Shamian Island and MY FIRST KISS!!!

Yesterday after Caleb's nap we went out walking for a bit. There are so many places within walking distance! We got a few snacks for the room at the grocery store and then wound up at McDonalds. We met another family from our agency in McDonalds who was just getting here to have their Gotcha Day today (Monday). (If a child is adopted from Guangdong province, that family stays in Guangzhou the entire two weeks. There are a couple families here adopting this week from Guangdong.)

We walked back, did bath time and put Caleb to bed. The first few days, he was letting me rock him to sleep. Although we know at some point he needs to get used to falling asleep on his own, I have been so happy to let him fall asleep in my arms! He may likely have never been rocked to sleep before! What a privilege! The last few times he's gone to sleep though, Caleb has been more difficult. He doesn't want to stop playing and settle down and the fact that he won't take a bottle from us makes it that much harder to get him to quiet down and be still. He is very active and he fights sleep with a vengeance!! The nannies told us that he doesn't like to sleep! Also, as he is getting more comfortable with us, we've noticed he has begun testing us more. This is the hard part of toddler adoption!! We need to make him comfortable and foster strong attachment in these early days, but we also have to lovingly let him know we are in charge! This is hard with a biological toddler from the best of circumstances, so I'm sure you can imagine the challenge of parenting an almost two year old from a "hard place."  Although I tried to hold him and sing to him, he fought me and kicked and fussed and cried, despite being very tired. The crib here in our room has a drop side, so I dropped the side down, laid him in the crib and pulled the crib over so it was up against our bed and laid down facing him and sang to him. He calmed right down! He even reached over and held my hand for awhile! Last night he became playful and kept wanting to play peek-a-boo with his blanket. I told him goodnight and got up and went out to the living room leaving the door cracked open and he didn't cry! He just talked to himself for a few minutes and then went to sleep. We did the same thing today for nap. He rubs his hands together when he is going to sleep. It seems to be a self soothing mechanism and it is so precious!!

This morning it was still rainy so instead of the zoo, we went to Shamian Island. It is a beautiful tourist area that all American families love to visit while they are here in Guangzhou. We ran into some other families here that were not with our agency but that we had connected with through Facebook, which was very fun! We also bought a lot of great gifts...but I can't discuss that on the blog because I'm pretty sure all the recipients of those gifts read this blog!

 

 

 

While we were there, we found a barbershop that cut Caleb's hair for us!! His hair was so long and he would get so sweaty and it just looked uncomfortable (not to mention unkempt!). We were somehow able to communicate with the lady cutting hair even though she spoke no English and she trimmed up his hair for us for just 20 RMB (about $3.50)!! May not be the best haircut he gets in his life, but its a heck of a lot better and for so cheap, we certainly can't complain!! He did great. He was scared and started freaking out in the chair so Steve ended up holding him and he actually held pretty still the whole time!!

It is tradition for adopting families to take a picture of their new child with this statue on Shamian Island.

We shopped for awhile and then had lunch at an American style diner on the Island. After we ate, we headed back to the hotel for naptime. We sat in the back of the van and Caleb loves to stand between us and look out the back window of the van. (He is going to have major culture shock with our American car seats, but personally I can't wait. I hate driving around with him loose and unrestrained!!) We were just riding along and Caleb was between us and my arm was around him as an anchor when all of the sudden, he turned his head, looked at me for a second and then planted a big kiss on my cheek!!! BE STILL MY HEART!!! A totally unsolicited first kiss from this sweet little boy! I got tears in my eyes and squealed with delight and all of the families with us got to share my joy in that moment. That single moment made every painful and difficult thing about this journey completely worth it.

Tonight, we walked around some more and went to dinner with another family at Pizza Hut. Caleb ate two pieces of pizza and a baby food pouch and some puffs. The kid can eat like a Porter!

There was a Bentley parked out in front of our hotel. I had to take a picture.

Here are some more pics from our afternoon. He loves to wrestle. He and I are wrestling and he is laughing hysterically!

Going for a stroll with Daddy. He loves to walk between us holding both our hands, but there was no one around to get a picture of that!

 

He could ride the escalators all day long.

Tomorrow morning we go to the American Consulate bright and early to take an oath for Caleb's citizenship and to submit his visa paperwork to come to the USA! We hope to do the zoo after if this nasty weather goes away!! Only 3 more sleeps in China!! I cannot WAIT to have all the pieces of my heart in one place. HOME.

Pictures!

Yesterday after Caleb woke up from his nap, we decided to venture out and explore the hotel a little bit. We walked outside and saw the waterfall and the pond with lots of bright fish in it. Any time Caleb sees a small animal, including a bird or a fish, he yells "woof-woof!" at it. This is hilarious to see. We haven't seen any large animals, but we've seen some pictures of some and some statues and to these he does a very guttural "rooaaarrr." The zoo should be a lot of laughs with him!!

Here is the rooftop pool. It is not on the top of the 30th floor, but is accessed from the 4th floor. Notice the sunbathing beds around it. I find myself kind of wishing it was the season to use this pool. Its not quite warm enough here just yet!

There is also an outdoor playground across from the pool, but it was too wet to use. There is an indoor playroom for toddlers and Caleb did enjoy that!

Last night we ate at a local Mexican restaurant with our group. It was delicious! Caleb loved his quesadilla! I didn't take any pictures there, but I wish I had. It seems so funny to see Chinese people dressed up as Mexicans, but then again, Mexican people may think its funny to see white folk dressed up like them in our restaurants at home, too!

Today (Sunday here) we went shopping. We went to a local mall where they have wholesale pearl, turquoise and jade markets. The mall was HUGE. Steve wasn't a big fan of all the jewelry and souvenir shops, so he went with some of the other guys in the group and walked around with the kids while the ladies did our shopping! This is the mall. Six floors!! Shops all crowded in everywhere!!

 

This is the pearl market. They had beautiful pearls in natural and dyed colors. 

 

After this, we went to the Chen Clan Academy (Also called the Cantonese Folk Art Museum). Here they had beautiful artwork for sale as well as custom made stamps, jewelry, Christmas ornaments and souvenirs. We saw a LOT of beautiful stuff and did some shopping! It was rainy, so the pictures don't do it justice! This is the view looking out from the museum at the street.

This is looking at the museum.

The museum was a large building that went around the outside of a large courtyard in the middle. This is taken standing inside one part, looking out through the courtyard to the other part of the building. Everything on the building is hand made and took many years to complete. It is hard to see from the pictures but it was an exquisite structure!!

 

 

This is what Caleb thought of all the shopping! Snoozefest!!

 



 

We came back to the hotel and had lunch in the room and put Caleb down to nap. It has been thunder storming like crazy! We are supposed to go to the zoo tomorrow, so we are hoping the weather clears up. If not, we are planning to swap it for another shopping day scheduled for Wednesday before we leave. It would be fantastic if we could get some good weather for both days!!

 

This is the view from the living room of our suite in the hotel! (Taken yesterday before all the thunderstorms came in!)

 

 

 Also taken from our living room window looking the other direction.

Taken from the 30th floor window. They have a restaurant up there that turns as you eat. Our first morning here, the breakfast on the main floor (that comes with the room) got too crowded, so they sent us up to the 30th floor for breakfast (at no charge!). It was beautiful!!

Guangzhou!!

We made it to Guangzhou!! Everyone from the US who adopts from China comes to Guangzhou after their adoption is finalized in their child's province to obtain a visa and finalize the child's immigration as a US citizen at the American Consulate here. All trips are planned around the appointment your agency makes for you at the consulate. They will issue Caleb a visa while we are here and then we can leave China and come HOME!!!

We flew out of Hohhot yesterday morning and got to Guangzhou mid afternoon. It was about a three hour flight. We found out Caleb gets airsick (NOT fun!) so we will be giving him Dramamine like crazy on the way home! We didn't need any more anxiety about that trip so please please pray that we all survive it!!! Here he is checking out the planes while we waited to board.

 

 

Our guide for our time here in Guangzhou met us at the air port and brought us to the beautiful Garden Hotel. This place is like something out of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." I've never stayed anywhere like it. Our agency has a special deal with them. They send all their adoptive families here and we get an awesome rate and first rate service! They gave Caleb a little backpack with a stuffed panda bear and a couple treats in it! We have a suite which consists of a small living area, a bedroom with a king sized bed and a crib, and a nice large bathroom. We are on the thirteenth floor, but I believe there are 30 floors. It is absolutely huge! We ventured out to explore it a bit last night and got totally lost! There is a playground and indoor playroom for the kids, a pool, several restaurants, shops, offices, a few foreign consulates and a spa right here in the hotel!

Guangzhou is a fun city. It is like the "Miami" of China. It is in the far south and already feels like summer here. There are palm trees and tropical plants and humid air. The air in Hohhot was VERY dry. I never thought I'd miss humidity but my skin and hair were terribly dry in Hohhot and I am glad to be in a place that feels somewhat more like I am used to. The city reminds me of pictures I've seen of NYC. I've never been there, but Guangzhou is HUGE and has very tall buildings, very diverse people everywhere and lots of electronic billboards. Within walking distance of the hotel there are LOTS of American restaurants, like McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, Subway, Haagen Dazs, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Aaaaahhhhhh. So nice. (In Hohhot, we had none of that. Our guide in Hohhot showed us two restaurants, both had mostly Chinese food and no one who spoke English, so we mainly ate in our hotel all week.)

This morning we had Caleb's medical appointment and Visa photo. Each child must receive medical clearance to leave China. Caleb had to see a nurse for height, weight and temperature and then have a "physical exam" by a doctor and an "ENT" exam by another doctor. All said he looked great and healthy! He cried when they checked him but they didn't do anything that hurt. I think he was scared and just didn't like being held down so they could examine him! After the medical exam we went to the grocery store to get some diapers, wipes and a little food for the hotel room. Now Caleb is napping and Steve is doing paperwork with our guide for our Consulate appointment.

Cheering up afterward with some crackers in the stroller we are renting from the hotel for the week.

And just in case anyone needs a stiff drink after the medical exam, there is a wine vending machine in the lobby.

We have some fun excursions our agency plans for us here in Guangzhou. Since we are waiting here until Caleb's visa is ready (we can leave Wednesday) they plan some fun things for us while we wait. Tomorrow we get to go do some shopping and on Monday we visit the Guangzhou Zoo!!! Tonight we are doing a group dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. I have heard a lot about it from other adoptive families who have been here. Our group has been looking forward to going there together since we planned our travel! We have added one additional family to our Lifeline group this week. They were in a different province the first week but will be with us from here on out. There are four Lifeline families here now but also LOTS of other American adoptive families with other agencies. It is fun to converse with people in English and have them understand you! This morning we chatted with lots of other adopting families at the medical clinic. We all have such a comfort level with each other even though we are strangers! Just the reason we are here and the fact that we are American and speak the same language is huge! Also, we've connected with lots of these people over Facebook in various Chinese adoption groups. So fun to meet in person all the way on the other side of the world!!

Caleb continues to do well. He seems to really know we are mom and dad...at least as far as his concept of that goes! He reaches for us, does not seem to want to go to strangers, etc. At the airports, many people came up to him and spoke to him in Chinese, but he always turned to Steve or me and wanted to stay with us, which is a good sign at this point!! We keep skyping with the kids at home and showing Caleb their pictures. I just can't wait for them to meet in person! They are going to love each other so much! Caleb blows them kisses over Skype but doesn't have much attention span to sit and chat!

I haven't had much chance to take a lot of pictures of Guangzhou and the hotel yet, but I will post them soon as it is really beautiful and there is lots to see!! It has been rainy or overcast so far but I'm hoping for some sunshine soon.  Recently, "The Amazing Race" aired a couple episodes from here in Guangzhou. We don't watch that show, but a friend texted me when it was on and we watched one of the episodes. It is fun to see some of the sights that were featured on that show right here in person!

Also, big shout out to Steve. He is here in China during March Madness and UK and UofL were playing each other in the sweet 16 at home while we were at the medical clinic this morning. It is torturing him but he is not even complaining (much)!! He's really putting the family first as he always does and I'm so thankful for a man who consistently does that. He is amazing. I am so thankful for him I could NEVER do any of this without his love, support, and help!!! (And GO CATS!!!)

Orphanage Visit

I am really struggling with this post. Orphanages are sad places. My mind and heart are working to process what we experienced today and it is a very emotional ordeal.

We left the hotel at 7:30 this morning for the three hour van ride to Baotou to visit the orphanage where Caleb lived. Let me just say that riding for 6 hours in one day in a van with an active toddler and no car seat was no picnic. He slept some, but good grief I don't know how in the world we are ever going to survive the flight home.

When we got to the orphanage we put Caleb in the carrier. I wanted him to feel securely attached to me in a literal sense when he went back into that place. Here we are outside the gates of the orphanage.

Caleb has a friendly personality and usually loves to get down and run around but he was very quiet and serious when we approached and went inside. This orphanage is huge...all these buildings are full of children. Unimaginable.

 

This was the wall as we walked into the orphanage.

 



Several nannies excitedly approached and held out their arms to him and he shook his head "no" and held onto me! I was very happy about this!! We walked up to the room where he lived and some more nannies came over to greet him. He still refused to let them hold him and they pointed into a little kitchen area. Well, apparently he knew what this meant and signed to us to get down. (Did I tell y'all he knows quite a bit of sign language?!) He followed them in and we stood at the door. They got some treats out for him and told him to give them kisses and he'd get a treat. Clearly they know how to work my son. He kissed them, got his treat and ran back to me!!

 

We went to the room where he lived and another nanny grabbed him and hugged him tight. She told us he is a "very very smart boy" (our guide translated). He let her hug him but didn't really hug her back and quickly reached back for daddy!

 



 

His nanny said she wanted to show me his bed. I followed her and Steve followed me, carrying Caleb. As soon as they entered the room, Caleb started to cry and shake his head and sign "NO!" so Steve took him back out and I stayed long enough to take a quick pic. I'm assuming he was crying for more reasons than just that they'd made him sleep on pink sheets.

 



Next, we went to a room where my dear friend's daughter is currently waiting for her family to come get her. Jennie and I became fast and close friends after meeting early in our processes at a fellowship picnic our agency had. Our families got close as our kids are all close in age and we all have lots in common and we were overjoyed to be matched from the same orphanage! Caleb will always have a friend, right at home in Louisville who is from his same birthplace and orphanage! God is SO good! I took a lovey and a family picture album to this sweet girl and got some pictures and video for Jennie. I was trying to get a good pic of Caleb with her little girl, but those kids did not want to be still and pose for pictures like I had in mind! Oh well, we plan to have LOTS of future opportunities to capture our Asian cuties having fun together!

As we were leaving, one of the ladies that was in charge of adoption at the orphanage introduced us to this little boy. He is four years old and has hearing loss. She said he does not have a family yet and really wants to be adopted. She asked if we could help him find a family. Heartbreaking. There are no words.

We walked out of the orphanage and met the directors. We posed for a group photo with all the families here with us and the orphanage directors.

As we left, we stopped and took pictures at each child's "finding spot." This is the spot where they were left abandoned, found, and taken to the orphanage. This is very emotional for me and I am still processing it all. I have chosen not to share this as I feel protective of certain parts of our story as it is really Caleb's story to tell if and when he chooses to tell it. I want to be able to tell him as much as I can and to answer all the questions I will be able to answer for him as he grows and asks about his past. I have pictures to show him and memories stored up in my heart. I am falling more in love with this hilarious, playful, smart, handsome, fearfully and wonderfully made child every day. I grieve for the mother who felt him move within her and then made the unfathomable choice to leave him behind. I can't imagine her grief at feeling that she had no other choice and I will spend every moment I have left on this earth being incredibly grateful that she chose to give him life.