After dinner, we came back to our room. We had gone to the store earlier and I bought some Chinese baby food pouches. Caleb had already eaten most of the American ones I had packed! I thought he was still hungry since he didn't eat much pizza so I offered him some of the Chinese baby food. I couldn't read the package but it had a picture of sweet potatoes and apples, which he'd loved in the American version so I thought it was safe. He eagerly took one bite and then adamantly refused any more! Thankfully I had stuck some flavored instant oatmeal packages in my suitcase and we had bought some bananas at the store too, so he had oatmeal and banana for his supper! He took another bath which he loved as much as the first one and then it was bedtime. I offered him a bottle which he refused and then I sat on the bed and cradled him and began singing to him. He got really still and just looked up into my eyes as I sang and gradually I watched his eyes close and he fell sound asleep in my arms! I laid him in the crib at 8:30 and we didn't hear a single peep out of him until 5:45 this morning! Much better than the previous night! He fussed just a tiny bit when he awoke but quickly calmed and gave us PRECIOUS early morning smiles!
We all felt much better today when we got up after a good night's sleep! We skyped the kids at home and ate at the breakfast buffet and then this morning all three of our American families, along with our guide and driver piled into a van and went to an official government building to obtain passports for the kids to come home. (There are no car seats in China, we all just held our kids!) We made one stop where the dads all went inside a building to check all the adoption documents for any errors. They quickly came back out and we went to the next stop which was where the passports were issued. This did not take long at all and soon we were each handed a Chinese passport for our child! We were about to take pictures and our guide stopped us and told us there were no pictures permitted at this government building.
Our official decree of adoption!
After our official business was done, we went to a museum of Inner Mongolia. Caleb fell asleep in the van for just a few minutes sitting on Steve's lap. (We were told he takes one nap a day, but yesterday he fell asleep in the morning during the signing of the adoption documents and then today he fell asleep in the morning in the van and then again inside the museum, so we are not sure if he is just on a weird schedule and is tired from waking up so early or if he may need two naps a day.)
Caleb and I out front of the museum with the city behind us.
The museum was really neat. Our guide told us a lot of things about Inner Mongolia and the history of the area. Apparently, Inner Mongolia has a LOT of dinosaur fossils! We saw the second largest complete dinosaur skeleton in the world and it was found right here where Caleb is from!
As we walked around the museum we had our first experience with people taking cell phone pictures and even video of us! We had heard that this happens to a lot of people when the go to China for adoption, especially in certain parts. It is very rare to see a "foreigner" in Inner Mongolia, and our guide told us that we should take the attention as a complement. She said they think we look different and beautiful and they want to take pictures to show their friends. It is BIZARRE. We just laughed about it and joked about them thinking we are celebrities! (For the record, we are the ONLY non Chinese people we have seen so far in IM!)
Caleb had barely dozed off in the van before we got to the museum so he was very sleepy. He fell asleep in the carrier for about 30 or 40 minutes.
We saw the dinosaur exhibit, an exhibit all about space exploration in China and another exhibit all about Inner Mongolian history. I loved being able to learn about my son's birth place!
This picture is a Yurt (on a cart). Historically, Inner Mongolian people lived in these!
This picture is in the museum and represents the beauty in nature in Inner Mongolia.
The outside of the building was very modern looking. Our guide told us it was very new and that they had recently moved into the new building and had to take great care in moving all the exhibits to the new location.
When we left the museum we asked our guide if they could PLEASE take us somewhere for some American food and they took us to a KFC!! The ladies stayed in the van with the kids and the guys jumped out and got the food. They apparently had to cross some crazy traffic on foot so I was glad we stayed behind! They came back and Steve had gotten us popcorn chicken and fries. The popcorn chicken was very spicy and sometimes made of dark meat, so it was different than in the US but DELICIOUS. A very welcomed taste of home! Caleb loved it too!! We ate it in the van and then played in the hotel room and outside for awhile. Caleb loves to run around outside! We figured the fresh air would be good for him (although the air here is never very "fresh"!!! The smog and pollution are really bad!) so we took him outside for some play time.
We came inside and now Caleb is napping. Steve and the other guys went with our guide to a special shop to look at souvenirs from Inner Mongolia.
Caleb seems to be doing great. He is letting me put him to sleep and for the most part seems to be listening well to us and beginning to trust us! We feel your prayers and appreciate them so very much!! Tomorrow we visit the orphanage. It promises to be an emotional day as our kids venture back to that place and say goodbye forever and leave with us as their true and legal parents. Please keep their little hearts in your prayers as they do this. Even though they are young, it is a very big day for them and for us as we see the reality of their earliest days.
Much love and more soon!!
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