentally delayed which is typical of babies in orphanages here but they soon catch up so we are not worried. For example, she started gripping objects today.

A Day to Forget

Thursday July 27

They say that pregnant women forget the pain of childbirth. Even though we were not pregnant biologically, this principle may also need to apply to adoption.

We started up at 5:30am in order to get to the Chongqing airport in time for our flight to Beijing. Here's Katrina hoping the flight goes well:



Katrina did very well on her first flight, but Donna did not fare so well and had to be helped off the plane. Then we were immediately bussed to the SOS clinic where Katrina got the physical that is required of adopted babies coming to Canada. She passed with flying colours and the results were forwarded to the Canadian Embassy. Some key stats: weight 6.6 kg (which is less than before so we suspect she was previously weighed with clothes on), height 67 cm, head circumference 43 cm, cuteness 10 out of 10 (OK - that last one wasn't actually on the form).

Donna, however, required medical attention for her nausea and painful throat, so Marty had an opportunity to apply his athletic skills in tending to Katrina with one arm (and occasional balancing on knees or shoulders) and looking after the prone Donna (who could only whisper) while all along trying to fill in forms, maneuver the maze of confusion at the clinic, and look after the luggage. As you can see from the photo, Katrina did her best to help - especially with the forms. Good thing I have long arms.



Four or five very long hours later we finally left for the hotel, pulling into our new 'home' at around 7pm. A long day. Fortunately Donna started feeling better by the end of the day. Whew!!

Yao!

I'll have to make this entry short today as we have an early and long day tomorrow. We leave CQ for Beijing at 840am tomorrow, so we will have to get up very early. Then we head immediately to the SOS Medical Clinic for ... you got it, more paperwork!

Today, we had a free day, ie nothing was planned. We decided to venture out and go shopping with 2 other families. Poor Marty had to endure over 2 hours of standing around (he hates shopping as much as he loves sports). We went to a department store, which is probably pricy compared with outside market prices but there was A/C (a must in this heat) and the prices were still pretty good. When you decide to buy something, you have to tell a salesperson "yao" (as in the basketball player's name Yao Ming) which means you want to buy it. He/she will then write you a slip, you pay at the cashier then go back to the salesperson to pick up your item. Many of the staff speak no or little English, but are very friendly and we could communicate by pointing. Katie needed a change while we were there so I tried to ask directions for where the washroom's were. English did not work, so I used the Cantonese words which sounded very similar and was pointed in the direction of the ladies washroom. Unfortunately, there is no baby change area, no counter, and, actually, no toilet - just a hole in the floor in each stall. I ended up changing her on a bench outside of the washroom in front of a young Chinese girl who was fascinated by what I was doing. I did not buy much because of the weight restriction on our luggage when flying to Beijing. International limits are more generous and we are allowed 2 pieces each, but on domestic flights we are allowed only one (babies are not entitled a piece).

Unfortunately, although the day started ok, by the end, I have a sore throat & laryngitis and Katie still has a runny nose. I will sign off now with this fascinating picture of our star, Katie and her nose bubble - yaoh!

Our first outing as a Family - the CQ Zoo

We ventured out in the heat and humidity for a half day tour - it was hot! Luckily the zoo has quite a bit of shade in many areas. Walking up a simple set of stairs (maybe just a dozen or so steps) leaves us drenched in perspiration.

The CQ area is well-known for the panda bears - the climate, humidity and vegetation simulates their normal environment. We saw this one feasting on bamboo - each eats about 20 kg a day. They have evolved in time from carnivores to herbivores, hence the quantity of bamboo to equate to a filling diet!



While strolling around the zoo, we attacted a bit of attention from the curious public - a combination of the numerous babies and (mostly) Caucasian parents. We notice that may of the younger children are boys, such as these 2 posing with Marty. When I asked if they could "pose", I actually just meant to stand but we got this more entertaining "pose".



This may sound a bit disgusting to some of you, but while at the zoo, Katie had a very big bowel movement (BM) - her second since we received her. We are the envy of many of the adoptive families as they wait anxiously for their babies to have their first BM, a sign that their children are starting to adjust to the recent changes in their very young lives. At the end of today, Katie had BM#3 - we will not to gloat about this event! Don't worry, 3 of the families I spoke with who were anxiously waiting earlier today have reported success in getting BM#1.



Some of you may be wondering how we have time to blog so much. Well, after being woken up 4 to 6 times during the night by Katie, it is sometimes easier just to stay awake. When this happens to me, I often will update the blog. This is also an excellent way for us to update you on our journey. I am going to bed now, but before I do, here are a couple of more photos to entertain you.



Katie listens attentively as Marty explains to her some basics of construction - note the construction crane in the background.




Naptime - like Father, like daughter.

We are Family!





It is official! We are now a family! On Monday afternoon, we went to the Adoption Centre of Chongqing and made it official. All of the families were so excited (or frazzled from the lack of sleep or combination of the 2) that at least 3 families (us included) forgot to bring our camcorders for this most important event!!! At least we had our still cameras and were able to take photos. Actually, because we had done the paperwork before meeting Katie there wasn't much for us to do except have a family photo taken there and add our thumbprint to the adoption documents. Katie decided to try and handprint by getting her entire hand inked!



Here is the moment the adoption became official. Notice her cool shoes!

Katie, as usual, has been very good. In fact, all of the babies from our orphanage have been very good adjusting to their new families. As far as I can tell, all are happy with good dispositions - possibly a sign of how well-loved and well taken care of they have been. Many are having feeding issues but I'm glad to say that Katie is starting to take in more formula. One of the parents said his daughter drank more when given an extremely warm (but not hot) bottle. We tried this and Katie took to it more than at the lukewarm temperature that was suggested earlier. The nannies had indicated that there is not a set temperature for the bottles because it varied depending on when they received their bottle. There are 3 nannies to 17 babies - I think the 3 nannies may be on different shifts working 8 hour days each, so actually the ratio could be 1 nanny to 17 babies, but I'm not sure. I had heard that there are other helpers as well.

The nannies said all of the babies love the bath and we found Katie is no exception. She especially loves to slap the water and doesn't mind getting a shampoo at all.

Katie continues to be good-natured and attentive as you can see in the photos. (We are having problems posting photos so a big thank you to Marty's Dad for uploading them for us!) For example, when she is in the Baby Bjorn carrier supported by Marty, she likes to stare up at him and watch him. Thanks AB for the loan of the carrier - you're right, it is one of the best: easy to use and comfortable too. She does like it when we walk around while carrying her. Now I find myself rocking back and forth when standing, regardless of whether I am carrying her or not! Other parents in our group confirmed they are also doing this so don't think I'm going crazy!

Many of us parents here are not getting as much sleep as we would normally like - due in part to jet lag, excitement and tending to our babies in the middle of the night. It's all good though and we are very happy - sleepy and bleary eyed, but happy!

Katie, beau Katie!




Katie is just as described in the information we had previously been provided of her. She is active, attentive, outgoing and easy to take care of. So far, she has not really cried except for protesting the bottle we keep trying to give her or a few whimpers in her sleep, but she easily rocks back to sleep so I can hardly call this crying. She is so cute and vulnerable looking when she is sleeping - I want to just pick her up and hug her. Just before meeting her yesterday, we filled in many forms "promising never to abandon her, never to mistreat her and to always love her". These powerful and emotional words brings tears to my eyes as I write them because it is obvious to us that we would commit to this even without having to make the promise in writing. (Obviously, it's Donna writing.)

Katie likes to sooth herself by sucking on her wrist, much like her cousin Conrad did when he was a baby and used to suck on his arm. We decided not to give her a pacifier as she is at the age when parents typically try to wean their babies off of one.

We have been provided with more information on Katie and the other babies through a group meeting with the orphanage staff. Here is some of the information we have been given:
- most of the babies are recovering from colds including Katie. (Although she has a runny nose, she is not coughing and does not sound congested.)
- the orphanage is air-conditioned. (This is good news, given how hot this region can get in the summer.)
- Katie is close to another baby, Ella Simone. (She is the daughter of Vladimir and Lara, one of the couples we have become friends with through this adoption process. This is great news as we all live in the same city and the 2 babies can continue to play together. )

The orphanage staff also returned the 2 disposable cameras that we sent as soon as we received her referral. We are looking forward to pictures of her earlier life (although only the past couple of months) - hopefully they turn out.

The tap water here is not potable so we have been very careful not to drink it or even brush our teeth with it. We even try to keep our mouths closed when showering - thanks for the tip, Bean! When bathing Katie last night, we were careful not to get water in her eyes or mouth, but even in her bath she likes to suck on her wet wrist once in a while.

She has not been drinking as much formula as we were told she had been. We even tried giving her the same formula as what the orphanage give her. She has had some of this and some of the Good Start recommended by my doctor. However, she has been napping longer and more often than the 1/2 to 1 hour we were told. It's probably her body adjusting to the long bus ride and new environment.

Despite the date on this posting (Vancouver time), it is currently Monday morning here in CQ. Katie whimpered a bit so we fed her and changed her diaper, both while she had her eyes closed. She likes to be held before falling into a deeper sleep so Marty is going to explore the hotel with her across his shoulder.

Introducing Katrina!

The moment has come - we received our Blessed Leaf today! We arrived a bit early in the meeting room and the babies and nannies were already in there as well as numerous other families. I looked at each baby's face until I came to Katie's and recognized her right away. She was happily playing in the lap of the nanny who held her. Few of the babies were crying, although we were prepared to expect this possibility. In total, there were 17 families receiving babies from this orphanage including one set of twins. We had to wait until our names were called, and then we stepped forward to receive her. She happily came to Mommy and Daddy, and even laughed each time Daddy did a pretend head butt with her. She also liked to grab Mommy's nose with her sharp fingernails - ouch! Lucky we remembered to bring baby nailclippers.

After each of the parents received their babies, Daddy stayed to talk with the orphanage staff while Mommy took Katie to their room for some R&R and bonding time. Katie is curious about many things around her: a toy rattle, the Baby Einstein music on the computer but most especially the baggie holding a few tissues. She is tuckered out by the day's activities and easily went to sleep in Mommy's arms.

All of the parents and babies have been put on 2 floors of the hotel. We plan on having baby races in the hallway later.

We are just so very happy and blessed. She is the Blessed Leaf, and we are all the Blessed Bollo's.

Here she is! Note her OK sign with her fingers!

Today's the day !!!

We survived over 40 hours of traveling without sleep except for naps here and there. It is now Sunday am! We are in our hotel at CQ now and it is great! I love A/C (air conditioning!) This week is the hottest with 40 deg C weather and high humidity, so we won't be going far. We received some great news - instead of meeting Jr at 6pm as expected, the time has been changed to 2pm local time (11pm Saturday Vancouver time). Because of the heat, the babies from the Xiushan orphanage are being brought by bus overnight when it is cooler and are arriving at our hotel this morning. Very considerate as it is about a 10 hr bus ride for all of them. 2 hours to go!!!

Almost There

Well, we are now in Beijing, and I can tell you that the people here are very friendly because it seemed like the entire city population was here to greet us - man, what a zoo of people!

We left Vancouver on a flight with four other couples who are also adopting. The flight was quite pleasant, and we were then met upon arrival by a local guide who gave us our tickets for the next leg of our journey and helped us check in. Someone remarked that he looked like the Asian version of Joey Tribiani of the TV show Friends, and I have to agree. Donna correctly points out that fortunately he was not so bumbling.

Now we are waiting for the next leg of our flight - from Beijing to Chongqing. Here in the waiting area we are starting to meet up with some of the other families who either came earlier or else were on a different flight because they were coming from Nova Scotia. Including the group that went yesterday, there is a total of 64 people (in 26 families). So it is nice traveling with others with similar backgrounds (Canadian) and destination.

It is very hot here (about 30) but we are staying inside in the AC. It will be even hotter in Chongqing (up to 40?!), so we are going to count on the AC there also. Once we get to Chongqing we will check in and then try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is the big day, when we get to meet Katrina.

Hope this turns out OK - all the buttons on Blogger are in Chinese characters instead of English, so I am kind of doing this from memory. The next entry will be tomorrow after we've met Junior.

Ready to Go!

Well, almost! So much to pack, so little room. We have acquired almost everything we need to bring, but we have to see if we can fit all of it into our limited luggage (only one suitcase each max 20kg for the domestic flights within China). Most of the stuff is for Junior (diapers, formula, food, clothes, medicine - just in case, etc.) We did hear that we can buy most of this stuff within China, but who wants to spend the time looking for it all? We met up with 2 of the other couples in our travel group and compared notes about what we are bringing, our excitement and our experiences leading us all up to this point. Everyone has a different and remarkable journey that we will share with our children when they are old enough to understand. Although the adoption process and waiting time has been long, it's still hard to believe we will be parents this coming weekend!

An update on our quints. As you can see from the photo, they have grown a lot to the point where the nest is so crowded that they are either on top of one another or have to take turns in the front or back row. At least 2 flew today - earlier I saw only 3 of them in the nest, but all came back to roost at night. Perhaps it is symbolic - they are not all going to take flight until we do.

Update on Ye Zi

We received some updated information on our Blessed Leaf. The nannies nickname her “Ye Zi”. Without having the Chinese character for “Zi”, it is difficult to figure out the meaning, but several possible interpretations (according to the PinYin dictionary at http://www.mandarintools.com/cgi-bin/charlook.pl) are: small child or offspring; pure, clean, simple; chirping, squeaking. She can sit up and crawl. She has not had any serious illnesses or injury although she did have a cold recently. And she is extroverted - this was said before, but it’s good to know the reports are consistent. By extroverted, do you think they mean chatty? Or chirping & squeaking??? She weighs 7.5 kg (16½ lb), is 67 cm (26 inches) in height and has no teeth yet.

We also have an update on the bird’s nest in our front archway. Check out the photos below. 5 hungry mouths! We have quintuplets!

Here's a photo of Momma bird (or is it Papa bird) feeding the little chickies!

Chongqing

As soon as we knew what area of China Junior is from, we quickly researched to find out more about Chongqing. It is the largest and most populous of China’s 4 provincial-level municipalities and has special municipality status in the province of Sichuan (aka Szechuan).

The municipality of Chongqing has a population of 35 million (!) with most people living outside the urban area of Chongqing proper in the farmland. The population of the urban area of Chongqing proper is 12 million.

If you know Marty well, you’ll know that he likes peace and quiet and uncrowded places. (Donna is a city girl; she doesn’t mind the noise and hustle and bustle of a busy city.)

As a comparison, here's a picture of the park next to our house:




Now here is a picture of Chongqing:





That's not the only difference. There is an absence of bicycles in CQ as the hills are steep – quite the contrast to the flat topography of our city. Car horns are banned to reduce noise pollution.

One travel guide writes: “Within China, it is famous for its searing summers when temperatures can exceed 40 deg C. This lovely climate has earned the city a place among the country’s 'three furnaces', along with Wuhan and Nanjing.” Lovely?!? Furnace?!?

It is at the confluence of 2 rivers and where the Three Gorges Dam, the damming of the Yangzi River, is due to be completed in 2009.

The place where our daughter currently lives, Xiushan, is about a 10 hour bus ride from Chongqing through mountainous terrain, but there will soon be a train which will cut the travel time down to 4 hours. Xiu has many meanings including: refined, elegant, graceful. We would love to visit to see where our daughter spent the first few months of her life, but perhaps another time.

Here's a map of Xiushan in relation to CQ: