Today was a different day from last Wednesday.
Mostly in a good way.
After a delayed flight last night, our guide met our weary group and informed us that it is his mother's birthday on Friday. This means, he is moving everything we do up a day. Translation: Right after we get Reagan, we have to do all the adoption paperwork and errands that we normally wait a day to accomplish. You know, as in, after the baby knows you a little?
I began to feel a little panicked.
We left the hotel before 8 a.m. and went to the Civil Affairs Office. The place didn't look like much from the outside, but inside was pretty well kept. Billy and I started the paperwork and waited for Reagan. We discovered that we weren't the only ones getting our child today when a group from Spain showed up and began to nervously wait for their children. I love watching other people get their kids. The tears, the smiles, the siblings so excited, it's just a neat experience to be allowed to observe.
Reagan was brought in by someone he didn't know. The woman had an unhappy boy in each arm and she unloaded them quickly and went on to other duties. It happened so fast. I think my first words were, "Oh no, you HAVE to take this one" to Billy when he looked questioningly at me before taking Reagan from her arms. My hope was he would sort of imprint on the first person to hold him, you know, like baby birds do after
they're hatched.
It worked.
He went to Billy not full out crying, but whining, "Mum mum mum mum." Reagan wasn't happy but he wasn't screaming either unlike his travel mate who was red-faced and howling for his (I believe) first time bewildered looking parents. He clung to his daddy and hasn't let anyone else hold him-yet.
However, he isn't that unhappy. He is eating and playing and even smiling and laughing. I can sit next to him and touch his hair. I can even feed him. Billy has left to Walmart and he laid on the bed and played and drank his bottle. We just can't pick him up, which is sad because he is one of those kids you want to hold just to see what he feels like in your arms.
Here's what we have learned about Reagan:
He is a little guy. Slim but not horribly skinny and wearing a 12 month just perfectly.
He talks pretty well. We have already heard more words out of him than we have out of Declan.
He doesn't walk well. In fact, he is a little shaky in the gross motor skills department.
His fine motor skills are great.
He has a big ole scar from his hernia repair and I don't think it is fixed :-(
He is smart. He was putting those baby pop beads together and didn't want help.
He likes fries and has had them before. He pointed at them and said something like, "Ba!" when we gave him one.
He loves books. We got a big smile over some animal pictures and he knows several by name.
He likes "Wipeout" as in the t.v. show. He pointed and laughed when someone fell and said, "Whoa!" The kid really got into this show! It was funny because Declan has barely paid attention to the t.v.
Doing the rest of the adoption work turned out fine. I was prepared to tell our guide to take us to the hotel if one of the boys began breaking down, but everything went fairly quickly. Reagan was doing great and actually had fun in the police station. It is nice to have everything but the waiting done.
Declan and Reagan haven't paid to much attention to each other just yet. Declan was playing with some stacking cups and Reagan reached out and snagged one before Declan could move them all to another part of the bed. Reagan held it behind his back. Declan let it slide, for now. That is the closest to interacting that they have done.
I feel less overwhelmed now than I did last night. I got what I came for and am ready to come home. Unfortunately, we have to let the paperwork catch up to us. There have been some tough times this trip, but God has been good. We're making it and even having some fun in the process.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Last day in Xi'an
Yesterday was a good day. Declan ate a great breakfast. He is picky about what bite of food he wants next, but he is filling his tummy now. He is wandering around the room and playing with his toys. On his own, he is a quiet boy who likes to play with construction type toys. With his brothers, he is more rowdy and a huge tease.
We had visiting the Ancient City Wall on the agenda. This wall was built to surround the city of Xi'an by the same emperor that had the Terracotta Warriors created. It is a tall wall about 30 feet wide and 9 miles around. It has a moat and 4 main entrances with drawbridges. Of course, it doesn't surround the city anymore. Xi'an now has a population of over 10 million, but it is interesting to see the size the city used to be.
Our hotel happens to be across the street from one of the gates. So we risked our lives crossing the 9 lane street (you just start walking, buses don't stop but the cars will tell you whether they intend to wait, swerve around or stop for you), and climbed the stairs to the top of the wall. The guys chose to rent bikes and ride around the whole wall. Delanita and I chose the trolley car which only goes to the first corner and back. It is not exactly a beautiful city, but it was a neat experience and fun to see from up there. I would have loved to walk around the whole thing, but the bumpy ride on the bicycles didn't look too fun. The guys loved it, however, and Cameron wished he had time to do it again.
From there, we walked to the Muslim Quarter, which is an area of shopping vendors. There is a large population of Muslims here, so the area is aptly named. It turned out to be one too many activities for Declan. He had ridden in the pack on my back for the walk over, but was done with it by the time we started negotiations at our second vendor. To be fair, he was probably tired and hungry by then. We had done more in two days than he has done in his entire life. We headed back to the hotel after grabbing a quick lunch. For the most part, it looked like the Quarter just had the typical touristy stuff that we can get in Guangzhou if we so feel the need. It would have been interesting to look around a little more, but no big loss.
People stare quite a bit at us here, never more so than when Declan is unhappy. We ended up putting him back in the pack on Billy, because he was fighting me trying to get down and walk. He wailed LOUDLY the entire time. I followed behind a few people back and watched as others laughed and pointed at the angry Asian kid on the big white man's back. Billy could care less, but it nearly gives me a nervous breakdown to be so noticed. I haven't seen many crying kids here. Including ours, I've seen exactly one. We got him back out as soon as we had gotten to a less crowded area where I could handle him better.
Declan was much happier back in the room. He wandered about playing with his little toys and dragging Billy into the bathroom (he was having, umm, trouble going). I was happy he chose Daddy for that little bonding experience. I was busy looking in old messages on my Kunming list serve to see if and where I can get a stroller once we get there.
Overall, things are going very well. Declan is doing great. He sleeps through the night and is pretty well-behaved except for when it comes to that pack. God is answering our prayers for him and we are seeing the happy little guy that he truly is. I am thankful we have had these days to get to know him before getting Reagan.
We are headed to Kunming in a few hours. Hopefully, we will have another great internet connection. We should be getting Reagan tomorrow, but I won't know the details until I talk to our guide tonight.
Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. It helps more than you know.
We had visiting the Ancient City Wall on the agenda. This wall was built to surround the city of Xi'an by the same emperor that had the Terracotta Warriors created. It is a tall wall about 30 feet wide and 9 miles around. It has a moat and 4 main entrances with drawbridges. Of course, it doesn't surround the city anymore. Xi'an now has a population of over 10 million, but it is interesting to see the size the city used to be.
Our hotel happens to be across the street from one of the gates. So we risked our lives crossing the 9 lane street (you just start walking, buses don't stop but the cars will tell you whether they intend to wait, swerve around or stop for you), and climbed the stairs to the top of the wall. The guys chose to rent bikes and ride around the whole wall. Delanita and I chose the trolley car which only goes to the first corner and back. It is not exactly a beautiful city, but it was a neat experience and fun to see from up there. I would have loved to walk around the whole thing, but the bumpy ride on the bicycles didn't look too fun. The guys loved it, however, and Cameron wished he had time to do it again.
From there, we walked to the Muslim Quarter, which is an area of shopping vendors. There is a large population of Muslims here, so the area is aptly named. It turned out to be one too many activities for Declan. He had ridden in the pack on my back for the walk over, but was done with it by the time we started negotiations at our second vendor. To be fair, he was probably tired and hungry by then. We had done more in two days than he has done in his entire life. We headed back to the hotel after grabbing a quick lunch. For the most part, it looked like the Quarter just had the typical touristy stuff that we can get in Guangzhou if we so feel the need. It would have been interesting to look around a little more, but no big loss.
People stare quite a bit at us here, never more so than when Declan is unhappy. We ended up putting him back in the pack on Billy, because he was fighting me trying to get down and walk. He wailed LOUDLY the entire time. I followed behind a few people back and watched as others laughed and pointed at the angry Asian kid on the big white man's back. Billy could care less, but it nearly gives me a nervous breakdown to be so noticed. I haven't seen many crying kids here. Including ours, I've seen exactly one. We got him back out as soon as we had gotten to a less crowded area where I could handle him better.
Declan was much happier back in the room. He wandered about playing with his little toys and dragging Billy into the bathroom (he was having, umm, trouble going). I was happy he chose Daddy for that little bonding experience. I was busy looking in old messages on my Kunming list serve to see if and where I can get a stroller once we get there.
Overall, things are going very well. Declan is doing great. He sleeps through the night and is pretty well-behaved except for when it comes to that pack. God is answering our prayers for him and we are seeing the happy little guy that he truly is. I am thankful we have had these days to get to know him before getting Reagan.
We are headed to Kunming in a few hours. Hopefully, we will have another great internet connection. We should be getting Reagan tomorrow, but I won't know the details until I talk to our guide tonight.
Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. It helps more than you know.
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Warriors (they're not just terra cotta)
He's getting better.
Today, Declan finally drank water from his sippy cup. I thought perhaps he didn't understand the cup. Turns out he was just refusing to drink from it. At any rate, he sucked down half a cupful without taking a breath. He then went on to have a good breakfast. On our way back up to our room, I showed him the huge fish tank full of large orange goldfish. Mr. Somber couldn't help himself. His face split into a huge grin before he could suppress it. We got a great picture of it too! Only there was no card in the camera....
He played ball with Jarrett some, smiling a few more times. He sat on Daddy's lap and took a nap in the car. We were on a roll! We then left to the Terra Cotta Warrior factory where he really started feeling more comfortable and wanted to run around, right next to the expensive carved jade pieces. At that point, he really started refusing to let anyone else carry him. Last night, he was in the pack on Billy's back for an hour or so walking around the city. We thought that it was a good test run for the next day. He did great in the pack and spent the whole time looking around at the city lights. So, it was very disappointing the next day when he wanted nothing to do with the pack. I realize I should be thrilled that he held his pleading little arms out to me to be carried (and I am), but people, the boy is heavy! We were there for hours. Walking. To top it off, he likes me to hold him on the right arm only, with his legs together (not on my hip).
We did look for a stroller. Hence the trial run the night before. The cheapest one we could find was around $160.00. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice stroller. However, I thought it was worth it to have Billy pack him for that kind of money. Hah! I am starting to stress that Kunming won't have any strollers, either.
The Terra Cotta Warriors were amazing! I have wanted to see them for years. It was hard to believe we were actually there. It would have been nice if the huge crowds of people had gotten out of my way so I could see them better in honor of my dream come true, but I managed to have a good time anyway.
Declan was happy and smiley the whole time we were there. He has carried this little car around since we got him and he was running it on any ledge he could reach. It very nearly became a part of the exhibit. Billy and Delanita happily snapped pictures the whole time (yes, we put back the card) and Cameron and Jarrett mostly tried to get Declan's attention. The Warriors got nothing over a new brother!
We had a great lunch there. It was supposed to be an all you can eat buffet. However, the waitress brought our certain dishes (the meat ones) that were not unlimited. You could have as much rice, cake, and cheap veggie dishes (think: cucumbers and onions) as you wanted. It also included stretched noodle soup. You could watch how the chefs made it and it was the best soup I've had. Well, at least half of us thought so. The other half is searching for a McDonald's right now.
Update: Declan likes cheeseburgers and fries.
Today, Declan finally drank water from his sippy cup. I thought perhaps he didn't understand the cup. Turns out he was just refusing to drink from it. At any rate, he sucked down half a cupful without taking a breath. He then went on to have a good breakfast. On our way back up to our room, I showed him the huge fish tank full of large orange goldfish. Mr. Somber couldn't help himself. His face split into a huge grin before he could suppress it. We got a great picture of it too! Only there was no card in the camera....
He played ball with Jarrett some, smiling a few more times. He sat on Daddy's lap and took a nap in the car. We were on a roll! We then left to the Terra Cotta Warrior factory where he really started feeling more comfortable and wanted to run around, right next to the expensive carved jade pieces. At that point, he really started refusing to let anyone else carry him. Last night, he was in the pack on Billy's back for an hour or so walking around the city. We thought that it was a good test run for the next day. He did great in the pack and spent the whole time looking around at the city lights. So, it was very disappointing the next day when he wanted nothing to do with the pack. I realize I should be thrilled that he held his pleading little arms out to me to be carried (and I am), but people, the boy is heavy! We were there for hours. Walking. To top it off, he likes me to hold him on the right arm only, with his legs together (not on my hip).
We did look for a stroller. Hence the trial run the night before. The cheapest one we could find was around $160.00. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice stroller. However, I thought it was worth it to have Billy pack him for that kind of money. Hah! I am starting to stress that Kunming won't have any strollers, either.
The Terra Cotta Warriors were amazing! I have wanted to see them for years. It was hard to believe we were actually there. It would have been nice if the huge crowds of people had gotten out of my way so I could see them better in honor of my dream come true, but I managed to have a good time anyway.
Declan was happy and smiley the whole time we were there. He has carried this little car around since we got him and he was running it on any ledge he could reach. It very nearly became a part of the exhibit. Billy and Delanita happily snapped pictures the whole time (yes, we put back the card) and Cameron and Jarrett mostly tried to get Declan's attention. The Warriors got nothing over a new brother!
We had a great lunch there. It was supposed to be an all you can eat buffet. However, the waitress brought our certain dishes (the meat ones) that were not unlimited. You could have as much rice, cake, and cheap veggie dishes (think: cucumbers and onions) as you wanted. It also included stretched noodle soup. You could watch how the chefs made it and it was the best soup I've had. Well, at least half of us thought so. The other half is searching for a McDonald's right now.
Update: Declan likes cheeseburgers and fries.
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