Hillary

I took this photo while out to lunch with the four girls at the American Girl Bistro over Thanksgiving weekend. The lighting was bad, the walls were pink, it's half in the shadows (suppose I could try to fix that), but I love it anyway.  It just kind of captures her spirit.

So Incredible!

Josie's Ice Cream

Girl With the Curly Hair!

Sunday Snapshot - My Beautiful Baby Girl

First Visit to the Doctor's

Xiao Na's went to see Dr. Jenkins the morning after she arrived.  She was 25.6 lbs and 33 3/4 inches.  The doctor thought she looked very healthy and strong.  She was test for TB (her PPD turned out to be negative) and had about 6 vials of blood taken for the blood tests.  So far, everything looks good except for perhaps a mild issue of anemia (maybe Thalassemia Trait...we'll find out more later).  He listened to her heart.  Her murmur is still very apparent and she will see the pediatric cardiologist in a few weeks.  Thus far, no one is terribly concerned about her VSD as she is at about the 50th percentile for height and weight and is otherwise thriving which means that her heart is doing just fine and isn't affecting her overall development.

Homecoming

I haven't been very motivated to post photos of our homecoming because the images are so terrible.  Pete bought a new Nikon coolpix camera right before leaving because he knew he couldn't manage the size of my camera, and we are both so disappointed in the quality of all the photos he took in China.  He now wishes he just bought another camera in China, but I know he had enough of other stuff to deal with (I don't know who he accomplished all he did to begin with).

Here are a few shots of me meeting Xiao Na for the first time.  I will say that adopting an independent toddler is a lot different when it comes to the moment that you first meet.  The grandmother of another family adopting in our travel group showed up to meet her family with some big, beautiful mylar balloons.  Xiao Na took off like a shot to go get one of those; meeting Mom kind of paled in comparison.  Emma, on the other hand, did capture her immediate attention and the three girls had a great time playing and running all around the baggage area together.  And though I didn't get the opportunity to actually pick her up and hold her until much later (she was pretty leery of me), she was more than willing to give me a smile and hold my hand.  She sang and giggled and kicked her feet all the way home from the airport (didn't even mind the carseat) and was so easy-going.  After a bath and a bedtime bottle and snack, all the girls, tired from their very late night, crashed together in our bed.  Sisters at last!

Emma has it now!

Yup...Emma got Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease as well and it has been pretty chaotic around her.  She's already doing better and was never as sick as Hannah, but it still is a pretty miserable illness even without all the hallucinations, etc. that Hannah had.  Josie has been okay so far, but today was really whiny and she's generally pretty easy-going, so I wonder if she'll be next.  I feel like I have spent the entire summer within a 1/2 mile radius of our house!  Help!!!  Get me out of here.  I've usually spent 6 weeks by the ocean by now.  I wait all year for our summers on the Cape and I really miss the beach....really, really miss the beach!  I hope we get to go soon!!!!

Hillary returns home tomorrow so that will be exciting for everyone.  I can't wait to see her.  Plus, my sister will be coming to visit very soon as well so hopefully August will so much fun that it will make up for our slow start to summer.

I can't wait to take Josie to the beach.  She loves playing in the bath...goes into the bathroom and attempts to remove her clothing to climb in several times a day.  I know she'll love the water, but the sand....that will be an issue.  She's just working on dealing with grass and she's not too fond of that.  I've taken her into our sandbox to try to prepare her for the texture, but she's not loving it. Before now, I think she's only felt concrete and pavement under her feet so this is all very new to her.  I hope she gets over her aversion to it quickly because summer is almost over!!!  

Here are a few shots of the girls playing together outside a few days before Hannah got sick (taken 7/25):

Hannah

She's so much better today.  Her fever has gone down, her nausea has improved and she's had no more hallucinations, thankfully (they were pretty wild!).  The incubation period for this is 2-10 days so she might have picked this up in China or on the plane.  I hope that Emma and the baby don't get it...time will tell!

Photos and update coming...

but we have been dealing with jet-lag, adjustment, and illness.  Hannah has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease for the third summer in a row.  She is really sick....high fever, vomiting, terrible headache, along with delirium and hallucinations...poor kid!  She seems to get hit so hard by these coxsackie viruses (last year ended up with viral meningitis).  I'll update as soon as I can, but keep Hannah in your thoughts.  It's so hard to see her like this...she doesn't look a thing like herself and is so uncomfortable.  I wonder who else will get it as it generally spreads like wildfire.  These are the days I wish my mom or sister lived close by..not enough hands to keep up!

She's home!

Their flight got in late last night and by the time we got to bed it was 2-3am.  We dragged ourselves out of bed to get to the pediatrician's first thing this morning for a general check-up, blood work, and titres.  He thought she look wonderful...so healthy and strong.

All in all, Xiao Na's doing very well.  This household is a lot for her to adjust to...more new people and three scary dogs.  There has been lots of laughter but also lots of tears so we are trying to keep things manageable for her.  She loves the girls and they have had a lot of fun playing today.  She's not very fond of me at this point but I am hoping that changes before Pete goes back to work.

I'll post some photos tomorrow...we are headed to bed very early tonight!

Medical Exam

On their way.

Waiting.

Ouch..don't look

                                                          Get me out of here!

The Red Couch

Dancing With the Doctor

This is Xiao Na having fun on the river boat cruise with Dr. Mosley, the pediatrician who traveled with our group.  Apparently not only does she copy everything you say, she also copies everything you do.  Looks like she was able to keep up with all of Dr. Mosley's dance moves!  Yesterday, Dr. Mosley sent me this note:

HI Wendy:

We left Guangzhou today and were sad to say goodbye to your new daughter. Your child, as Peter may have told you, is one of the most adorable and smartest kids I have ever seen. She is easy going and has a pleasant personality. I had an absolute ball with her dancing last night on the deck of the cruise ship. My wife was devising a scheme to kidnap her to keep her for us. But, alas, we ran short in time to carry out our crime. 

Good luck with her. She will an easy child to raise and will bring you much joy and many hours of laughter.

M

Love this photo!

Friday - Starfish Visit

My computer is finally back in service!  The above photos were taken at the Starfish Foster Home, which had been Josie's home since January 19, 2009.  She arrived there at almost 4 months old and stayed there until July 12 when she was brought to the Civil Affairs office and placed in Pete's arms.  Xiao Na passed out treats and was able to play with her friends and visit with her nanny Duan Duan before she had to say goodbye.  We are very grateful to Amanda, Helen, Duan Duan and all the other staff and the many volunteers at Starfish that helped take such good care of Xiao Na.  No one can get over how healthy, smart and strong she is and we are thankful she had such a great start!

From Pete

Friday 7/16

We wake up and I'm still feeling pretty lousy.  Christopher feels somewhat better.  We call Starfish and now both Amanda and Helen are away assisting with the surgeries but I tell them we're going to try to come anyway (as my stomach knots again) and Amanda says to go for it, that she'll help with directions for cab drivers if needed and that if I do make it to the address on her card call again and she'll send someone down to the street for us.   We stumble around for a bit, manage to get the girls dressed in their starfish dresses and have breakfast and are out the door by 9:00.  We have until 1:00 to be checked out.  We get advice from Amanda on which Walmart to go to and the conceirge  gets us a cab and tells the driver to take us to Walmart.  The driver speaks no english but is friendly and likes Xiao Na.  He dumps us at the end of a mall and motions in a direction that we head off in looking for Walmart.  We walk about 6 blocks and the stores get less western and the stares get more pointed, so we turn around and head back and find the walmart sign we missed the first time.  It's 9:35 and the mall entrance isn't open.  I look around for other stores but they're mostly fashion boutiques and I'm not sure whether to stick around until Walmart opens or what so I call Wendy and discuss options.  By the time we finish it's 9:50 and we decide to wait for Walmart so we're not empty-handed at starfish.  We get into Walmart and select some of the same items they sent us home with: cookies, juices, diapers, and top it off with some gifts of chocolate for the nannies and staff.  We try to pay with credit but the clerk waves every card I have away (although they'll all work, I believe) and tells me walmart only takes cards from China banks, which I believe.  We tote our loot back to the street, consider crossing to speed the journey on to starfish and quickly give up on that, and flag down a cabbie who looks at our starfish business card and heads off.  It takes him 15 minutes to get us back going the right way and 2 blocks closer to starfish and another 35 or so to cross the city to the apartment building complex that houses starfish.  He dumps us out and I call Amanda and we wait for a while.  It's after 11:00 and we need to leave by 12:00 to get back and checked out on time.  A nice woman, Sue, who is a volunteer from Florida comes down and leads us up to the Starfish apartments.  Josie is obviously comfortable with the surroundings and makes a game of stomping her way up the stairs and sidewalk.  We enter room 104 and the nannies all call "Josie!".  We attempt to determine if any of them are "her" nanny but are not sure.  We spend 5-10 minutes trying to figure out if we're even in the right room, as nobody there except Sue, her daugthers, and I speak any english.  Finally Josie's nanny returns from either one of the other starfish apartments or outside and upon seeing Josie she delightedly scoops her up and we take lots of photos and videos in various places with various kids.  I'm beginning to feel really lousy again and it's now pushing 12:00 so we say our goodbyes and Josie reaches for me after her nanny's final goodbyes and we all feel pretty good about how things have gone.  We get a taxi back to the hotel and arrive about 12:50.  Alex has both the box of gifts and the thin copy of the file from Xiao Na's orphanage.  We go upstairs and in 20 minutes manage to pack everything and un-destroy the room.  The front desk calls at 1:00 and I tell them to send the bellboys up for the big luggage while we finish the final packing of all the remaining junk into the carry-ons.  By 1:25 we're downstairs and checking out.  We eat while the maid does the typical final check.  The results are one missing Evian bottle (I have it and return it) one missing teaspoon (likely carried down to the buffet by Josie) and one missing TV remote.  The Chinese in me takes over and we return to the room to scour it, and our carry-on luggage, for the remote and teaspoon.  We fail to find either after 10 minutes of intensive search.  We return to the front desk to pay for the missing items.  The 100 Yuen pricetag for the remote is cut in half to 50 by Alex's intervention.  I ask Alex as we're leaving whether it's appropriate to tip (a dumb question) and he responds "Please, no, it is my duty to help you."  I look him in the eye and shake his hand and say thanks for all of his efforts.  He returns the gesture and says "Thank you for your beauty" which I reflect on later... it was a nice moment.  Actually I should have tipped him anyway, or given a gift.

We tour the city wall, a 14 kilometer unbroken perimiter of the old city boundaries, and also a pagoda and temple built for/by the most famous Chinese Bhuddist monk.  Both are impressive and beautiful.  We leave for the Civil affairs office and the traffic is bad.  Our guide and driver are having a pretty heated exchange, I imagine they're fighting about who is to blame if they don't make it there by 5:30 and we miss getting the passport before I need to fly.  I'm likely wrong as we make it with tons of time and head off to the airport.  Many flights are delayed due to a typhoon I knew nothing about threatening Guangzhou so we spend more time than thought waiting around in the airport.  We do another round of anti-biotics.  Hannah is happy because there are western toilet options in the bathrooms.  We make the flight, on-board dinner is good, the girls fit into a single seat, everybody catches some sleep, life is good.  We are again the last ones off the plane, but Hannah is in a pretty decent mood this time.  We meet our guide Jack after collecting our luggage and he drives us 40 minutes through light traffic to the White Swan.  Connie is waiting for us, it's after 12:00, I tip Jack at Connie's suggestion and we make it into to bed around 1:00.  All in all, a successful day.

Thursday

I asked Pete to do quick journal entries so I would know what he was doing each day.  He loves to write and is a wonderful writer but these were supposed to be just highlights of his day so that I'd have material to make a post, rather than a work of art themselves.  This one, though not really a work of art in terms of writing style, is so funny (after the fact), I had to include it:

Thursday 7/15



Today is a free day and we were planning on a trip to Starfish. Josie has a nosebleed when we wake up and her crib mattress and sheets are pretty bloody. I get her cleaned up and get Hannah and I cleaned up and ready for breakfast as well. Christopher feels less well than the night before, has a few more spells of diarrhea, and we make the decision to start his antibiotics with the 3 days of travel only a day away. We meet a family from New Hampshire that we've seen around at various adoption appointments. As soon as I finish exchanging business cards with the dad he has to run off to help his son who is throwing up in the main dining room. I think stomach bug and wash my hands and his card in hand sanitizer. (I later learn his son makes a quick, full recovery and he simply gagged on some yucky beef dish he was trying.)


I send email to Starfish and later call to arrange a visit. Amanda is away, on her way 6 hours north where surgeries will be done tomorrow. She refers me to Helen her assistant, who says after 1:00 would be a good time to visit.


I dress the girls in their fancy matching starfish dresses and before we make it to lunch Josie has another whopper of a nosebleed that trashes her dress and my bed and some of the carpet. I panic about the dress and the visit and, once Josie's nose has stopped, I start washing out her dress. Somehow, I get it all out and I do the roll-clothes-in-towels trick to almost dry it and then finish the job with the built-in dryer and iron. Emboldened by my success, I decide to try to wash out the bloody sheets as well which are really gross. Minutes after hanging up on a skype call with Wendy, I walk back into the bathroom where the now almost dry dress is hanging into 1/2" of water covering the bathroom floor due to the last sheet blocking both the main and overflow sink drain with the bathoroom sink water running and now overflowing onto the sink counter and floor. I rescue the dress and use every towel and sheet in an attempt to not have the water reach the bedroom carpet. There's also a floor drain which helps. At this point, my stomach begins to roil and I have my first bout of what could be diarrhea. Josie is almost ready for a nap and I plan on leaving her asleep with Christopher (who's not feeling well). Hannah is rabid about seeing her new friend Jada so we make a quick swim date via phone. Hannah wakes Josie up as soon as I hang up the phone and Josie for the first time is really howling and miserable, so we all make the trek to the pool 10 minutes later than planned and Josie and I watch Hannah and Jada swim for a bit. When we get back to the room, I have my next bout of diarrhea, Josie has another nosebleed as soon as I think about putting her into her dress (literally, I took her PJs off, went looking for the dress, and when I found it, I turned and her nose was bleeding). I give up on the Starfish trip for the day. I make the decision to start my own antibiotics and Hannah's as well, as I figure if she's on her way to getting sick like Christopher and I and her symptoms only start Friday we're doomed when it comes to the 3 flights in 3 days plan to enable the visit to her orphanage. The rest of the day is spent in various amounts of pain with some dizzyness and nausea thrown in. Hannah insists on dinner so while Christopher and Josie sleep we sneak downstairs and I watch her eat spaghetti and sprite (the staples). Sherry calls and confirms that she will be at the hotel at about 4:00 to finish up some paperwork and that tomorrow we need to check out by 1:00, have lunch until 2:00 and then her friend Ann will take us on tours until 5:00 when Xiao Na's passport will be ready, at which point we'll go back to the Civil, Affairs office to grab that before heading to the airport for our 7:55 flight. I ask her about Xiao Na's orphanage file and she says she hasn't talked to Rayena yet, that Thursday's are Rayena's super-busy day but that she'll call her tomorrow. I spend the rest of the day attempting to do laundry and run the built-in hair dryer 12 hours straight to get things to dry in the bathroom. I'm pleased with the results until I try smelling the clothes the next morning... they smell like they're hand laundered by a car mechanic with still-greasy hands who also uses the water as his ash tray. I knew the water looked and felt funny, but didn't know it would translate so directly into smelly clothes too. I give up on my idea to make extra money doing laundry for the other families. We check with Alex at the conceirge desk on the missing UPS package of gifts and after 3 phone calls he says the box cleared customs and says UPS promises to have it here in the morning before I need to check out.

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More photos from Wednesday

On their way to see the Terracotta Warriors.

Meeting up with Jasmine, Josie's friend from The Starfish Foster Home.