One Week Home

Here are some photos from the last week. Sorry I haven't updated more frequently, but sleep has been an issue! Yao Yu has been waking up screaming several times a night, until we bring him into bed with us. Because both boys are very congested from colds, they have not been sleeping well, anyway. Last night was actually the first night that I got a good night's sleep. Sebastian woke once, but that was it!

Otherwise things are going well. The boys nap well (only for an hour, though, so they sleep at night!), and we go to the park by our house for an hour every day, with the dogs. Yao Yu, like Sebastian, loves to play outside. We do have frequent squabbles over toys. Sebastian is used to sharing because of pre-school, but not used to sharing his own toys, and Yao Yu clearly is used to getting whatever he wants. He often snatched toys away from Sebastian, and of course, he wants to play with everything Sebastian is playing with. Good thing Santa will be coming soon to bring toys meant for two!

Yao Yu still eats a lot. Much more than Sebastian, and more frequently. His favorite word is "more", and sometimes he will take us by the hand into the kitchen to show us which cupboard he wants food from. It's quite extraordinary how resilient, bold, and nonchalant he is about his new life. He figures everything out immediately, and isn't afraid to try anything.

Tripp and I still feel like we are babysitting someone else's child most of the time, but some things Yao Yu does are just so darn cute, that he definitely tugs at our heartstrings. Yesterday morning, for example, he put his arm around me and kissed me when he woke up. (When he first came to us, it was clear he didn't know how to kiss- how sad is that?!) We'll get the parental feeling sooner or later, we know. Right now we are working so hard to get around the language barrier (Yao Yu will finally sit still for a whole story now), and trying to express affection even when we aren't particularly feeling it. It turns out you get frustrated much more quickly when you don't feel that motherly connection, so it's quite a challenge. Especially because Yao Yu LOVES testing limits. He does know what "no touch" means, because Tripp has been working diligently on that, but it doesn't always work.

Tomorrow we have a two-hour car ride- hopefully no meltdowns! We are planning to drive to Denver for Thanksgiving, so this will be a little test-drive. I'm helping transport some homeless kitties to new adoptive and foster homes.

Enjoy the pics!

Jen

Cuddling with Mama on the lounge-around
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Troublesome twosome in the dryer!

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"Peek-a-coo!" (Apparently Chinese for Peek-a-boo)

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Trying on Mama's hat

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Storytime

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Sebastian and his best friend

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Puckering up for a smooch with Baba

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Is it time to eat the pumpkin yet?

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Photos

Sleeping on Daddy in the van in GZ

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This crib not CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commisison) Approved!

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At the White Swan Hotel

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Red Couch Photos

(for non-adoptive parents: the White Swan has traditionally been the hotel where most adoptive parents stay while in Guangzhou. This hotel's red couches have become the traditional place for adoptive families and travel groups to take photos of their children, who are usually dressed in Chinese outfits for the occasion. I was determined to have red couch photos of our own, so we walked over, and took some "action" shots.)

Don't you love Sebastian's Thomas the Train socks?

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At Guangzhou Airport, ready to go!

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Some brotherly love on the bus that took us to our plane

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On the plane

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Moment of citizenship!

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At home

Sebastian rubbed Yao Yu's hair all the way around the park last night

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Already studying piano...grandma will be SO proud!
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I want to have my truck and ride it, too!

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Home!

Having only 3 full days in Guangzhou meant that every one was chock-full of activity. We did half of our shopping while waiting for the US election results; Mom checking in by cell phone with Tripp, it seemed like every 30 seconds, to see what was happening, since he stayed behind at the hotel.

Our swearing-in ceremony at the US Consulate on Thursday was quite anti-climactic. We arrived 40 minutes early, so the boys just ran around and around the chairs in the waiting area, occasionally stopping to play with some toys. Eventually some other families arrived, but the other children were all very sedate, and seemed nervous. Yao Yu and Sebastian were oblivious. Finally someone came to talk to us, and said lots of irrelevant things (like how he came to be in this job), then asked us all to swear that the information we gave in our paperwork was true. That was it! None of the "do you still want to adopt this child? why?..." that I was expecting. We never got "interviewed" in China in any way. Maybe that happens to other people at Civil Affairs while in their child's province, but it didn't happen to us. All we did that day was sign here, here, here, here, etc.

Anyway, Tripp started feeling like he was getting Strep, so he took the last two days easy. In fact, we were all feeling under the weather the last 2 days. The air quality in Guangzhou was BAD. The worst I remember ever seeing anywhere. Our agency's in-China coordinator said that you can get a sore throat from the air pollution, and I did. But now it's devloped into a full-blown cold, as have Sebastian and Yao Yu.

I managed to squeeze in a visit to Shamian Island for our red couch photo Friday morning before we left. Can you imagine how hard it was getting two two-year old boys to sit still for a photo? We did more shopping on the island, mostly for gifts for people that we had either forgotten or not managed to get elsewhere. Then the boys went back for naps, while I went out again with our guide to the post office to find some commemorative stamp collections. It took a very long time for various reasons, not the least annoying of which was the hotel's refusal to change a traveler's check that I signed in front of them! They only wanted pre-signed checks! So I took the elevator up one level, sat on the floor, and signed the dang checks, then took them back down, and got them changed. Unbelievable! Oh, and don't let me forget that I had compiled a 1-gallon bag of unused, unopened medicines and other various supplies, and about 30 diapers, that I wanted to donate to other adoptive families. I had heard that the Victory Hotel has a designated space for such items, but when we got there, they wouldn't accept them because we weren't guests! No use telling them that I didn't want to TAKE any of the items, just LEAVE some. Nope. Well, I happened to know that there was another family with our agency that was currently staying at the Victory. We called, but they were out at that moment. We left the items with a nearby shop for their guide to pick up to give to them, to give to the hotel. Needless to say, I was REALLY ready to leave China at this point.

Our flights home were actually not bad at all. It turns out that Yao Yu is one of those kids that is completely lulled to sleep by taxiing down the runway. On all 3 of our flights, he was asleep before we left the ground. He (and Sebastian) slept 9 of the 12.5 hours from Guangzhou to LA, and he also slept the entire flight from LA to Albuquerque.

We got home around 1am, and although they had trouble getting to sleep, the boys did actually sleep in their own cribs in their own room for a few hours. Yao Yu actually slept until 8:45 am! Tripp and I felt like death until naptime, and we all slept fpr 2 hours. Post-nap we felt more near-death; a definite improvement.

Tripp's parents came over the meet their new grandson at 4pm. Yao Yu didn't want them to touch him, which was interesting.

Everything has gone extremely well, still! All day today the boys played, and Sebastian hasn't gotten too upset about Yao Yu playing with all his toys, and Yao Yu has been in heaven having so many toys, but not at all overwhelmed by it. He even likes the dogs and cats, though he hated being licked until he saw Sebastian encouraging the dogs to lick him. He is just easy-going, but tough and resilient. A good combination of personality traits for adjusting to life changes like this. He hasn't missed a beat in his toilet-training. No regression at all. We are so lucky!

We've decided that we will go to Denver for Thanksgiving after all, so that some of my extended family can meet our kids (and we can meet theirs!).

I'll post photos of the last few days tomorrow, but right now I am being summoned to see the best of SNL presidential skits.

Jen

Guangzhou

The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees

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Yuntai Park

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brothers

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Rabbit Restaurant

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First Swim

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Guangzhou Restaurant

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Minority Village and Medical

Yesterday morning was the wettest we had seen, and Yao Yu had started coughing and developed some congestion, so we decided it would be better to stay in. We asked Jerry to come back at 2pm if the weather cleared. We took a quick trip to Wal-mart again for Diapers, and Yao Yu fell asleep in the stroller for 15 minutes.

In the afternoon the weather did clear enough for us to go to the Minority Village, but Tripp didn't want to go, so he volunteered to stay back with the boys. Brave man! Mom did want to go, so it was just the three of us. It of course started to rain when we got there, which was a good excuse to duck into the shops!

To get to the Minority Village, you have to drive through the wealthiest part of the city, and it was lush and green and beautiful! More green than any other part of the city we had seen. The Village itself is huge, and quite elaborate. Like the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, but not interactive. (At the PCC you can participate in various activities, such as spear-throwing.) It was very commercial, with stalls everywhere selling all manner of things: toys, instruments, jewelry, purses, apparel, etc. They were all more or less the same, regardless of which part of the Village you were in, which was disappointing.

There were representations of traditional dwellings for the different minorities, and while some were very simple, some were quite impressive. The Bai people, for example, of which our guide Jerry is a member, have exquisitely painted and carved doorways and many other beautiful features. Also impressive was the Imperial yurt of the Mongolians. It was HUGE! Supported by dozens of emormous wood pillars. Hard to imagine that they are temporary dwellings!

Mom and I did get into some trouble shopping. We found some gorgeous pashmina/silk scarves with peacock designs, some handbags, and I found a stunning jade necklace that I got for less than half the listed price. Makes you wonder how overpriced everything is.

Tripp said that the boys had simultaneous meltdowns shortly before we returned, because he wouldn't feed them, knowing we were going to dinner soon. Yao Yu likes to eat about every hour! Food can always calm him down or distract him. Probably not a habit we should encourage!

This morning we left for Guangzhou, and although Yao Yu pitched a fit when we buckled his seatbelt on the plane, he was asleep before take-off, and we had to wake him up when we arrived at the gate after the 90 minute flight. Sebastian slept most of the flight too, so we got a break for once.

We received a bit of a shock at the airport when we were met by our guide Linda instead of Bob, whom we had expected. I hope Linda likes baseball caps! Instead of heading straight to our hotel, we went to Yao Yu's medical check-up on Shamian Island. I've seen so many photos of babies screaming during this part of the process, but Yao Yu was just fine. Happy even! He kept saying "uh-oh!", but just in a playful way. He also learned how to say "peanut", "raisin", and "potato" today. Sensing a pattern?

Shamian Island is so beautiful! Gorgeous old trees and buildings. I can't wait to go back and walk around.

Our hotel, the Shifu Holiday Inn, is excellent! We got two executive suites, and they are vast! Mom was upgraded, because otherwise she wouldn't even have been on the same floor as us, but now our rooms are adjacent (but not adjoining). However, her suite has a full kitchen and more closet space, while we have a bigger bathroom (but with the same features). I feel gyped! It's amazing that in such spacious rooms there is only one small closet with one shelf on which to put our clothes! No chest of drawers. Odd. Half of our stuff is still in the suitcases, because there is nowhere to put it, but also because it's cold weather gear we won't need, as the average daily temperature here is in the 80's!

Minority Village Map

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Pagoda

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Imperial Yurt

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Yurt

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Bai Building

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Bai Art

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Bai Doorway

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Detail, Bai Doorway

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The Three Pagodas (miniature), as in Dali

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The Yi people, of which Yao Yu's foster family were members, revere tigers

Medical Exam

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Trouble!

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Temple and Furniture Shopping

This morning was very rainy, and we went to visit a Buddhist/Taoist temple near our hotel. Apparently it is common here for one temple to host several religions. The temple was beautiful, and there were a lot of people burning incense, reciting scripture, and praying. Sebastian and Yao Yu were most excited by all the fish, turtles, and HUGE bullfrogs inhabiting the large pond. Yao Yu also wanted to stomp in all the puddles, which he did, and got thoroughly soaked.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a local furniture shop, and it was full of exquisite pieces. There were so many that we would have loved to have. We settled on a small console table, a display shelf, and an old wine box. The prices were actually very reasonable. We are so excited!

Yao Yu had a bit of a meltdown in the furniture shop. The saleswoman was holding him for a few minutes, and when I took him away, he had a fit. He wanted to go back to her. He calmed down when Tripp took him, and then was fine with me a little while later. It was actually a good thing, because he has hardly exhibited any kind of issues with us, so it was good to see that he does seem to be grieving, in his own way.

Tomorrow is our last day in Kunming, and we are going to the Minority Village.

Jen

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Our new table!