Micah surveys his empire. . .

We're still sleeping in three to four hour shifts and are out of synch with time. Steve took over at around 3:00 am and was up with Thea and Micah, then I got up at 6:30 am and we fed Micah. Until our trip to ShopRite, the cuisine is rice cereal and prunes - but he's loving it so far. I need to get formula because what I do have on hand, Micah does not like one bit.

After getting online to make sure the grocery store is open, Micah and I set off for ShopRite - the one with the Dunkin Donuts because Mom wanted coffee after two weeks of tea. Micah had his first ride in Mom's car and in a shopping cart. That early in the morning, the store is being restocked, so we were navigating amidst boxes and stock clerks.

Then we took a ride down 295 to see my office and those lucky few working on a Saturday morning. It gave Micah a chance to meet a few new people, and he was a little more clingy than he usually is. In China, he'd go to practically anyone - and he's definitely a Daddy's boy, so it was nice to have him hang onto me a little bit. He did well though and even though he wouldn't go to Maryann and Earla, he was willing to share his Cheerios with them and with Monique. It was so good to see them. We also stopped at the vegetable stand for tomatoes - a Jersey tomato is pure summer to me.

My little man fell asleep on the ride home, so we didn't stop at our neighborhood CVS to see if it still has the little squishy Fisher-Price fire truck he loved in China - of all the things we could misplace or lose on the trip, we're missing three stacking cups and that fire truck. He and Steve were back upstairs having a nap, Thea had her first breakfast which I hope will start getting her back into real time. I need a nap, but Thea wants company, so I'll fold laundry instead.

Off to the beach tomorrow, packing later tonight.

Photos Added - Micah Unveiled

I've put a few photos into the various posts and will upload them to www.kodakgallery.com as well. It's 11:30 pm Friday, Thea's eating pasta, I'm on the computer and working on laundry, Steve's trying to get Micah to sleep. I hope jet lag passes faster than it did last time. . . .

It is so good to be home, mostly for our own bed. Mattresses in China are rock hard and the beds seem lower (especially with our pillow top mattress). It's also nice to be able to go to the sink to brush my teeth without thinking about having a bottle of water handy. Minor complaints in the grand scheme of things.

We're home!

Our Continental flight had great tailwinds (70+ miles per hour) so we were slightly more than an hour early. Steve was in the center section and had an empty seat next to him, so we had five seats to use, which was very, very nice. Even with being the last in line at immigration, things moved quickly - and even the car service was at the airport waiting for us. The children won't be riding in a limo again until they go to their proms.

The flight was long, but uneventful. The same three episodes of CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY were playing on the video - all total they ran about 150 minutes, so after two thirteen to fifteen hour flights, I could almost recite dialogue.

Micah's immigration officer was Charles Olah - I picked his station because the one next to him with a short line had an officer who looked about twelve years old. I thought the officer we met at the San Francisco airport actually went through the sealed brown enveloped we brought home for Thea in 2004, but this guy just took the packet and said Micah's Certificate of Citizenship should arrived in about six weeks. (The brown envelope is given to each family the same day the child's visa is issued and the Chinese passport is returned to parents; the instructions are to hand carry it, don't open it on pain of death and hand it to the immigration officer at whatever port of entry into the US families return to.)

Last night we were in Hong Kong, but way out on Lantau Island at the Regal Hotel at the airport. We could walk from customs to hotel, and could take the baggage cart with us. The hotel was something out of a neo-, techno-, disco-ain't-dead decor. Dieter from the old SNL skit "Sprockets" would be quite at home there. A nice clerk with the unlikely name of Angus (he's Chinese) at the check-in desk upgraded our room, so we were down the hall from the Cash family instead of in the other tower. On our way back from dinner I was pushing the double stroller and oblivious to the world, but a classmate of Thea's from YingHua was calling out "Thea, Thea..." She and her mother and grandmother had just arrived and were leaving the following day for Wuhan on an Our Chinese Daughters Foundation tour. Small world. Thea was also sort of oblivious due to tiredness.

Micah's first act as a newly-minted American citizen was to poop and stink up the limo. Fifteen hours on a plane, and he chose this particular moment. Thea and Micah were wonderful on the plane; both slept well - Micah with three naps and Thea with one long one. She missed the plane landing at Newark because she was fast asleep.

Pictures will be uploaded soon - Steve ran off to Princeton to register Micah on his health insurance. Micah is discovering the toybox with Thea's old baby toys, but until we get the play pit up, this kid needs to be watched like a hawk. I've got to get to the store to stock up on baby food and diapers; I didn't buy much ahead of time because I wasn't sure of his size and what he'd be eating.

We survived, no illnesses, no glitches. Everyone's starting to crash (it's 6:30 am according to their internal clocks). It's going to be a few days of being out of sync with real time.

My most pressing question right now is: where in the world did all the dirty laundry come from? We sent out laundry once in Wuhan and once in Guangzhou and I still have a mountain of stuff to be washed.

Micah has his visa!

He's street-legal for entry into the US! Micah must have known it was a big day because he gave us a six a.m. wake-up call. For all those who know Steve and his utter dislike of getting up early in the morning, he was at breakfast at 7:30 a.m. today, which occurs on the same timetable as Haley's comet at best and virgin births at worst.

We went to the American consulate visa unit in the TianHe section of GuangZhou, about 30+ minutes from the hotel in traffic. It's in a non-descript office building, a five-floor escalator ride from street level. It is the only immigration visa unit in all of Asia according to the consular officer who did the swearing in, so this is the gateway through which everyone passes. It is about as dull and butt-ugly looking as any US government office space in Washington, DC - though there was a bunch of toys and things for children to play with in the waiting area.

The consular officer who did the oath actually had a personality, quite the opposite of the American ex-pat toad/drone who did the oath for Thea's visa - somewhere in the emails I've saved from our 2004 trip I have a bit of a rant about him that I'll throw in after I'm home and can edit the blog a little. Her name is Kathleen Yu, and although the last name seems Chinese, she's Caucasian. Since we were in the first row, I went to thank her after everything was finished, and she spoke to Micah in Mandarin - which was probably a refreshing change for him from Steve and I yelling "Bu yao" to him ten thousand times a day.

During her little speech prior to the oath, she said that she personally reviewed and signed off on all the children's applications - and there were enough families from the White Swan alone to fill one large motor coach and a minibus, she had her work cut out for her. The 'interview' at the visa window was only a review of our faces and photographs, no words were exchanged so the word used to describe what transpired was a complete misnomer.

After we all got back to the White Swan, we did the usual red coach photos - Thea and Jillian were about equally grouchy about having pictures taken. Then we all met at Lucy's for dinner. Today was Jim Cash's birthday - so Mary wanted a candle in a slice of apple pie a la mode so we could sing "Happy Birthday" to him. No way this could have been a surprise, the waitresses kept coming and asking if we wanted the apple pie with candle. No subtlety there whatsoever.

One interesting thing we saw on the way to and from the Consulate was guys swimming in the Pearl River. On the way there it was just a few, and they were pretty close to the riverbank. Once were were back in our room, looking down from the 10th floor we could see three or four men out in the middle of the main channel, right in the middle of the ferries that are constantly running back and forth and the shipping lanes. I question their sanity on several fronts: getting whacked by the hull a boat might smart a bit and the pollution level in the river has to be ridiculously high. Wednesday must be the day for this activity because it hasn't happened before. I tried to get a picture, but the zoom on my camera wasn't getting a good lock on them.

Tomorrow Ashleah's family is leaving to return to Des Moines. They are going to the airport at seven a.m. so we said good-byes and got their email address tonight. Micah and I took off a little early from the restaurant because I had to go pick up his chop. I got it at the same store where I bought Thea's chop in 2004. It has his name, MICAH and the two Chinese characters for his former name, Zhong Ji carved into it.

I'm toast, there's nothing more to write about. Our luggage has to be out in the hall at 11:20 am Thursday, the minibus will pick us up at noon. One night at the airport hotel in HK and we're on our way back.

Since this will probably be our last trip to China for a long, long while, I am going to miss it in many ways. I want to get back to our room to watch the light show on the Pearl River before the blue lights on the bridge get turned off at ten pm - though I hope that they turn the music down from wherever, we were treated to everything from Chinese songs to Roll Out the Barrel while trying to get Thea and Micah to sleep, which must come from a CD of the background music in Hell.

Good night all, good night GuangZhou, hello jet lag.

Just another day in GuangZhou

No obligations today, other than one of us being in our hotel room between 10:30 and 11:30 for a call from Lucy to let us know everything as ok (or not) with our visa paperwork. It wasn't much past 10:45 when the phone rang and we had the 'all clear'. Steve and children already were at the pool - Thea is now extremely enthusiastic about going to the pool and since her one suit was still damp, she even agreed to wear her two piece tankini suit, oh miracle of miracles. We puttered around the baby pool and the steps of the bigger section of the pool for about an hour before heading in to get showered and dressed to go out shopping.

I'm not into the high pressure sales and bargaining scene, it is just not my thing, so we headed to A Gift from China. We were the only people in the shop, which is a charity-run store that benefits orphans and disabled children in China, and there was a corner with toys for the the children to play with - which kept Steve distracted as well so I could shop in relative peace. We then went to the small park down the street, where Thea was undeterred by the heat and the fact her parents were turning into puddles. She tried out some of the exercise equipment and the slides, then we went to Lucy's Cafe for a late lunch.

Before sitting down to lunch we had to make a bathroom stop for Thea - the bathrooms in the park adjacent to Lucy's are all squat potties. I usually take Thea's shorts and underwear off and let her have at it - this time she planted her feet on either side of the hole and looked up at me and said, "How do I use this thing?" even though she's a veteran of at least three previous visits to bathrooms with no toilets.

After lunch we went back to the hotel, and since naps were not part of anyone's game plan, anyone under 48" tall, that is, Steve and Thea headed back to the pool. Micah and I hung out playing for a bit. He got his poop face on, but the phone rang and it was one of our group checking in about dinner plans. This gave me enough time to forget about changing Micah's diaper, so he let me know by going over to the table where the wipes, changing mat and diapers were, pulling them one by one on the floor and then sitting on the changing pad. At first it just seemed like he was in his usual investigate and destroy mode, but then it started looking like he was deliberately doing something, and he was. I told you he was a gastrointestinal genius.

After changing the diaper, Micah and I went for a walk to see if there were postcards available in the hotel shops. I went in for a couple postcards, and came out with two books of Chinese fairy tales and five postcards. The saleslady was still following me after I paid trying to see if I was interested in books about Hubei or ChongQing, postcards of Hubei. . .fortunately Micah was squirming and wanted to keep moving so we said thank you, but now thanks and moved on to the pool.

Thea and Steve were in the big pool, and she'd been brave enough to go with him to the waterfall - I got that advance report from the Cash family as we passed in the hall leading to the pool area. She is so proud of herself - and Steve was so happy to be out of the baby pool. Micah and I hung out for a few minutes and then went back into the hotel. He was doing a lot of walking - I walk backwards, encourage him to come forward and then keep moving out of reach. He'll take it up with his therapist later if this is somehow damaging to his little psyche. On the way back, right near the fish pond, he just plopped down and wouldn't budge. By the time I had him picked up and on the elevator, he was asleep so Steve and Thea went to Lucy's Cafe to see our group, but Thea fell asleep at dinner so Steve had it packed up and brought it back to the room. Micah shared her spaghetti and then Steve and Thea went out to retrieve our laundry. Dirty clothes for four people, accumulated over about a week, returned clean for under $18. I don't know what I am going to do when I have to cook, do laundry, and grocery shop again.

Tomorrow I've got to get a few more things done before starting to get organized for the trip home. I don't know if we get the passports and adoption certificates back tomorrow - since the Consulate appointment is late in the day, I'm hoping the stuff isn't returned on Thursday or I'll be shopping at the 7-11 for Tums.

Visa Paperwork, Etc. Finished

Today we went out at 9:45 to have the babies photos taken for their visas. We met the third LaVida family who adopted an eight-year old girl from Fuling, ChongQing. Ashleah is visually impaired, and learned quite a bit of English while in foster care. Her new mother is also legally blind and works with visually-impaired and blind students in the Des Moines, IA school system. The shop where the photos were done was right down the street from the International Medical Clinic - but without the clinic's lovely air-conditioning. So much for the shower, I was doing pretty well walking the tree-lined central street but within minutes of hanging out in that shop I was damp and sweating in places I was heretofore unaware I had sweat glands.

The physical went a little differently than Thea's, much more crowded for one - so I now know why our previous facilitators made us get moving by 8:00 am. Micah has gained about 1/2 pound, if the clinic's scale is to be believed - he got weighed and measured AFTER seeing the doctor for his physical, so that was rather useless. The doctor asked what was wrong with his head and idiot that I am, I thought she meant his auditory canal atresia and microtia. No, she meant the bruise on his forehead from last night's collision with the marble floor. Oops, baby mommy.

For what the internet costs here at the White Swan, we should probably go out to the internet cafe down the island a few blocks but the humidity just smacks you over the head like a baseball bat when you walk out the door so wimps like me pay the price to sit in peace and air-conditioning and crab about how much they are looking forward to going home.

Among the miracles of today: Thea went in the pool today. It was akin to the parting of the Red Sea. We have begged, offered bribes, you name it over the past ten days and the stubborn mule that she is, she absolutely refused to go. Once in both kids loved it, and were so tired they passed out at dinner or shortly thereafter. Problematic when dinner is at a restaurant (with no worms or insects on the menu) a block from the hotel and we didn't bring the stroller. Micah is portable, but Thea is dead weight. Fortunately the Cash family had their stroller for Jillian (also portable) so Steve could bring Thea back in that. I left a little ahead of them with Micah, but had to make a trip back down to the front desk because my key card didn't work.

Second miracle: Micah might actually be somewhat trained to use the potty. This morning we were playing on the floor when he got that pinched and serious look that is the international language of defecation in progress. Steve brought out the little purple plastic potty we (fools that we are) brought from Wuhan. Even though there was poop in the diaper, we thought we'd sit him on the potty to refresh his memory. He continued to rock and squint and grunt while playing with his Link-a-Doos, but I thought it was just going through the motions until we uncorked his little behind from the potty and saw the monster offering he put there. So my little man is a genius of a gastrointestinal nature. He's going to get plopped on the seat right after he has his bowl of rice cereal tomorrow morning so he can do a repeat performance.

I just confirmed our reservations on China Southern from GZ to HK. This airlines needs 72 hours for confirmation. Amazing.

All the consulate paperwork was done today. We go to TianHe to the US Consulate Adopted Child Immigration Visa Unit Wednesday to swear we didn't lie on the paperwork and get his IR-3 - which will get him immediate citizenship upon return to the US. Two hours of filling out forms with the other families (in our room at the hotel); Micah slept through it all. The noise level was probably similar to what he knows from the orphanage. This time when we go to the Consulate office we can take a small diaper bag/baby bottles since it's 35 minutes away. Last time when it was within walking distance of the hotel, it was passports and that was it. Period. No cameras, no electronic equipment, no diaper or bottle.

The Going Home Barbie arrived in our room today. It's made by Mattel and is given to guests at the White Swan. Micah's first doll - I'll keep it to show him what I looked like before children came into my life and then see if he would want to donate it to one of the charities working with Chinese orphanages to auction off. You would not believe how much some parents care about this silly plastic doll. This one just looks like a bad fashion decision carrying an Asian baby girl; Thea's looks like Barbie went to Woodstock, smoked a little something and then said, "Like let's go to China to adopt a baby, dude."

Anyway, that's the latest from GuangZhou, where all the (American) men are sweaty, all the (American) women are dripping in perspiration and all the children are looking forward to their next trip to the pool.

Thanks to all those who've emailed or left comments - especially since the phone Steve got from Princeton has been pretty much worthless, it's like a small slice of home arriving each day.

Lydia

GuangZhou - The First Day of Phase II

Any day with a 4:30 am wake-up call is bound to be disastrous, and although our flight on Shenzhen Air went extremely well - Micah was barely aware he was on an airplane much less leaving the province he's lived in his entire 16 months - the rest of the day has been completely downhill.

At the airport in GuangZhou, we were met by a representative of the White Swan Hotel. We were expecting our guide, Lucy, to make an appearance. Fortunately all nine of us and all the luggage fit in the small van. At the hotel, it took a bit to get into our rooms. Worth the wait for us, since we're on a true non-smoking floor, and have been upgraded to a room with a view of the Pearl River. Our guide finally turned up and gave us a brief rundown of tomorrow's plans. Compared to Eric, I'm not impressed thus far.

Steve's Blackberry still does not work, so both of us want to kill the person at Princeton who said that it would work for phone service and for Steve to get work-related email while in China. In Wuhan service was expected to be iffy, but it should have worked in Beijing and here and it doesn't. Rack that one up as a mini-disaster.

We almost got Thea into her bathing suit and to the pool. She's been resisting - and in Wuhan, the indoor pool was so hot and humid, not a big deal. We had her dressed with a minimum of hassle, Micah was in his swim diaper and trunks, and it started thundering and raining, so we decided against going out. It was over in 20 minutes.

Then Thea and I went on an exploring trip around the hotel while Steve and Micah napped. We checked out the pools, went to look at the waterfall and koi pond, took a look at the playroom (too noisy for Thea and the toys were too baby/toddler oriented). While walking around the second-floor part of the hotel, coming out from one side of the waterfall to the other, I missed a step - just a little three-inch high thing that seem to be everywhere in China - and came crashing down, taking Thea down with me onto the marble floor. Fortunately she was ok and I'll see how I wake up tomorrow, probably a little sore. Slight amplification on the disaster-meter.

After we went back to the room, we woke up the boys and I was playing on the bed with Micah and he headbutted me. I never thought that when someone catches you square on the bridge of your nose (with glasses on) that it would be as painful as it was. My eyes teared and it just throbbed. Fortunately Micah was none the worse for the incident and went on playing as if nothing happened. Another notch upward on the D-M.

Lucy suggested a restaurant down the street for Cantonese cuisine. We walked with the Cash family and finally decided on one with fish in the front as the guide as described. Fish swimming in tanks, and sand worms, and water beetles, and fingerling/baby fish, it was a zoologist's wet dream. Mary was in charge of the menu and she said she was hard pressed to find four dishes that didn't come with worms, bugs, jellyfish or the like. (Eric, our Wuhan guide, told us that people in GuangZhou eat everything on the table except for the legs (of the table) and he was not kidding.) This place had all the makings for an episode of "Survivor." I don't know if this was some sort of revenge on her part for our questioning why she wasn't at the airport or an innocent recommendation.

The restaurant put us in our own little room - which was nice, but it also was more humid than the rest of the place. Thea hadn't napped so she was irritable and itchy from a bug bite on her foot, so after I ate I took both Thea and Micah back to the hotel. After showering off, having a box of milk and brushing her teeth, she was dead to the world.

Steve came back a bit later and we were trying to find the few things that got packed and not found - which at the moment is my toothbrush and Thea's. Fortunately the hotel provided two toothbrushes, so I just used those for now. Micah has sort of learned how to slide off the bed without face-planting himself on the floor, but that didn't save him from faceplanting in the marble-floored entry way. I have never heard him cry so loudly, it was just horrible. So that was the final coupe-de-grace of the disaster that was today. Unless this computer crashes, which has happened to me a few times on our 2004 trip.

Anyway, four more days to go, so long as I don't screw up on the visa paperwork. Please keep fingers crossed and offer good thoughts to the deity of your choice.