The adoption is official, and the rest of the saga...

What a day it has been today, day 2 of having Isaac.   I already feel as if we have had him longer and I feel that so many things have happened in a day that it can't possibly just be the second day.   I think emotions today were probably even more heightened than yesterday and we are definitely going through all the things that you deal with when suddenly having two children.   Our morning started well.  Isaac slept through the night although he moves around a bit and I have to confess that the sound of the thumb sucking is just awful - it's like listening to someone slurping tea for hours.   Indigo woke up in the night but not with any problems, I think still just from time change and she did fall back asleep but we were awake again by 5:30 am but Isaac slept passed 7 and might have slept longer but we all started moving around.   He woke up all smiles.  I was working on getting all the gift bags ready to hand out today and we were getting the children dressed and off to breakfast - it actually went relatively smoothly with David, Grandma and Granddad taking the kids down a few minutes earlier to get breakfast while I wrapped up.   Isaac ate and ate at breakfast.   He had congee, yogurt, sausage, egg and watermelon. and a glass of pineapple juice.   He was angry when we left breakfast and actually had a bit of a tantrum (short) when David lifted him away from the table.  We left at 9 for the civil affairs office and things got a bit rough.   We had to sign papers, give thumb prints, answer questions etc.   Isaac was on my lap and Indigo was next to David.   Indigo started whining about wanting a snack - this is 30 minutes after breakfast and we're trying to be responsive to the official and are telling her that we are not having a snack now and she needs to wait.  Isaac sees the nannies who had brought him and he was just crying and crying.   Indigo started behaving dreadfully and when the official gave us the actual adoption document she snatched the paper and would not pass it over.  We obviously did not want to pull it from her for fear it would be torn - she did end up giving it back but it was a hairy moment and she was obviously acting out - her whole 3 1/2 year old self has had her life of the past 2 1/2 years turned completely upside down in the past 24 hours.  Also, as it turns out, she was incredibly sad and upset that Isaac was crying so much and was so very unhappy.   As we finished the business and Isaac was on my lap (at this point he wanted David but he had me instead) and Indigo was crying, where tears were welling up in her eyes and her little lip was quivering and she was trying so hard not to cry - that was my moment, of "what have I done"?   We had told Indigo before getting Isaac that he might be very sad and that he did not know us and how much we loved him and that he would miss people he loved and who had cared for him, but obviously that is just way too much to comprehend for a little girl and she wanted to know when he would not be sad.    It was such a relief to leave there.    We really thought it would be a great idea to get the kids outside and after some discussions of what might be best to do, Denise took us to the Zhonghua Gate.    Nanging has the longest city wall in the WORLD!    The Zhonghua Gate was the largest and it's incredible.   Lots of photos included in the link and we all had a terrific time there.    Where you see the characters on the bricks, each person who made a brick put their name and town and province on the brick - amazing.   Anyway, you can look up Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing, Jiangsu on the internet if you're interested.  We enjoyed the fresh air and the climbing around.  Grandma Lee did super and we managed pretty well with the stroller too.   Isaac was very happy when we let him walk around - he does sort of a bouncy/dancing walk.    The kids had more snacks, both had already devoured fruit snacks and granola bars and at this point Isaac polished off a mini bagel with peanut butter.   We had the driver drop us off at the great market area all around the Confutious Temple which is walking distance from the hotel.   Denise walked us to a great lunch place and we all had a fantastic lunch of noodles, steamed buns, chicken on a stick, some sticky rice covered pork balls, and spring rolls.   Indigo and Isaac both ate really well.  Isaac had two whole spring rolls and again kept eating after we were all satiated.   I also had the pleasure of having to change him there - on the floor of the restroom upstairs.   I needed to bring a travel changing pad.   We walked back to the hotel and both children napped for a long time and after a while I had a nap too.   After naps we hung out in the room and played.   Grandma Lee had brought a blow up ball and David was playing with the kids with it and Isaac was laughing - the first time we have really heard him giggle and it's a sweet, sweet sound.   Grandma and Grandad came over and then we went out again - it must have been already 5:30.  There was light mist but nothing too serious.   It is fun being out at night - lots of activity in the area.  We walked to the supermarket, taken care not to be mowed down as we walked.  The supermarket is awesome - I could spend hours there just checking stuff out.   So much selection - I think there were two aisles of just cookies and crackers.    We bought some apple juice, crackers, cookies, and fresh apples and some coke zero.   Then we walked through the pedestrian area of the Confutious Temple which was wonderful.   Everything is completely lit up and pretty.  I think also, because it is Chinese New Year, there are extra decorations and red lanterns are hanging everywhere and were reflecting in the water.   So many people are out and it's very lively - there is really just no way to describe the vibe.    We were able to get a photo of all us taken on a bridge with lights in the background and they printed the copies right there for us.   We decided to find a spot for dinner and walked around until we saw one that seemed to have a good number of people in it.    We had a delicious dinner!   We were very lucky that the restaurant had an English menu (and a picture menu, but those things did not look as good).   We had shredded ginger pork with pancakes, some duck, some fried rice which was awesome, some cashew chicken, some spicy rice noodles,  and some vegetables.    It was super.   Indigo was very whiny and we also saw some first signs of either sibling rivalry or reverting to a younger age.  David was feeding Isaac and Indigo said she wanted us to feed her too - normally she is all about doing everything herself.   She had also been saying she was so hungry but then did not want to eat anything and that her tummy hurt.  Also, she said she did not want the noodles.   I committed the cardinal sin of not listening to her and putting noodles in her bowl - she usually loves noodles, but she was very unhappy I did that because she had said she did not want noodles.   Anyway, things improved after that and she ate some rice and some cashew chicken and she reverted to her normal perky and happy self.  She was very excited about going to the squatty potty in the restaurant.   She did have some gas (TMI I know) but I think perhaps because of that, that her belly had been hurting.   She also started talking about Isaac again and how he now was not so sad and that he loved us and would know we loved him - she is very concerned for him.   Isaac again ate and ate and ate.  Poor David barely got to each much dinner because Isaac was like an insatiable vacuum.   We so enjoyed our dinner and our walk back to the hotel.     We got the children ready for bed and I had Isaac down and pretty much asleep and David read to Indigo.    Once Isaac was down I popped over to Granddad and Grandma's room as they were skyping with Granny and Sage so I chatted with Mom.  When I came back Indigo was completely sacked out but Isaac had woken up again and he is still awake!   However, if I go to try and settle him, he thinks it's all a big joke and starts laughing and then I could not help but laugh and was doing some raspberries on his cheeks which had him cracking up and then he started going "pppfff" and so I have essentially already taught my new son to spit.   I don't really know what to do at this point to have him fall asleep.   he seems happy but we may have some ill effects tomorrow.   One other bit of news.  After dinner, we took off his diaper to put on a fresh one for bed and David said it was dry so I said, let's take him to the potty.  Indigo demoed for him and then we sat him down and said what sounds like "shoe shoe" but obviously is something different and are the words for going pee pee and he did!   That was exciting.     Signing off for today - I am sure there will be more action tomorrow.     Here is the link for the photos from today:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/