Shuya's Birthday!

Saturday was Shuya's 2nd birthday. She woke up to presents and banners and balloons! I sang happy birthday to her several times during the day. Her favorite present was Tickle me Elmo. She loves Elmo. In the evening we went to our friends house to celebrate the 2 couples matches. We will have 2 new children in our group by the end of the year! We put candles in a cheesecake and we all sang happy birthday to Shuya. She just loved it! She loves to be the center of attention. Sunday was a free day at the zoo so we got there early and spent a couple of hours showing her all the animals. She didn't like the snakes! But the Tiger and polar bear held her attention for a while. She got bored after just a couple hours. We'll go back often when she's older. I'm sure she will enjoy it even more when she gets a little older. Of course my wife posted pictures!

Our story continues...

I have been negligent in attending to our blog while my wife has been diligent in keeping our latest pictures of Shuya posted on Flickr.

There is so much to write about that I don't know where to begin.

Two of our friends just got their matches! We are so excited for them! They will be so happy! We know because our daughter has made us happier than we ever could have imagined. This is such an exciting time for them! So much to look forward to. So many issues to worry about. What to pack for their daughter. We know that CCAI was impeccable and that they will not have any problems. We know that they will have a wonderful adventure with the greatest reward still waiting for them. And we know how difficult it is to wait for the trip and the "Gotcha" day! And yet it will seem like it happened in a blink of the eye when they hold their precious daughters for the first time. We can't wait to welcome Li Li and Yu Yu home.

My wife's parents left on September 30th. We had a wonderful 5 months. Mama cooked real Chinese food and I loved it. I ate everything (except for one dish). It was all so good! I gained almost 20 pounds since we went to get Shuya. I started to lose some after Mama left!

Shuya is great! She is starting to whine because she knows we will drop what we are doing and run to her side if she is in need, but now she is starting to take advantage. We need to work on this. We also need to work on getting her into her own bed. Right now we let her go to sleep with us and then we transfer her to her crib when she falls asleep. If she cries in the night I'll get up and rub her back and let her know we're there. But sometimes, often, she gets up - stands up in her crib. Then we put her in the bed with us and she usually stays until morning. She has her own bed in her own room and we are trying to get her used to being in that room and on the bed by playing with her and reading to her in her room. We will try to transition her soon.

Shuya loves music. She likes to play the piano and the drums. She likes to dance and sing! Her 2 year birthday is this weekend.

We took a 1 week trip back East. Five flights in eight days. First to Chicago where we drove to Berrien Springs and dedicated Shuya in a ceremony at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Then to Albany, NY to introduce Shuya to most of my family. Then to Fairfax Virginia to meet my sister Julie and her family, and my sister Marcia. My sister Julie's son James is almost the same age as Shuya and they followed each other around and played together for hours! It was very cute! While we were in Virginia we drove to Williamsburg to meet the family of the other child from our group that was adopted from the same orphanage. We had a wonderful time. Far too short but very memorable. It was a wonderful trip. October is the best month in the year to be in the northeast.

Daycare!

Shuya started daycare last week. We didn’t want to wait too long to get her into daycare because we were afraid it would be much harder if she got used to being home with Weigong and Weipo (grandpa and grandma on the mother’s side) and then started daycare 6 months later.

Wenguo brought her in to class 2 weeks ago so she could meet the teacher and kids. Shuya loved it! Wenguo stayed with her for a couple of hours and then brought her home. Last Monday Wenguo tried to drop her off and go to work – Shuya cried and seemed to think that we were abandoning her and it made Wenguo cry - she couldn’t leave her and stayed with her for a couple of hours, but each time she tried to leave Shuya would cry. At noon when the kids went outside to play Wenguo went home for lunch and came right back. The teacher said Shuya cried the whole time. Wenguo took her home.

Wenguo tried to bring Shuya back 3 other days during the week and would stay with her for a couple hours each day, always trying to leave and not able to because Shuya would start crying again. On Friday she left her there and went to work and I picked her up at 11:30. The teacher said she just cried for about 5 minutes after Wenguo left and then she was fine for the rest of the morning. Her daily report card showed that she was happy and played with the other kids.

Wenguo tried to drop Shuya off yesterday but Shuya cried again and Wenguo had to go to work so she brought her home and went to work. She will try again today.

We are so concerned that she might think that we are abandoning her that we are trying very hard to be careful so that she doesn’t get scared. We are so lucky that Wenguo and I have flexible work environments and that her parents are here to take care of Shuya when we need it. Wenguo’s parents are really helping her learn. Waigong(Grandpa) taught her how to go up and down the stairs holding on to the handrail and spindles and Waipo(Grandma) is already trying to potty train her.

This weekend when the temperature was around 100 degrees I took her to the pool each morning and we played for an hour or so in the water. She had a float and I had a float but she seemed to prefer having me hold her and swim around with her. She loved it! I can’t wait to get her swimming!

-posted by Dan

Rocky Mountain National Park

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend and had a picnic at the Bear Lake Trail head. I posted some photos from the picnic area lower down in the valley. Shuya got to see Moose and Coyotes and the beautiful mountains. Mama and Baba seemed to enjoy it - Mama took lots of photos!

Shuya is doing well. She has adjusted well and Wenguo, grandma, and grandpa are doing a great job with her. Wenguo took out "Love and Logic" for me from the library. It seems to make sense so we will try using the techniques and see how it goes. She's a smart girl so I am sure she will learn the rules and limits quickly.

I hate to leave in the morning to go to work - when I say goodbye she cries. But I love to come home in the evening and see her big smile! She runs over to me with her arms outstreched and that is absolutely priceless!

-posted by Dan

Photos!

Wenguo posted a bunch of photos yesterday going back to the trip to the Shanghai zoo!

-posted by Dan

Memorial Day Weekend

I can't believe it's taken this long for me to write a few lines! We've been busy, of course. Shuya is adjusting very well - and so are we! She is a wonderful child. Sometimes she's a little crabby - like tonight when I took her for a walk in the stroller and she decided that she wasn't comfortable and just started making a loud fuss! I was hoping that she wasn't attracting too much attention. We stopped at the swing set - she loves the swing!

We took mama and baba to the Garden of the Gods yesterday. They loved it (see the photo!). Today we went to the art show in Denver on the 16th Street mall at the Pavilions. It was ok. Not as good as the Cherry Creek Arts Festival but there were some very nice art there. It runs tomorrow from 11AM to 4PM. Last weekend we brought mama and baba to the Flatirons at Chatauqua Park. It was a beautiful day and mama took a lot of pictures of the incredibly beautiful flowers.

We have introduced them to Wahoo's, Chipotle, and Pho Duy Vietnamese Noodles in Broomfield. They didn't like the first two but they did like the noodle soup!

I installed an IPTV system so that mama and baba can watch Chinese TV and movies on our TV though our internet connection. I was surprised at how well it works! It's great. We have DSL and our connection seems to slow down or stop for no apparent reason but the IPTV works without any glitches. They can choose from a lot of channels, including channels that they usually watch in China, as well as some that were not available to them in China. It's only hooked to the TV in the loft upstairs but that seems to be the best place for it.

Shuya is still adorable. It's hard to spend a lot of time playing with her and still do the things we need to do - like work. I had to go right back to work as soon as I got back home. I had to go into work to write reports for customers and ship equipment to a tradeshow. Talk about waiting to the last minute! Then I had to go to Las Vegas the next week for 4 days for the trade show. It is always stressful setting up the booth and making the equipment run as it should. No different this time, although most things went pretty smoothly, it's always a time-crunch. I had some fun in the evenings and won about $2o (net) playing $10 hands of Pai Gow. I never played it before and it's pretty slow - just my speed! I must have had beginner's luck. I wasn't ready to play an faster games. I had Friday off so I get to spend 4 days with her! So far it's been a lot of fun!

Wenguo has gotten Shuya into a routine and that seems to be helping a lot. Nap time in the morning and after lunch, in bed on time and up in the morning with us. She complains a little (loudly) for a while when we try to put her down for a nap sometimes but it doesn't last very long any more. The first week we had some issues with her crying for a long time when we tried to get her to go to bed.

Shuya and Little Bear are getting along well. They are just starting to get close to each other and Shuya occasionally pets Little Bear or throws one of her toys for her (it usually travels about 1 foot!). I think they are going to be fine but we are still watching them. Little Bear has proven to be very tolerant so far! I'm very proud of her. She is such a sweet dog.

I can't keep up with the photos - I know I need to post some and I promise to try to find some time tomorrow. I found a HP Photo printer/scanner/copier at Target that was marked down from $100 to $25. They still have some left at the store on 144th at I-25 (Westminster SuperTarget, 14451 Orchard Pkwy, Westminster, CO 80020 (303) 209-0163). The installer was the worst I've ever encountered. Of course they loaded up my computer with a lot of their software.

I'll try to post more often with more focus on our life with Shuya, and more pictures soon!

-posted by Dan

Home Sweet Home!

We arrived at the airport at 2:30 yesterday afternoon. Things went pretty smoothly. Going through the airports with 9 check-in bags, carry-in bags, stroller and a baby was difficult but we didn't have any trouble getting through Customs or Immigration. Everything went pretty smoothly.

The first flight was 10 hours and we got very little sleep. Shuya fell asleep before we landed in San Francisco and slept through everything until we got to the gate for our next flight. That was a blessing.

Our friends were at the airport to pick us up and we went home and all of our friends in our adoption support group came over with their kids to meet Shuya. It was a nice time!

We stayed up as late as we could and at 9PM we went to sleep. I was up at 11 briefly and Shuya woke up and cried at12:30. I couldn't get her to go back to sleep so Wenguo had to try. She was able to get her to go back to sleep and we all slept through the rest of the night. We woke her up at around 7 AM and she had a big smile for me!

-posted by Dan

The Panda

Shuya's first encounter with an animal at the zoo was the panda. She was much more excited by the next animal she saw which was a tiger in an outdoor pen. The tiger's were more active and were easy to see. The Shanghai zoo only had one of these pandas. They also had some "lesser" pandas.

We will be leaving in just a few hours and we are anxious to get home. We can't wait to show Shuya her new home and let her settle down.

-posted by Dan

The Zoo!

Shuya loved the zoo! One of her favorite parts was the ride in the zebra! She loved the monkeys that were jumping around in their cages and was tickled pink by the zebra!

She was afraid of the statue of the panda and the tiger but I eventually got her to pet the statue of the tiger! We have pictures but I can't upload any pictures to flickr.

-posted by Dan

Shanghai Zoo

We went to the zoo this morning - she loved it! She was pretty well behaved and took a short nap in the cab on the way to the zoo.

We'll have lunch now and then take a nap. This afternoon we will have to make sure we are packed as much as possible and that the weight of each bag is less than 50 lbs - if we can!

-posted by Dan

Internet

This internet connection is pathetic. I can't upload the pictures of the hotel room to flickr. That means I probably won't be able to post any more photos of Shuya until we get home.

-posted by Dan

In Shanghai

We made it to Shanghai in 2 vans. We are in an incredible room thanks to friends of Wenguo's parents. They own a nice hotel in Shanghai. It's a large, elegant suite. We will pay 2o0 Yuan per night. I'll post pictures. It has internet access (slow high-speed) but I still can't see this blog, or Nate and Diana's blog - although I did get a peek at both just before we left Shaoxing. It seems odd that access is intermittent. I have always been able to access Kim's blog on youbelong.net. It's never blocked.

We had a wonderful lunch at an excellent restaurant in the hotel. Mama made sure I drank as much pijiou as I wanted. Qing Tao beer.

We are trying to get Shuya to take a nap and then we will go visit some of Wenguo's family this afternoon.

-posted by Dan

Shanghai

We are on our way to Shanghai now. I do not know if we will have internet access there so this may be our last entry for about 3 days. We return to the states on the 14th.

-posted by Dan

Count down to our return

I wasn't able to open our blog this morning. It's been blocked. I haven't been able to read Nate and Diana's blog either.

She is so cute! (Usually;-) she got a couple of bug bits next to one eye and her eye is a little swollen.

We are going to start packing for the next leg of our journey. 2 nights in Shanghai. We will do a little more shopping today. Wenguo bought another suitcase for all the baby clothes she bought!

It was very hot and sunny yesterday and now it's raining and cool.

-posted by Dan

Relaxing

We are doing the family thing - spending time with Wenguo's family. I've taken some walks around the neighborhood. There is a park close by, Ji Shan park, it's nice there and Mama and I took Shuya there for pictures. She was tired so the pictures were just ok - not enough smiles!

We have had some really good meals here in Shaoxing. I am sure I am gaining more weight no matter how much walking I do. I know it's not keeping up with the calories I'm ingesting. Each lunch or dinner includes lots of the local brown rice wine. It is an excellent companion to the food.

-posted by Dan

Shaoxing

We made it back to Shaoxing without incident. Wenguo's brother-in-law picked us up at the Huangzhou airport and drove us to the hotel. The hotel room looks pretty clean and is large enough. But there is no crib and no tub. I'm not sure how we're going to wash her. She just started to love the tub! I couldn't get her out last night...

Our hotel room has internet access so we can continue to post pictures!

Shuya is pretty good natured except she has a temper and has learned some bad manners at the orphanage. I am sure some of her behavior is just survival instincts. We've started telling her when she's doing something wrong. Sometime's she has a fit if we tell her that she should not be doing something. She throws a little temper tantrum. We can usually calm her down by distracting her with food! I'm not sure that's a good long term solution but for now we just want to gain her trust.

She took to Wenguo's family right away! Lots of smiles for grandma and grampa!

-posted by Dan

我們沒有出事做了它回到紹興。Wenguo 的內弟/姊夫/姐夫/舅子帶走了我們在Huangzhou 機場和駕駛我們到旅館。旅館客房看相當乾淨和是足夠大的。但沒有小兒床和沒有木盆。我不是肯定的怎麼我們洗滌她。她開始愛木盆! 我不能昨晚得到她... 我們的旅館客房得以進入網際網路因此我們能繼續張貼圖片! Shuya 是相當好的natured 除了她有一種脾氣和學會了一些壞方式在孤兒院。我是肯定的一些她的行為是正義生存天性。我們開始告訴她她做□某事錯誤。她某時有適合如果我們告訴她她不應該做□某事。她投擲一點脾氣勃然大怒。我們能通常鎮定她下來由分散她用食物! 我不是肯定的, 是一種好長期解答但我們暫時想要獲取她的信任。 她立即採取了對Wenguo 的家庭! 許多微笑為祖母和grampa! - 由丹張貼

Huangzhou

We are on our way to Shaoxing via Huangzhou. We'll check in when we get there!

-posted by Dan

Passport with Visa

We took the oath and got her Passport with the US Visa!

We just got back. She's napping. We will go out to dinner with friends of Wenguo's.

We dropped off 3 families at the train station. They are bound for Hong Kong and then home. We said goodbye to everyone.

-posted by Dan

Photos

I posted a lot of pictures.

We are just waiting for our trip to the Consulate and then all the paperwork in China will have been completed.

-posted by Dan.

Visa application

We were told that all our papers are in order for our Visa so we just wait until tomorrow for Shuya's visa. We are napping now and will probably go to the pool when we get up. It's a sunny day and that means it's hot here in Guangzhou.

Tomorrow we will take the oath at the US Consulate and on the 9th we will fly to Huangzhou.

I couldn't help but post some more pictures of this angel smiling! Maybe too many? Notice that the bruises on her forehead are all gone. She walks a lot and does very well except at transitions between rug and hard flooring. We still try to stay within arms length as often as we can but it's getting harder to keep up with her!

-posted by Dan

Physical

Shuya passed her physical without any trouble. She weighs less than 9kg. The process didn't take long and it was a nice morning to walk over to the medical building. It's starting to warm up so I think it will be a good day to go to the pool again.

We are going to run out for some dim sum brunch but need to be in our room from 11:30 to 12:30 in case there are any questions on our paperwork.

-posted by Dan

The Pool!

Today we finally got a chance to go to the pool. The water was a little cold but after awhile Shuya seemed to really enjoy it. She stayed in for a long time. She didn't like to get her face wet and after she slipped walking around in the pool and got her face in the water she stayed real close to me. We had fun playing with her new friend Eden and the rubber ducks! Lying in the lounge chair next to the pool it finally felt like I was on vacation for a few minutes, instead of on a different trip. Now we are back to the hotel room for a nap.


Tonight we will have a big group dinner at 5 because we need to get up early for the physicals tomorrow (7:45 AM appointments). We need these for the Visa applications which will be submitted tomorrow. In the afternoon we will take our oaths to care for these children. We should get the Visas the following day. We will go to Shaoxing for 4 nights and then spend the last 2 nights in Shanghai before flying back to the states.

-posted by Dan

Bonding

Today was a relaxing day and a good day for bonding with Shuya. We got a pretty good night's sleep. Shuya got up a couple of times in the night but as soon as she was reassured that we were nearby she went back to sleep quickly.

This morning we had breakfast in our room. I dripped my own coffee (Starbucks) and we had sweet breads from the little bakery shop at Beatrice's grocery store. We went shopping with Todd and Kim. We brought them to the same shop we went the other day and Wenguo found some more things cheap 10 Yuan per top or bottom, and a nice sweater for 20 Yuan. Todd and Kim went back to the hotel and Wenguo and I went to the restaurant that her friends brought us to the other night and we had some really good dim sum. We came back to the hotel after lunch and took a 2 hour nap! Wenguo and Shuya were still sleeping when I went out to Starbucks for a cup of coffee, and stopped at Beatrice's grocery for a couple of bananas for Shuya. We went to dinner at the Chinese Restaurant in the Victory hotel. We got a room and enjoyed the company of Anthony, Yvonne, Sophia, and Isabella. We ate light. It was very good. Just a little more expensive than some in Guangzhou, but not really expensive.

We agreed to meet Anthony and Yvonne and the kids in the Swan room after dinner. they were going to Beatrice's so we went back by Starbucks. I bought a half-pound of coffee (95yuan) and had them grind it for my drip filter. We shared a Mocha and stopped at Andy's on the way back where Wenguo got a doll with mei mei to remember this trip by. I asked for the one with the bright red silk dress. There's just something about the Chinese red silk that I really like.

Anthony found us browsing in another shop and said that they had already been to the Swan room and that he was just running back to Beatrice's for another item. We made a beeline to the Swan room where we eventually wound up with a most of the families and spent a couple hours playing with the kids. I got some video and will try to pick some to post.

We are back in the room getting ready for bed.

-posted by Dan

Red Couch Photos

Today we took our Red Couch photos. We dressed Shuya in the Chinese dress that I picked out for her and she did not dissappoint us! She was an absolute angel with lots of smiles. I couldn't help but to post a lot of pictures.

We all took a nap today because it is a rainy day and there is nothing better to do. We are getting ready to go to dinner. We will go to the same restraunt we went to the other day for dim sum.

-posted by Dan

Wednesday

This morning we had breakfast in our room. We bought a few different types of breads and red bean buns and I made my own coffee. Then we took a tour with the group. We went to a temple and an old mansion. The mansion was different than what you would expect - it had many open areas and was designed for indoor/outdoor living. It was actually pretty cool except that I didn't see a barbeque grill or pool anywhere!

We also went to a shopping center that was right next door to Lamborghini and Rolls Royce dealerships. Wenguo looked at the prices and said it was too expensive and because our guide told us there was no bargaining here we didn't buy anything.

At lunchtime we went to the Cantonese restaurant Xinglizhi Wan which is right next to JM Chef (which wasn't a good experience - too expensive, poor ambiance, and poor service). We had some great Dim Sum. Excellent service, and it was very reasonably priced. We sat in the foyer near the front doors - it might be smoky in the regular eating area.

This afternoon Wenguo took a nap and I took Shuya out for a stroll to the pool area, took photos of the lobby, pool, and indoor waterfalls. Then I took her to the Swan room. It's a room full of toys for kids to play with. She had it all to herself! She was in heaven!

This evening we went out with some of Wenguo's friends to the best restaurant in Guangzhou, Tao Tao Ju. It was great! After dinner we went shopping right outside the restaurant. There were lots of shops and lots of people out. It was great. Wenguo got tons of clothes cheap. She showed my several sets of shirts and pants all 10 Yaun each. She had a couple of really nice fancy dresses for only 30 Yuan.

We came back to the hotel and went to the little shop on the corner - A home of Love or something like that - and she bought 2 Chinese silk embroidered dresses for 65 yuan (32.5 yuan each).

-posted by Dan

Thursday morning

Wenguo got her some rubber duckies and we put them in the tub and she finally played in the bath! She even sat down in the water and splashed a bit.

She had a fit again last night before bed and I am sure it is because she is teething.

I broke down and paid the internet access fee so that I could upload a bunch of photos...

-posted by Dan

Guangzhou and the White Swan

It's hotter here and very humid. The White Swan is cool - it's so big on this little island with all of it's small quaint European style buildings that it seems immense. Guangzhou has 7 or 8 million regular inhabitants and 3 million additional residents. It's the 3rd or 4th largest city in China.

When we arrived yesterday it was pretty clear and not to hot but early this morning it was very hot and very humid. It was pleasant this evening when we walked to the Victory to visit our friends Todd and Kim. We are borrowing their free internet access and letting the girls play in their large suite (all for about the same as what we paid for the small room at the White Swan and it includes breakfast!) I think we should have gotten a room at the Victory!

I had a small "emergency" because the company I work for is being acquired by a larger company and I needed help to make the transaction required to secure my stock options which will convert to shares in a larger company that is acquiring us. A million thanks to David.

We went out to dinner with the group last night but nobody really liked the restaurant and it was expensive compared the excellent restaurants we went to in Wuhan. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to Cantonese food. The food was ok. I had snails. They were good - but not as good as escargot. They were cooked in spicy (pepper) broth. I am so glad that there are so many people of Chinese decent in our group because they really know what to order.

Our friend Dr. Liang took us out to Carrefour off Shamian island to do some shopping today and helped us get some documents that I needed to purchase the stock options printed. Then he took us to a real authentic Cantonese restaurant for lunch. It was pretty good - I showed Dong Dong all the fish, snakes, and other creatures in the tank. She was mesmerized by most but I think the snakes in the cage scared her!

This evening we got all our papers together for the Visa application and took our kids to get their visa photos. One of the repeat families knew enough to get the digital images on a flash drive!

Tomorrow we go on a sightseeing tour in the morning and will take it easy in the afternoon and evening. We might take her to the pool because she did real well with her bath this morning. She still won't sit in the water but I think she'll do better if we get more toys in the tub!

I'm going to try to upload some pictures of Dong Dong - we have a few now with her smiling!

-posted by Dan

On our way to Guangzhou

We got our papers for the children last night, including her Chinese Passport, a copy of the finding ad, and a copy of the piece of paper that was found with her that simply states her date of birth. We have copies of the Registration and a bunch of other papers including receipts, and the original document inviting us to travel to China to adopt Huang Fu Dong.

We have had 2 dinners at the Shang Palace here at the Shangri-la and they were both excellent, and reasonably priced even though more expensive than some of the local restaurants, the service and ambience were excellent - much better than at the other local restaurants. We are eating very well. And lunch is followed by a nap - if we can get her to sleep!

Wenguo and I found a good local laundromat and we got some clothes washed cheap. Socks are free, children's clothes are discounted, and Wenguo got a group discount because we brought a couple of families with their clothes with us.

Everything seems to be going well - she screamed last night for an hour and a half after dinner when we were trying to put her to bed. I could not console her - Wenguo finally told her in Chinese to stop crying and she did! Just a few minutes after that she fell asleep. We think she might have some pain from teething so Wenguo gave her some teething tablets. She woke up a couple of times in the night but Wenguo was able to get her to go back to sleep. We've decided to keep her anyway! I wish I could talk to her in Chinese.

She screamed through her bath this morning but seems to be much better about it. I think she'll get used to it soon.

She was a little cranky at breakfast but she's sitting beside me in her stroller (she just loves her stroller!) and being very good and patient while I write.

I have more pictures of her and some with smiles! I'll try to get some up now but we need to pack and get ready to get our flight to Guangzhou.

Down time...

We are just relaxing today and everything is going well. This morning on our way to breakfast I had an urge to see if she could walk and so I put her down on the nice thick cushioned rug in the hallway and took her hand and started walking. She walked along beside me to the elevator and stood in the elevator with me all the way down to the first floor - she tried to get off everytime the elevator door opened - then she walked almost all the way to the breakfast room! Wenguo was just about in tears when she saw her walking!

Last night we put her in the crib after dinner (we went to bed early this time!) and I rubbed her back for awhile until she went to sleep. I didn't have to hold her and try to put her down! Then we slept until about 6AM and go to breakfast around 7:30. The only thing she really doesn't like is taking a bath! She screamed the whole time again! She has pooped a couple of times now so we know she is acclimating to her new family. But she still pushes me away when I try to kiss her! When she is tired of walking, however, she puts her arms up to me so that I'll pick her up - that's all I need for now!

It's raining now so we changed our plans and will hang out at the hotel until 11 and then we will take a bus to our group lunch. After lunch we will all go to a museum and the kids will probably sleep in their strollers while the adults get a taste of culture.

I am going to post some more pictures now and we'll try to check in again later today.

Best to everyone!

Dan and Wenguo

-posted by Dan

Everything's going well...

Last night we went out with Kim and Todd after dinner and on the way back Wenguo had Shuya laughing out loud! She was so beautiful and we were both so happy to know that we could make her laugh.

Last night I held Shuya for a long time until she finally fell sound asleep and then I gently placed her in the crib. She woke up at midnight and I had to get up and hold her for a while. I fell asleep sitting on the couch with her leaning against me and Wenguo woke me up to let me know that she had fallen back asleep and that I could put her in the crib. We slept until about 5 AM when Wenguo got up. I stayed in bed until about 6 and we got Shuya up shortly after that. Wenguo and I were both a little cranky today, but Shuya was fine!

Today we went to the Yellow Crane Tower. A famous landmark with a history of over 1700 years. It was a nice day, warm and hazy with a nice breeze on Snake Hill where the tower stands. We will go to the riverside district tomorrow morning and then to a group lunch. It should be very relaxing. We will have the afternoon to ourselves and will have to decide what to do. I think we will walk around and Wenguo will do some shopping in the local shops. We all took naps this afternoon!

We took a walk to the laundromat down the street, after our naps, with 2 of the other families and dropped off a ton of clothes which they will clean in 24 hours very cheaply. While Wenguo was in the shop I took Shuya for a short walk in her new stroller. I was about 30 feet from the front of the laundromat when a couple of ladies came out from a storefront and started admiring Shuya and asking me questions in Chinese. I was soon surrounded by about 20 people all admiring her and asking me questions, and fixing Shuya's clothes, and pointing to the bruises on her forehead. It was very nice. I think she must be very beautiful to everyone as she certainly has attracted a lot of attention every where we have gone. On the way back from the laundromat we walked around a bit and Wenguo bought some trinkets. Along the way a lot of people took a look at Shuya. She has such beautiful eyes.

The bruises on her forehead are darker now, but the swelling seems to have gone down. The orphange director said that she was walking and fell, but she hasn't tried to walk since she's been with us. She can stand but she doesn't seem to want to - she always hangs on to us when whe is standing. The scratches on her check have almost healed. They healed quickly. Wenguo is giving her amoxicillin that the orphanage gave us. Our friends Kim and Todd gave us something for the congestion, but Wenguo is afraid to give her much of that. She gave her one dose. Shuya has a lot of phlegm - you can hear it sometimes when she breathes and when she coughs. All in all she seems to be healthy and I just worry about her cold and hope she recovers quickly.

She lets me kiss her but she pushes me away alot. I tell her she doesn't know how much that hurts me! I'm sure she'll warm up to me someday! She always lets me pick her up and comfort her though. She loves to ride in the stroller.

We will try to post some more pictures soon.

It's Official!

She was great at breakfast and great on the bus. She sat on Wenguo's lap and looked out the window and Wenguo got her to smile when a young girl on a bus that was right next to us waved and Wenguo showed Shuya how to wave and say "Ni Hao!".
This made Wenguo very happy!

At Registration the first thing they wanted us to do was take a family photo. Shuya did not want to be held the way they wanted us to hold her for the photo and screamed and screamed. The Director of Shuya's orphange held her and she took a nap while all of the families Registered. Then we put her in the Snugli harness and she was fine, so we finally got a good family photo for the Registration process.

We are back for a nap - (Baba needs a nap!) Shuya napped all the way back on the bus in Baba's arms. ;-)

We will go shopping with the group at a department store at 3:30 and then we will all go out for dinner. I am sure we'll have more pictures soon!

-posted by Baba...

Our first night...

She slept through the night in her crib! We got up early and have to get ready to go to the Registration office. Breakfast at the Shangri-La is pretty good. She eats everything we've given her so far! (Takes after daddy!) We'll see how she does at breakfast.

-posted by Dan

Gotcha Day!

We got her!

Wenguo held her first - she started to cry - it was wonderful!

She has 2 bumps and bruises on her forehead and scratches on her cheek - I thought "What have they done to my daughter!?" I was angry! They said she just started walking and fell. She also has a cold and is taking cold medicine and antibiotics. but She's beautiful!

Our friends Yongmei and Able came along and took pictures. That was so nice of them. We are lucky they were able to come with us. Our guide, Joanna, let them come with us.

She cried a lot even before the nanny gave her to Wenguo. In Wenguo's arms she screamed for a while and would not be consoled with toys or anything. The room was loud and chaotic with lots of kids crying so Wenguo took her out into the quiet hallway and she got her to calm down. We had her out there for a while and got a bunch of pictures and video. Of course, just as I predicted, everytime I tried to get near her, touch her, or try to pick her up she wouldn't have any of it.

Then we had to go after just a short time - less than an hour I think. Of course nobody was paying much attention to time. I told Wenguo she should use the facilities before we got on the long bus ride back. We had seen the traffic backed up at the bridge going the other way so I was afraid it might take hours to get back. I told her to let me hold Shuya and, although she thought that was a crazy idea, she relented and let me hold her. She screamed for a couple of minutes and then just relaxed in my arms! I thought it was a miracle. I was so happy - you should have seen my smile!

Then we got on the bus and Wenguo held her for a while and eventually I asked for a turn, and she sat on my lap for most of the bus ride home - as content as could be while a couple of the other kids cried (all the way home). Wenguo and I fed Shuya cheerios and goldfish and let her drink yogurt from through a straw - she wouldn't drink from a sippy cup. She looked out the window a lot, just taking in the scenery as we drove through Wuhan, watching some of the cities' 8 million people.

She's in the crib - we thought she might nap but she won't. She just got up by herself in the crib!

She's sitting up playing with a toy.

I'm going to try to get pictures up as soon as possible.

Click here to view today's pictures.

Wuhan

We made it to Wuhan.

We are in the Shangri-La hotel which is very nice but our friends Yongmei and Able are staying nearby in a very nice hotel with free high-speed internet access for much less. Oh well. Next time. ;-)

I wanted to tell you about the spa and dinner but I was just too tired last night after dinner. So I'll tell you now. The spa was really cool. First I sat in the steamer for a while, then I had a nice bath, and then I had a massage that lasted more than an hour. Travel is tough on my back and I have a couple of aches, but the massage didn't really help. It felt good though!

Immediately after the spa we went to a really nice restaurant for dinner. We got a private room and had our personal server. We had a really nice Shaoxing rice wine that was lighter than most that I've had before. Jiefu explained that it was a newer refined version of the standard rice wine. The food was excellent. We had Aloe Vera, shrimp, a small fish from the sea. We had roast port butt that was fantastic. Wenguo tried to keep me from eating it but I had seconds it was soooo good. We had a small roast chicken that seemed to have been dried before it was roasted. It was delicious. We also had big fish head soup with tofu - the broth was so good I couldn't believe it. Jiefu gave me the cheek from the fish and told me this was the best part. It was good.
Water chestnut cake. Crispy fresh bamboo shoots. Once again a remarkable meal.

Wenguo's nephew Huang Huang came from his university in Huangzhou to join us for dinner. Wenguo made him translate everything for me and corrected him when he was incorrect.

The flight to Wuhan was great. Both airports were excellent. They served us a meal and good coffee on the airplane.

We will be a mother and a father in just a few hours... We are supposed to meet her tomorrow morning.

Weather Forecast for Wuhan

Wuhan Weather Report:

Tues:
Cloudy
High: 73°Low: 58°

Wed　
Partly Cloudy
High: 80°Low: 64°

Thu　
Showers
High: 71°Low: 58°

Fri　
Cloudy
High: 72°Low: 58°

Sat　
AM Clouds
PM Sun
High: 69°Low: 60°

Lunch

I just had a remarkable lunch. This morning I walked to a nearby park and took some pictures while Wenguo went to a beauty salon to get her hair cut and straightened. I will post some pictures of the park as soon as I figure out how to make the images smaller in the Chinese version of the image editing program on Mama's computer.

But back to lunch - First of all Mama poured a pretty large glass of brown rice wine. I really like this sweet rice wine served with meals. Lunch included stomach in vegetables stir-fried with lots of oil, tendon also served in vegetables, part of a small duck, delicious egg rolls, soup made with tofu, tomatoe and seaweed, cold chicken which is dipped in a soy sauce and oil mix, and lamb also using the same sauce. Of course there was also a small bowl of rice, mama put the stir-fried vegetables on top of the rice. Baba offered more wine, so I added another half glass. I really enjoyed lunch and ate too much.

Now I'm ready for a nap! However, I wouldn't dare because I want to reset my clock to the local time and try to minimize the effects of jet lag. So far I'm doing fine but I expect it to be more difficult this afternoon.

I feel so lucky to be able to experience Chinese culture like this. Immersed in the culture, living with mama and baba, eating and drinking what they eat and drink. Walking the streets saying Ni Hao to everyone that engages me with a look of interest or a smile. In the park I met many young people, apparently on a field trip with their art class as they were drawing pictures of the old buildings. Many of them said "Hello", "Hi", "Welcome to China" and "How are you?". I was impressed that so many of them could speak any English while all I could say in Chinese was "Ni Hao" and "Si jiang" (goodbye). And I traveled to their country. I'm embarrassed.

Everyone was so nice to me! I am humbled by this exprience. I have never experienced such grace and kindness and generosity. One young lady I met while I was walking back quickly offered her umbrella as there is a very light rain. I explained that I didn't need it and that I had a hood to cover my head if the rain got heavier. She walked a very long block with me and we had a very nice conversation. She spoke English very well and explained that her job in Shaoxing required her to prepare people to speak English for business. She was very kind and before we finished the block she inquired if I needed an umbrella. I think she thought that I would not share with her because I was married, so she would have offered to buy an umbrella for me at one of the street vendors stalls. It really wasn't raining very hard and I was almost back to mama and baba's house, so I politely declined.

When I got back, Wenguo was still at the hair salon so I went to the indoor/outdoor market down the street. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to make anybody uncomfortable but I wanted to because it is so incredible in that it is different than anything I have ever seen elsewhere. I was really impressed by the live poultry in cages and with feet tied together. I was really impressed with the incredible assortment of fish, eel, sea snakes, crabs, snails, clams and other seafood. It was so cool. The live eel in the tubs were really wild. There was octopus and squid on ice. And there were tons of really, really good looking fruit and vegetables. I saw bitter melon which I swear is terrible. I have only had it once and I couldn't eat it. Wenguo says we will have to try it again in Guangzhou where they have a great recipe for it and she swears I'll like it. I can't wait. :-(

I'll try to get some pictures of the park on Flicker now, and I hope to post again after dinner - to describe dinner. Every meal is remarkable.

-posted by Dan

Shaoxing

We made it!

After a 2 our flight to San Francisco, a 2 hour layover there, a 13 hour flight to Shanghai, and a 3 hour ride in a van, we arrived at Mama and Baba's house in Shaoxing at about 9:30 PM.

Jiejie and Jeifu picked us up at the airport and drove us to Shaoxing. I didn't sleep much on the plane - maybe 1 hour during the James Bond movie (I had already seen it). I slept about 1 hour in the van ride. Wenguo and her sister and brother-in-law spoke Chinese in the van so I just passed out. When I did wake up about a half hour before we arrived in Shaoxing, the ride in the van was intense. I don't understand the rules of the road here and would not be able to drive.

Mama had some food ready and we ate a late dinner and I drank some brown rice wine (sleeping pill) at dinner with Jiefu before we crashed for the evening. We got up around 7AM feeling refreshed and ready to go.

I took a couple of pictures of the scrolls Baba made and uploaded them to the Flicker account.

We are going to do some shopping. I need warmer clothes because it is much colder here than we expected. I packed a lot of short sleeve shirts and shorts because I saw it was 23C in Wuhan but it is only in the 50s (F) here in Shaoxing.

We are all going to go to the spa later today and I'll get a foot massage!

-posted by Dan

Questions for Shuya's Nannies

We combined a list of questions we would like to ask our daughter's nanny on the gotcha day. ( I got most of the questions from Yahoo AP group. ) We want to find out as much information as possible about her life in the orphanage. We feel bad that we missed 17 months of her life. We also wrote a thank you letter to the orphanage director and nannies. We promise them we will send them Shuya's pictures after we come back. We hope we can bring her back to visit them in couple of years.

Questions for the nannies:

• Who found her? Why hasn’t she been adopted before and why so long?
• Did any of her families, relatives ever asking about her? Do you know if she is from this area? Do you know why she was abandoned?
• Was there a note found with her, or any other memento? If there was a note/memento, could we have a copy of it?
• Do you have her finding ad? Could we have a copy of her finding ad?
• Is she close to a particular caregiver? What is that caregivers’s name? What (if anything) does she call her caregiver?
• Does she have a nickname? Do you call her Dongdong?
• Did she ever go anywhere outside of orphange? or outside of Huangshi?
  
• How is her sleeping habit? Does she have a special friend or cribmate in the orphanage? What is that child’s name? Has that child been adopted?
• Is she potty trained? Does she get up during the night? How many times? Does she poop in a potty? How can you tell she needs to go?
• What makes her happy?
• What makes her angry or upset?
• What are the best ways to soothe her?
• What are her favorite activities?
• Has she had health problems or allergies? What kinds of medical treatments has she had?
• What kind of food is she eating now? Does she have any particular likes or dislikes? What is her favorite food?
• Does the orphanage or caregivers need anything in particular? Is there a telephone number or email address so we can contact you about the orphanages’ future needs?
  

-posted by wenguo

Packing...

We are packing the last few things we think we need - and taking out a couple of things here and there. A shirt or two - a pair of shorts - we need to lighten the load. I'm not sure why we are bringing almost a suitcase full of stuff for the baby - we'll be able to buy stuff there pretty cheap. Oh well. I guess we need to be prepared. I'm sure we'll still fill a suitcase with new stuff for her! (That lap ticket will pay for itself - we can bring another 50lb bag!)

Just about 30 hours before take off - and less than a week before we meet her!

We'll be in Wuhan on the 25th. We are already planning to meet some of the folks in our group. We've made contact with all of the couples and I think we're going to be traveling with a nice small group. They all have kids so they will be able to help us - you don't know how much calmer that makes me feel! Kim has been especially nice. We've had a lot of contact with her and she is very thoughtful. We can't wait to meet her!

Lots of people I work with said kind things this week, and especially today. I've promised to bring Shuya to work to show her off when we get back. I can't wait!

I am sure there will be difficult moments, but I am so looking forward to this trip. I've been saving my vacation for a long time, so that I don't have to take any unpaid leave, and I hope to get a little relaxation on this journey. I think we're staying at some very nice hotels so I think I'll be able to find some time to relax, and I'm not going to try to do a lot of sight-seeing. I just want to spend some quality time with Shuya and try to bond with her.

- posted by Dan

I hope she likes me...

I keep worrying that she might not like me. My big nose will scare her or something.

We leave in just 2 days - we are counting down the hours and double checking everything.

Almost There...

They had the wrong address for the lap ticket and are resending it. We should get it tomorrow. I set up the watering system to water the plants and the grass, even though everything is green now, I want to make sure it's still green when we get back!

We are still getting some things ready but are in pretty good shape - I think. We'll see when we get there!

- posted by Dan

Dim Sum

We met our friends at the Empress for brunch. The Dim Sum was very good (except that they didn't know that ham was pork!) and I got to play with Claire and Ava. My favorite part was taking them by the hand and walking them over to the fish tank so they could see the fish swimming in the tank. They liked that but they also liked getting into and out of a basket that I suggested might be a boat. Claire got out and "swam" around the boat and got back in. I got some pictures of them with my camera phone... They are so sweet!

Everybody was very supportive at lunch and we talked about our trip, and about the long wait that 3 couples will have before they are matched. It just seems to get longer and longer, as if it wasn't long enough. I wish we could just all go and pick up our daughters right now because I am sure we would have a great time traveling together with this group of friends.

It seems like our departure date is coming up quickly and I'm trying hard to get caught up at work so that I don't leave too much to other people to clean up, and we are still packing more everyday. I think we have everything that we need ready so that we can go, except that the lap ticket for our daughter did not arrive. For some unknown reason the Post Office sent it back to the travel agency. It looks like we will have to pay $30 to have it re-issued and $10 to have it sent again by express mail. I hope they deliver it this time.

We have all the papers that our agency told us we need all in one clear plastic binder with about a dozen pockets, along with the paper I need to submit to add our daughter to my insurance. I plan to fax it back from China to HR as soon as we can along with a copy of the adoption papers (English translation version of course). I want to get her name in the system as soon as possible so that we don't run into any billing issues when we get back. We want to bring her in to a pediatrician and for evaluation at the International Adoption clinic as soon as we can.

-posted by Dan

Just 1 week to go before we fly to China

We have just one week to go before we leave. We have 2 suitcases full already and have made arrangements for a dogsitter. I spent a couple hours on the phone today trying to get the best seats possible for us and for Mama and Baba. They will fly back to the states with us from Shanghai.

Tomorrow we will go to a Chinese restaurant for Dim Sum with our support group - a small group of friends who have, and are in the process of adopting children from China. We are looking forward to meeting with them once again as we do each month.

I'm ready to go now and can hardly wait almost 2 more weeks to be with this beautiful child!

Gotcha Day

We have been informed that April 26th will be our "Gotcha" Day!

Travel Plans!

We will fly to Shanghai on April 22nd. We will spend some time with family in Shaoxing for a couple of days and then we will fly from Huangzhou to Wuhan on the 25th. We think we will meet Shuya on the 27th. We can't wait! While we are there we will stay in the Shangri-la Hotel http://www.shangri-la.com/wuhan/shangri-la/en/. It looks first rate, and it's not expensive.

We will go to Guangzhou a couple of days later, after we have finished all of the paperwork in Wuhan. We will stay in the White Swan Hotel http://www.whiteswanhotel.com/eng/public/index.asp. It's very expensive. Our US Consulate appointment is on May 7th and 8th.

We will go back to visit with family in Shaoxing and Huangzhou before going to Shanghai where we will spend a couple of nights before flying back on May 15th.

It's a very exciting time!

Development Report

We received our daughter's development report.

Here is the translation:

She was found abandoned on November 11, 2005 by staff members of the orphanage when they came to work in the morning and it was reported to the police. When she entered the orphanage, she was wearing a set of white baby clothes with blue flower patterns on it. She was wrapped in a brown female jacket. There was a birth note left with her.

When she entered the orphanage, her height was 50 cm, weight was 3 kg, head circumference was 34 cm and chest circumference was 33 cm. The birth note left with her indicated her birthday to be November 10, 2005. The orphanage name her "Huang Fu Dong".

Since she entered the orphanage, under the meticulous care of the nannies, Fu Dong has been healthy. According to the regulations, she has received immunizations including one shot of BCG, Measles and meningitis; three shots of OPV, Hep.B and DPT. She has never suffered from any communicable diseases. When she was two months old, she blinked her eyes and turned her head to the source of the sound when she heard the rattle. Her eyes could follow nearby toys when she was three months old. She could grab nearby toys when she was four months old. When she was six months old, she could raise her head when she lay on her stomach. When she was over eight months old, she could sit steadily and she could hold a toy in each hand and knock them. She could stand for a while with support under her arms and she could make “yiya” sounds when she was ten months old. She could walk by holding the railing and she could grab toys from other babies when she was eleven months old. When she was twelve months old, she could walk by holding her nanny’s hands and she could put a block into a cup and take it out. Now, Fu Dong can walk a few steps and she gets up to continue waling when she falls. She is very brave.

Huang Fu Dong has been living in the orphanage under the group care. Her life follows a regular routine. Her main food was milk in the first three months. When she was four months old, we started to supplement her meals with rice cereal, vegetable soup, juice, egg yolk, etc. After she was eight months old, she started to have pork rib soup and fish soup and she learned to eat soft noodles and rice. Now she eats five meals a day at 7:20 am, 10:40 am, 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm and 11:30 pm. Her main food is the mixture of milk and rice cereal and well-cooked noodles. She eats well-cooked noodles at 10:40 am and 4:30 pm with chopped vegetables, egg and minced meat as supplemental food, about 50g. At 2:00pm, she drinks 120 ml of juice or milk and has some cake and fruit cubes. She has one to two BMs every day. She urinates about ten times a day. She gets up at 7:00am, naps from 12:00pm to 1:30pm, and goes to bed at 8:00pm. She sucks her fingers when sleeping and falls asleep gradually.

Fu Dong is fairly lively. She is an active little girl. She is smart and she laughs a lot. She likes music and she bounces happily on an adult’s lap to happy music. She is social and she isn’t afraid of strangers. She likes being teased and enjoys playing games with other children. She screams loudly and her face turns red when she feels very happy. She likes “fighting” over toys with other children and she tries making toys make “zhizhi” noise by either pressing with hands or stepping with feet. Fu Dong has a pair of beautiful big eyes and fair skin, and she is very charming. The nannies of the orphanage all like this little girl, who is as pretty as a doll.

We Have a Daughter

(Click to Enlarge)

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 was our match day!

We received 3 photos and a medical history for our daughter. She is very beautiful. As soon as I saw the thumbnail sized photo stapled to her medical evaluation form I thoguhyt she was perfect for us. She is about 16 months now and her given name is Huang Fu Dong. Fu means good fortune and Dong means winter. We may give her a new name as our Chinse friends have advised us that this is not a good Chinese name for a girl.

Her orphanage name: Huang Fu Dong
Date of Birth: 11/10/2005 (She's about 16 old months now)
Location: Huang Shi , Hubei , China
Weight: 19lb
Height: 29 in

She is healthy. She can crawl and walk with assistance. She loves music and books. She gets along with other kids very well. She sleeps through the whole night. Her favorite activity is riding the wooden rocking horse.

We are thrilled. Our agency is trying to arrange travel in four weeks. We can’t wait!

Our first blog entry - February 19, 2007

This is our blog to document our trip to China to adopt a baby girl.