Bonding

Our sweet girl looked into my eyes a lot today as she rode around in the carrier all day!

And just a couple more...

The giraffe totally nibbled on my ear. This pic was taken just a millisecond before I realized what was happening!

Merry Christmas Eve from Danny in Guangzhou! We are closing out our Christmas Eve after an adventurous day in the city. We took a big step today outside of our normal routine of being cooped up in the hotel or doing official paperwork. We were invited by our new friends Brandon, Laurie and Avery (YaYa) to join them and some other families at the Safari Zoo. We knew it would be a stretch to take Lia Kate out all day, considering she won't let me hold her more than 5 minutes at a time, but we didn't let that stop us. We took almost an hour bus ride to the outskirts of town to the safari zoo (by the way, this city we're in -- Guangzhou -- is 7 million people big!). Imagine the entrance to Animal Kingdom at Disney World. We were not expecting much but it really took us by surprise. All 4 of the families we were with and their adopted children (ages 16 mos, 23 mos, 4 yrs. old & 7 yrs. old) boarded the train that took us into the open safari. I reminded everyone of the show "When Animals go Wild"-- you know the ones where the baboons jump in the car and claw everything. Thankfully the electric fences kept the predators at bay. But we were pleasantly surprised by how close they let you get and how many animals there were -- white tigers, camels, lions, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, elephants, cape buffalo, gazelle, ostrich, red deer, white-tipped dear, and brown & black bears. We got tons of great videos & pictures. After the ride, we ventured around the rest of the zoo...the petting zoo area, and played with elephants, giraffes, and Emily even held a baby tiger. The highlight was all the giant pandas!  Probably about 15 of them playing around. We got there right in time for feeding which was just like watching a bunch of old men sitting on the couch watching a football game. They'd lean back with their guts pooched out and chew on the bamboo. The zoo trip lasted almost 5 hours and we were beat by the time we got back to the hotel. Our days usually mess up Lia Kate's nap schedule or lack thereof (meaning Lia Kate is not getting much of one--and we wonder why she gets fussy at night!?!?). For dinner we headed back to Lucy's with our friends for the third time...but lo and behold they had a new menu for Christmas dinner! It was a great surprise (an expensive one, but great nonetheless). It is strange how big of a deal Christmas is here in China, but our guides say it is all for the consumerism rather than the significance of the day. It was a delightful evening with the temperature in the mid-70s and we were able to sit outside again. Lia Kate actually did wonderful tonight almost eating a whole bowl of chicken congee and actually making eyes at Emily and people at the tables around us. She even started happily kicking her legs and waving her arms around -- a far cry from the death grip she usually has around Emily's neck. She really enjoys being outside, so much so that we did not want to come "home" to the hotel room. Lia Kate has gotten into this routine where as soon as we enter the hotel room she loses it. The only thing that consoles her is Emily holding her tight and rocking her in the bed. It's sweet but exhausting for Emily. And I just try to do little things around the room and not get in the way...it's still all Emily and Lia Kate 99% of the time. The other 1% is our friend Laurie who Lia Kate totally adores. In other Lia Kate news ... she actually slept really well last night and slept in her crib! We decided that sleeping in our bed the night before didn't go so well, so we'd try the crib again and she only woke up once in the middle of the night ... she just whimpered so Emily rubbed her head and she went right back down. Hoping for a repeat tonight because we all need the sleep. Tomorrow is Christmas Day here. Not sure what the day will hold, but we'll write about it tomorrow. We wish we were all home and celebrating the holiday with you, but we still have lots of important tasks to finish here. Can't wait to be back. Merry Christmas!!!

More Safari Zoo Pics

I am sitting here knowing I need to do a blog post, but we are exhausted tonight so I will try to keep it short and sweet. Lia Kate had a tough night last night ... woke up many times screaming, but was able to go back to sleep each time. We finally got up around 7 and I tried to shower and get ready this morning but she cried the entire time she wasn't in my arms. :o( It is hard because there are just a few things I need to do throughout the day where I can't have a baby in my arms, yet I know for her security I need to be with her/holding her constantly. It is hard for Danny to not be able to do much to help out at times like this (I think she is scared to death of his beard!). Anyway, we didn't have anything to do today until 3, so we took our time at breakfast. There are always lots of adopting families at breakfast, so we enjoyed talking to several of them, including Linny from the well-known www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com, who is here adopting their 10th child (7th adopted child). We had a leisurely lunch at Lucy's, which is a favorite of American families staying at the White Swan Hotel. I see now why families always talk about Lucy's ... the food is great and the outdoor patio is so relaxing. We went back for dinner tonight and enjoyed talking to all the Americans around us, and seeing their cute new kiddos too. Our only official business today was to go to the Police Station and apply for Lia Kate's Chinese Passport. For her to get back to the U.S., she will need a Chinese passport and a U.S. Visa. It's not until she touches ground in the U.S. when we fly home that she will be an American citizen. We applied for her passport and it took no time at all (the Chinese are extremely efficient). As of now, in China's eyes, Lia Kate is officially ours. The rest of our time here will be completing the U.S side of paperwork for us to get her home. Tomorrow is a sightseeing day. We will leave in the morning for a safari zoo tour. I don't know much about it except that we'll see panda bears out in the open. Can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Lia Kate is still grieving heavily today. She still has to be held constantly. She cannot even fall asleep except for in my arms. To get her to sleep tonight. she fell asleep on me and than I successfully transferred her to the crib. We'll see how long it is before she wakes up for the first time! She did laugh and smile today at two employees of a store here while we shopped. She really seems to like Chinese women. They gave her a baby rattle and it is the first toy that she has picked up or shown any interest in. Most of the babies I see here are adjusting really well, but most of these are at least a week or week-and-a-half after Gotcha Day. For Lia Kate's sake, I am hoping she will have peace about all this soon. Hope to have some fun pics of our safari zoo trip tomorrow. Until then ...

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Our Tuesday

Today, we finished up our adoption paperwork for the China side of this adoption. We went back to the Civil Affairs Building where we got Lia Kate yesterday and answered questions about why we wanted to adopt her and were we sure we knew what we were doing. We were expecting this appointment to take about two hours but it took less than 30 minutes, so we decided to go ahead and get Lia Kate's passport pictures made and also to do her medical examination. Every child being adopted here must have a medical exam before entering the U.S. as required by U.S. law. Her medical exam was scheduled for another day, but it only ended up taking about 30 minutes to get in and out so we were glad we did it today. They examined her from head to toe, checked her ears and hearing, and weighed and measured her. She is 19.1 pounds fully clothed and is 28.5 inches long. They listened to her heart and could hear the murmur. We won't really know anything else about it until we get back to the States and have our specialist appointment. Anyway, she hated every minute of being at the clinic! You will probably be able to see her tears in the pictures. Lia Kate is in full-on grief mode today. She has cried a lot today and is very anxious. She is very much a velcro baby ... clinging to me constantly. I am so thankful I brought a carrier b/c she is either in it or in my arms all the time. This grief is a very normal response considering all that she has had to go through. She is eating well so that is a plus. She has taken two formula bottles today and has eaten lots of things that I have fed her by spoon. Danny reminded me that when Britton was her age (almost 17 months), we took him to DisneyWorld and he was eating hamburgers by himself. With Lia Kate, she is more like a 9-month-old as far as eating -- just really beginning with solid foods. We also gave her a bath today ... the first time for us to do that. We knew it would be traumatic for her, so we waited until today to do it and we just gave her a sink bath. She was not a happy camper, but she's clean! I combed her wet hair and it laid flat(ter) ... for a little while anyway. She and Danny are fast asleep and I'm about to join them. Hoping tomorrow is a better day for her!