Guangzhou Sunday evening of February 7 and Monday February 8th

Hmmm, someone said that we look elated!   Perhaps I have been a bit too rosey in my postings :-)   There is no doubt that we are happy and that things with Isaac are progressing so I guess overall we are elated but we're also coping with a lot.   We had a group dinner last night although I think we were at about 3 tables so we really just could chat with the people at our table.   The kids would not nap earlier in the day and were overly tired when we arrived at the restaurant.   The restaurant was Malaysian and we really enjoyed the meal, although for being in China, it's incredibly hard to get plain white rice.   Anyway, we sat down and Indigo was waving her chopsticks, almost poking Grandma and not stopping when she was told.  Grandma had to shout "no"; at her which then made her fall apart.  Isaac was shrieking and throwing a massive tantrum.  I walked him a bit until he calmed down and brought him back to the table and he had another massive melt down.  This time I just held him because I actually felt that it rewarded his awful behaviour to walk him and the families at the table were understanding.   Things got better after that - as you can see Grandma and Indigo played the hand stacking game - note the huge pearl ring Grandma is sporting from her bit of shopping!  The food starting arriving and at first Isaac was still so mad that he would just turn his head but food won out and he ended up eating a lot and became very happy and jovial.   Indigo barely touched a thing which is becoming sort of par for the course on this trip although most days she gets a good breakfast in her and she had the McDonalds twice and grilled cheese sandwich twice.   We bought apples in Nanjing and she eats those and a daily fruit snack etc.   She is not starving and we are weary of getting her to try things.   So, dinner ended well and we walked back to the hotel - it was sweet as Isaac walked with Granddad the whole way back.   David had started to feel the effects of a cold going on so we got the kids to bed and went to bed fairly early ourselves.   I then woke up in the night because Isaac was coughing (he has had a cold since we got him) and then I lay there worrying about him - what if it was in his chest and I have no antibiotics and we still have a whole long trip left, should I give him some benedryl, but he seemed to be sleeping so I did not want to wake him etc. etc.  So I was up for ages, decided that perhaps I had heartburn so took some tums, decided to suck on a throat lozenge, read for a while and finally fell back to sleep.   We overslept until 7:30 after all that.   When Indigo came in I told her it was still night time because the clock at our bed said 5:30 and said "but it's light outside" - she gets up and looks behind the curtains right away.   That got us moving and we jumped out of bed and got ready - I think we made it to breakfast by shortly passed 8.  At first, Indigo's behavior was terrible - she was so grumpy.  I think she had really low blood sugar from not eating well last night.   I went to get plates of food for both the children and when I returned David had left with Indigo.  They returned in due course and she ate the minimal amount we asked her to eat before she could have a glass of juice.   She did end up liking the cheese and so she even had more of that.  Then it was Isaac's turn to melt down and David, who has little patience when he feels bad, took him to the room.   Then Indigo had a massive fit about putting her shoes on before we left - wanted us to put them on for her - some fair amount of regression going on.   Elated right!!   We met the group at 9:30 and headed back to Shamian Island for the TB check.   Granddad elected to stay at the hotel and watch the Super Bowl.   I think David would have liked to stay too.   This time we were in and out of the medical building in five minutes and that included a squatty potty visit.   The result was negative which was obviously a relief - we thought it would be as we had seen no reaction on Isaac's arm.  Things turned better with some time spent on the playground at the island - both kids had a great time.   This young guy James came up to us and said he wanted to practice his English and we had a delightful talk with him so that is who is in the picture you see.   He told us that he has learned his English from American movies and he is a huge fan of American sports and knew all the football teams and NBA.   Grandma and I "needed" to do some shopping and so David hung out a bit and the returned to Lucy's again - the burgers were calling.    The one photo is of this awesome guy Jordan who is one of the shop owners who just has such a great personality.  He did the Chinese characters of Isaac and Indigo's name gratis.   I guess the time it takes to do that keeps you looking in the shop!  Grandma and I literally shopped until we dropped, skipped lunch in favor of shopping, and have both ordered tops which we hope will be delivered to the hotel by Thursday.   We staggered back to the White Swan where we were to meet, but not without stopping at the ATM.   I left Grandma on the red couch and went to find David and children.   David was having a painting made of Isaac's name and I ended up also getting him a chop.   David took a photo of the Pearl River which you see and also Indigo with some of the many beautiful sculptures on the island - you can see she found a hopscotch amongst the sculptures of the children playing - so cute.  David has been dying of heat and I had seen a place with some t-shirts so he got one and then we rushed to meet the bus.   We were given the option of going back to the mall from yesterday but at this point we thought we would all return to the hotel.   Isaac fell asleep on the bus - which is turning out to be bad because then we can't get hiim back to sleep at hotel.   I ended up getting off the bus at the mall just to get a carry-on suitcase because I have to have something to help with our purchases and I think we can get away with an additional carry-on.   Got back to the hotel and the kids had not slept at all!   I thought I would find all three fast asleep but it was not so.    Apparently Isaac had practicaly been jumping up and down in the crib - this is a kid who could barely get himself stood up in the crib when we first got him.   David is in full blown cold mode (translation - he is miserable and of course, sicker than any person with a cold could ever be).  So, we're ready to get some dinner before the children completely crash - Isaac appears ready to fall asleep at the little table so we have to go before things head way far south.    Have now since gone to dinner - went to a delicious Italian restaurant for a change.   Indigo ate like she had never been fed - had multiple rolls and then about 5 helpings of my pasta.   Isaac ate well too.  When we first walked in he started to cry and I thought "here we go again" but I asked them to bring some bread right away - some things are reliable with Italian and he was soon really happy.  He loves tomatoes and we had a sort of crushed tomatoe dipping sauce which he devoured.   Indigo loved the guy who we think must be the owner, a young cute Italian guy.   He did some high five with her and then when we left he shook her hand and kissed it and she gave him a huge hug - we can barely get her to hug family members but she fell hard for his swarthy good looks and charm.   After being back about 30 minutes Isaac was already sleeping and Indigo is in bed too - it has since taken her at least an hour to go to sleep!   Photos from evening yesterday and today below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623253944125/

Guangzhou night of Saturday February 6 and Sunday, February 7th

Well, we're pleased to report that things got better later on Saturday.   After the kids had napped we got ready to go out to dinner. Before leaving we let the children play in the hallways.   There is a playground on the 4th floor but the weather here has been raining and the playground is outdoors and so the hallways are the best we got.   After a lot of tears in the day, I was thrilled to see these smiling faces and to see Indigo and Isaac holding hands and having fun.   We went to dinner at a very local place - just crossing the street is a serious adventure.   We had been told by our guides that this place had English translations on the menu.   Dinner was very enjoyable - we had delicious pan fried noodles with beef, some other rice noodles in a broth with ox brisket, some chicken congee for Isaac, some green garlickly vegetables, a Guangzhou fried rice and steamed chicken with rice - the chicken was not you average rotisserie!   We were the only westerners in there and were obviously a source of great interest - everyone seemed to be watching us.   We walked back to the hotel, narrowly missing being hit by a taxi and up to the hotel.  The lit up child on the fish is part of the new year decorations at the hotel.  In the hotel, there is also some photos in the lobby and Indigo sitting on a big chair - Isaac would not sit on it last night.    We were in need of another bath - as you can see by Isaac's spider shirt - he gets filthy!   This was bath number three and we ran the tub and Indigo popped in.   We put Isaac in and he cried and cried - David tried jumping up and down on the other side of the window from the bedroom and it sleemed to slow the sobbing.  We also had all the arsonel of cups and bath toys.   I had to do his hair which contained major food particles and he just hated that and sobbed terribly.   However, things got better.  I had the cups with the holes on the bottom and got him watching the water coming out and then held his hand on the cup and held it up so he could watch.  Indigo was a great big sister trying to make him happy.   He finally started to play with the toys but he still had shampoo in his hair so he had to cry again a bit while I got a rinse and then we just let him play and as you can see from the pictures we made huge progress.   By the end I thought he was going to pitch a fit when we took him out but he was just very good.   Both kids into jammies, he was not interested in the bedtime story.   Neither child would fall asleep and David fell asleep in the room first and then I had help Indigo and then she fell asleep and I lay wide awake listening to the awful slurping of Isaac's thumb sucking.  I ended up stuffing tissue paper in my ears and did fall asleep.   At about 3 a.m.  I woke and David was up trying to turn this light out between our room and the bathroom.  Nothing would make it go off and one was also on in the foyer of the suite so we were both awake awhile and I worried about the kids waking up.    We both fell back asleep and fortunately were woken by Isaac as we had not reset the alarm - had never needed it so far.   It was 7:!5.   It turns out that there was a time power outage from something like 1-4 am and there was a notice about it on the desk but we had not paid it much attention.   I guess the light that was on perhaps was a battery or generated light.   Had another wonderful breakfast and then back to the room to change the children into Chinese dress.   The hotel has a beautiful garden off the breakfast room and we went out there to take some photos.  Unfortunately the weather was horrible and it was drizzling so we just took a few photos but you can tell it's beautiful.   We can't wait to go out there again if/when the weather improves.  Then we met in the lobby with all the families for a group photo - you can see it came out pretty well and the magnificent gold papercut as the backdrop.
We ran back to the room to change again and then out to the bus for a trip to the mall - there some serious shopping ensued for jade, pearls, some hand embroidered goods and some music and movie cds/dvds.    We did not have enough time although it was more than enough for the kids.   I need to go back...   You can see a photo (not great) of a woman in the pearl shop tying knots between each pearl as the necklace was being strung.   On to the bus and back to the hotel - quite a lot of traffic.  Isaac fell asleep and Indigo fell asleep for about 5 minutes before arriving back at the hotel.   Tried to follow up with a nap and both actually lay in respective beds for a while but no napping.   Daddy went out and got our first round of McDonalds (second for the kids) and we had that in the room.   Now, Indigo has watched, only for the second time since being in China, some Kailan on her dvd and Isaac is playing with some small cars/tractor/trucks and a mini travel train set Grandma gave him which Indigo is playing with too and they are both munching on apples.   Also, a major challenge for us with him is to stop him from throwing everything.   Tonight we're going to be having a group family dinner so that should be fun.   Hopefully the children will behave like decent beings after their light nap schedule.    We're loving and appreciating the comments we're receiving.   It keeps us connected to home and helps to motivate us with journaling our journey - we're not missing the snow storm and just hope everyone is safe and having fun playing in the snow and that it all melts before we have to try and negotiate our driveway.   Becky - you may have to send me a few jpegs of snow pictures as I could not get to your blog - well, I got to the blog but could not see anything at all.   Hope all the football fans enjoy the Super Bowl.   Love, Melanie, David, Indigo and Isaac
Photos from evening of February 6 and morning of February 7 here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623369434816

Nanjing to Guangzhou

Greetings,
Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday.   It was a hectic day and we were all exhausted at the end and did not feel like hooking up the electronics, nor did we have many pictures.
Friday was mostly about packing - I looked around the shambles of our room and our purchases from the Thursday night and was not sure how it was all going to come together.  I started getting packed early in the morning and then we got the children dressed and off with David to breakfast.  After breakfast, David, Granddad, Grandma and the children went out - just to walk around the shops again and to go to the department store for some specific items - all a strike out.   Our one big suitcase had gone overweight so Granddad took a few items that he stuck in his bag.   While they were gone I got all the packing finished and then waited for Denise to call to say she had Isaac's passport.    I needed to send that passport number to OCDF who we are doing our next portion of travels with after Guangzhou so that they could book all of Isaac's flights.   The family arrived back and Granddad weighed my suitcase which just made the 44lb internal flight limit.   Whew.   Denise came up to the room and we gave her a gift.  She also had a gift for Isaac which was very special.  It is the "mascot or symbol" for lack of a better word for the city of Najing.  It's the baby dragon - it's name is Bixie (sounds like bishi) and it is known as the evil dispeller - it eats up evil and just gets fatter and fatter - does not poop.  Denise gave Isaac a little charm of this Bixie made of Rain Flower Stone which is also unique to Nanjing.   It was very sweet of her and something that will be special to him.   We took the bus to the airport and Isaac fell asleep on the way.   We did all the checking in and went through security and made our way to our gate.   David was starving so he left me with the children and he went off with Granddad and Grandma to figure out something to eat - they were gone for ages.   Indigo was chatting away to the mom from another adoptive family and Isaac was eating bagel and peanut butter.  We read the flea sneezes because Indigo had told this mom about that book and so she got it out for me to read and then she coerced this other mum to read her another book.   We finally got some food, including the kids having some verson of a hotdog on a stick, but I can promise you that it was no Hebrew National!  After waiting and waiting, everyone from our gate started moving and it turns out they switched gates so we started to follow but also stopped to check the departure information and then headed to the new gate and waited, and waited.   Isaac wanted to be moving and would just pitch a fit when restrained so we chased him around a bit - he loves to be chased.   Finally, at least an hour late, we boarded.  I sat with Indigo and Isaac and David sat between Grandma and Granddad.  Isaac really did incredibly well on the flight.   We really hoped both kids would sleep but Indigo was wide awake and every time Isaac would seem to be starting to dose off they would bring a drink or a snack.   He ate a whole mochi - Rick, he is a little guy after your own heart.  It made me think of you and all the mochi Ellen bought you in Hong Kong.   For some reason Indigo was obsessed with the bread on the sandwiches they gave us - with very suspect contents, so I was happy to let her have all the bread she wanted.   It was just a two hour flight and pretty smooth.  As said before, Isaac was pretty good considering it was his first flight - he did try a few times to slide down under the seat belt and would angry when he was stuck but pretty much resigned himself to the situation.  I dread the return flight home!   Safe arrival at Guangzhou and all luggage arrived safely and we met our guide Rebecca.  She put us on the bus with the driver but then stayed at the airport as another family was arriving.   We drove to the city and both children fell asleep on the way, Isaac in David's lap and Indigo leaning against me.   We arrived at the Garden Hotel - it is magnificent!   The only two pictures from the whole day Friday are how the children were when we arrived - Isaac transferred asleep to stroller and Indigo on her daddy's shoulder all through check in.   We came up to our rooms which are awesome.    Slight mix-up with Granddad and Grandma's as they were given a single king bed.   However, that seemed to be resolved lickety split and they are right across from us.   We have an awesome suite which we should have photographed before walking in because it will never be the same again.    We have a living room area with a flat screen, desk, table, couch and chairs and Indigo's rollaway bed in this room and then separated by a pocket door is our king bed and Isaac's crib and the bathroom which is quite superb.   The bedroom also has a flat screen, not that there is much tv watching to be done - just enough of the news this morning to know about the snow expected in our home area!  Granddad says they are calling it "Snowmagedden" and that there could be 30 inches - please let it melt before we get home!  There is a glass wall between the bathroom (the walk in shower and tub) and the bedroom.  When Grandma and Granddad went in their room the screen was up so anyone in the bedroom would be able to see the person showering/bathing!   However, there is a remote control which lowers the screen so everyone's modesty is preserved.    I know Granddad would have liked that feature if Granny was sharing a room with him!    Isaac woke up completely shocked by his new surroundings and crying.  David quickly changed him into his pajamas and he settled down.   Indigo woke up and was very excited by her "private room bed" which is along a mirror so she can see herself (jumping on the bed...).   David went out with Granddad to check out hotel and for Vicky (assistant guide) to show them surrounding restaurants, grocery store etc. and they had a beer.   After feeding the children the snacks we had on hand, I put Isaac to bed and he was out like a light.  Indigo was boing, boing for a while and then fell asleep.   Off to bed for us.  This morning we gave the children some snacks in the room as they were hungry and then all dressed and went to breakfast.   Isaac threw his first tantrum when we were leaving the room as he wanted to go out in the stroller and we were not takiing that.   He was shrieking but calmed down by the time we made a public appearance in the restaurant.    I got them food and he really was mostly interested in the chicken congee but then ate some other things too.   David brought the kids to the room while Grandma and I finished up.  When I arrived in the room it was to great excitement - Isaac pooped on the potty!   I guess in the clean up process from that, he also peed on the floor!   Oh well.   We met the group - five families and traveled to Shamian Island to the dreaded medical appointment.  We parked at the White Swan - what a flood of memories that brought back from our adoption of Indigo - it was where we stayed while in Guangzhou.   The whole island is under an amazing amount of construction and all the buildings are covered in scaffolding - the street that had our favorite shops is all covered by scaffolding, sidewalks are dug up etc. - it's quite crazy.   We trekked to the medical building and it was just packed to the gills with adoptive families - so many - families everywhere.    It seems chaotic but they really process you through.  Isaac's first stop was the examination with the doctor - he screamed and cried the whole time.  We had to take off his shoes, socks, pants, diaper.  The doctor asked questions about and asked if we knew his special need, poked and prodded him.   He wanted to see him walk so we put the shoes and socks back on and he walked towards me, away from the doctor.   When we wanted him to walk back towards the doctor he would have none of that.    Indigo wanted to be involved and she amused herself playing with the examining room curtain - you can see her hiding herself and then the big reveal.   I was then holding Isaac as he still cried and then his next ordeal was to have his ears looked at and his throat looked at.    They did not do an eye test on him.   We were then told to go to the cashier to pay 1437 Yuen for his needed vaccinations (new under the Hague, all the kids need these vaccines before going home - no choice) so they look at the provincial medical record and determine what they need.  While at the cashier I saw our friends Adam and Laura Beth and their new daughter Maya Mei - it gave me goose bumps and a lump in my throat to see someone we knew and to meet their daughter.  Maya Mei was very sweet and wanted to pick up Indigo but Indigo wanted none of that.   We then waited and waited and waited for these shots.   David at least got Isaac happy again with snacks and swinging him.  While we waited, Indigo went with her Granddad to a nearby playground area and had a good time there with him.   Finally it was our turn and he absolutely knew what was going to happen and he cried and cried.  A TB test on the underside of the left arm, a vaccine in each arm and a vaccine in each thigh.    He was fairly quickly consoled by the lollipop we gave him.   At this point we were so shattered and he was so exhausted from so much crying, it already being lunch and nap time and the shear trauma.   We decided just to go to Lucys - an American style restaurant.  However, David had said I needed to find some pants for Isaac as his were smelly and I wanted to grab a drink.  I got the drinks right away and headed to meet them at Lucys.   On the way I saw our guide and asked her where I could find pants so I ended up having to head back the same way I had just come from.   I got some pants really fast and headed to Lucys.   When I got there David met me at the door - basically with "Thank G you're here!).  Apparently Isaac had just had a complete and utter melt down - shrieking and screaming to the point of David having to remove him from the scene - he had been hitting and throwing his body.   Granddad told me that his lollipop stick had broken so that the small ball of lollipop and short bit of stick were in his mouth.   Well, of course, not really desirable so David took it out - it just set him off - probably more than normal because he was tired and hungry, but he just lost it.   It sounded truly awful - I missed the worst of it.   We had lunch - cheeseburgers and fries!    This seemed to help everyone.   Indigo and Isaac shared grilled cheese and fries and Isaac ate a bunch of pieces of my burger.  I had also got him and Indigo a bottle of water and you just cannot take the open bottle from him although of course it tips and spills etc.   I personally felt like I got hit by a Mack truck and then run over with the steam roller, and perhaps everyone else felt much the same.    We went back to White Swan were we were meeting the group at 2 p.m.  Isaac fell asleep in the stroller but we did enjoy the koi pond and fountains at the White Swan where we had taken a family picture of Indigo as a baby - we took a couple of pictures of her there today.   Unfortunately Isaac woke up when we boarded the bus but he lay quietly on my lap the whole way back to the hotel and then went down for a nap - Indigo feel asleep first.  I was lying in the room with Isaac but he would not sleep - chucked everything out the crib, so I decided to motivate myself to get on the computer and then he fell asleep.  David went out to the supermarket and took some of the photos of the street scenes and then the sign for the hotel and the hotel itself.  Also, some photos in the lobby - that black background is marble and the gold is paper cut!   It's gold paper cut and is the largest paper cut in the world.  Also, the lobby of this hotel is the largest in Asia.   Apparently we're taking photos of the families tomorrow in the lobby.  
The two photos from yesterday and then so far for today (Saturday February 6th in the link below):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623238739501/

Last full day in Nanjing February 4, 2010

We have had a pretty good day today but I am really tired.    Both children slept well and we did pretty well getting ready and down to breakfast.   Isaac is now completely in love with the elevator and drags us to it.   You can see from the photo how he is pulling to get to the elevator - he loves going out and about.   Isaac again plowed through one enormous breakfast, whereas his big sister ate two yogurts (they are very tiny and really liquid - you can drink through a tiny straw) and I think she had some sausage and some required bites of watermelon - she gets blocked tummy issues so we do push the fruit.   Isaac had a steamed pork bun, sausage, egg, watermelon, pear, a spring roll, and part of a muffin and possibly more that I can't remember.   Our outing today was to the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge which is quite an impressive structure.  However, the drive there (and really any time we go out) is as interesting as the destination.    I just wish I had the words to convey the scenery we pass, the craziness of the traffic, the seeming complete lack of any road rules, the electric mopeds, the bicycles, the shops and the whole vibe - it's just like nothing else.   We saw a couple of pretty spots where you're just dying to jump out and be able to explore but on to the bridge we went.   The bridge was the first bridge to built across the Yangtze river in Nanjing - before that, everyone had to cross by boat.  It was completed in 1968 and was the first double-decker, double-track highway and railway bridge designed and constructed by Chinese without outside engineering experience.   It's 22,212 feet in length and has a span of 525 feet - it takes 15 minutes to cross in normal traffic.   The guide shared all this with us, including the fact that 50,000 cars cross every day, but I had to check wikipedia to remind me of all the stats - love the internet!   So, we took photos of the model so that you can see the section that we went up and all the photos of the views taken from there.   What is also interesting and you can kind of see from the one photo of the model is that as much as the bridge, if not more of it, is under the river, as is above the river - with regards to the footings etc. (I am no engineer so probably an inadequate description).   Isaac loved looking at the boats down on the river and was shouting something which Denise told us was "come" as in he wanted the boats to come to him, and he was furious that they were not.  He has a temper when things are not going his way.   There are fishing boats, you can see the railroad tracks on the lower part of the double-decker and also photos of what appear to be community gardens and also the boat yard.   There is a lot of smog so visibility is not terrific.   Inside, we went to see this "teacher" who is an artist who paints inside these crystal balls, bottles, teapots etc.   Completely amazing!   He hand paints these entire scenes in this tiny space, which he is pretty much doing upside down to get the brush up into the inside of the crystal ball.   The paint brush is so fine.   When the painting is done within the inner circle of the crystal ball, it looks quite large, but they showed us a ball cut in half and the center is really quite small, so how he creates these entire scenes is beyond incredible.   Had to take pictures without a flash and wish I had taken some more of the finished products but we were all impressed.   When we came down there were a bunch of hawkers selling wares and we bought a few things and there was a little carousel set up so Indigo was very keen to do that.  Isaac seemed to want to go too so David held him on a horse.  The ride went on and on - definitely had our money's worth (less than $2 for both kids).  It was hard to tell if Isaac liked it because he did not smile during the ride, however, I guess he did, because he had a big fit when the ride was over and he could not go again.    While we had been having our ride, our driver was purchasing fresh caught fish and so his purchases were flopping about in a bag in the van - hence the photo.  Indigo was fascinated and kept wanting to know what the fish were doing and she had seen a bit of Nemo on the flight over so she was saying how the pelican had saved the fish by putting water in it's mouth and carrying them - she said the driver's fish needed water.  Isaac conked out next to me and slept the rest of the time in the van - which included some stops so that I could hop out with Denise to try and find this bib overall (you'll see my purcase in the last picture on this upload - the greatest idea!).  
When we got back to the hotel we should have just put Isaac down in the crib, even though he had woken up, but we went to lunch and then he would not go back to sleep.   Indigo crashed so Isaac was up and playing and David took him in the hallway to do some running and then he went with David to get our laundry which we had left to be done yesterday and then he went down the grassy park area in the front of the hotel - he is all go-go-go.   We met Denise at 5 and went to do some shopping.   This area around our hotel, around the Confucius Temple is just a vibrant mecca of shops and people - David took a few shots to capture some scenes but really we should take some more and some video - perhaps we can fit it in before leaving tomorrow.  I had been telling Denise about a few specific type things I was looking for which is why she came along to help.  We did a fair bit of damage tonight - between Grandma and myself - I depleted David of all cash and had to have Grandma settle my last purchase.   A shop keeper had two bikes out from their kids and so Isaac and Indigo played on those.   When Isaac was taken off, he really lost it!    David has advised me that shopping when we have the kids is not working out and I will have to shop by myself - hmmm, sounds like free rein...  Indigo has not been eating at all well at lunch and dinner and so we caved and bought her and Isaac McDonalds nuggets and fries which we took with us to the restaurant where we had dinner.   Isaac seemed fascinated with the fries - wanted to suck them.   We had happy children.   We enjoyed a delicious meal and then returned to the hotel and put Isaac straight to bed.  David is fast asleep.  Indigo was up for a long time but has now fallen asleep - I think she was not ready to sleep yet after her long afternoon nap.  I am looking around the complete and utter chaos of our room and the packages we have bought and have no clue how we'll be packed and ready to leave here tomorrow - next stop, Guangzhou.    Photos for today:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623225003927/

Nanging February 3rd - keeping busy!

Isaac was up late last night but did eventually fall asleep and slept until past 7 a.m.    When Indigo woke up this morning she climbed in our bed and said "you are my best mommy" - made my heart sing.   I told her "you are my best girl" to which she responded "and Isaac is our best boy."  We met up with Grandma and Granddad for breakfast and both children put away a lot of food.  I think Indigo had 3 small sausages and a lot of watermelon and two yogurts and a bit of egg.   Isaac had sausage, dumpling, egg, watermelon, muffin and congee - he did not fuss so much when we left the table.   We saw two other adoptive families with their two young girls.   We met Denise and the driver and went to the Nanjing Cloud Brocade Museum.   This is filled with examples of Emporer robes made of silk brocade with intricate embroidered patterns - apparently it takes 5 years to make a robe.   We saw the people on the looms working which was just amazing and mind boggling.   We all agreed that we could watch for days and have no idea how they know what they are doing.  Two people work the looms as you will see in the photos - the top person is responsible for the design, the lower person does the color and you just see a whir of spools of silk and pressing of these bamboo peddles and it's really unbelievable.   Working an eight hour day produces 6 inches of brocade.   We also saw the silk worm cocoons - one cocoon produces one strand of silk - I think that they said the strand was 500 meters - that's very long.   Of course we finished in the gift shop which resulted in a slight bit of damage to the bank account but overall I felt we were quite restrained.   We got some nice family photos outside the silk brocade museum in front of one of the beautiful gates.   It was still earliesh - around 11:15 and so too early for lunch and nap and we did not really want to go back to the hotel - it was the nicest day yet.   We did stop at the hotel to grab our laundry and Denise took David and Granddad to drop it off.   We then went to a park - Egret Isle Park.   It was beautiful - although there was just a ton of activity going on with workers preparing decorations for Chinese New Year - it is going to look stunning.   The plum blossom is heavily featured and is the flower of Nanjing - you can see decorative plum blossoms on the pillars - Indigo is standing by one - so very pretty.   all You can see from the pictures all the work going on - decorating the boats and the building of the huge dragon.    The border of the park is the giant city wall.   We loved being out and Isaac wanted to walk and walk and walk.    Indigo spent a long time in the stroller - I think wanting to be babied a bit again but she loves to be out and running too much to stay there and so they both got a lot of exercise.   Like Indigo, Isaac seems to also like to pick up twigs and play with them.    It's wonderful to have Granddad and Grandma along to be sharing this experience.    Both seem to be really enjoying the experience and it's really great for both the children and for us to have the extra hands and team effort.   Granddad is a wonderful help with negotiating the stroller up and down stairs and over fences where pedestrians can do a walk through but strollers can't fit.   It's really terrific to have them experience something that we could never adequately describe and to see them be interested in the history and culture of the land of our children's birth.   Lunch was another exciting experience as we tried another new spot.   It was basically a whole line of food options where you could both look at pictures and walk the line choosing what you wanted to have brought to your table.   I was tasked with doing the choosing.  I kept thinking of our friend Robert and how he would have been in heaven and how much more adventurous he would have been in his choices.    We did pretty well and ended up with a beef over lettuce - it was spicy which I had not realized when I ordered but Granddad and I both loved that dish.   We also had some small sort of custard tarts which were well received by Grandma, Indigo and Isaac, we had noodles, dumplings and a steamed bun (Isaac ate a whole one of those).  We had some other kind of steamed dumpling that was a disaster - the three of us who tried it, could not stand it.    We also had a delicious pork dish with a green vegetable.    We also had a black sticky rice sweet dish - I think sweetened with red bean paste - Isaac polished off one of those too.   We had a lovely walk back to the hotel through the  Confucious temple area and passing all the street vendors  - Isaac fell fast asleep in the stroller.  I have said before and I will say again, we are a complete walking spectacle and so many people come up and just stare at the children - particularly the older Chinese ladies.   Isaac had his little hat on and this one lady leaned into the stroller to lift his hat to see his face - I presume to see if he was Chinese.   I scolded her that no, he was sleeping and Granddad made a motion of sleeping child.  Also, Granddad and I had walked a little ahead but then were waiting to get the stroller over the fence and apparently David was scolded by an older lady because Isaac's pant leg had ridden up and his bare leg was showing.   She pulled his pant leg down and David said he could just tell that she was shocked that we did not have the second layer of pants on him.   Isaac transitioned to the crib and stayed sleeping and Indigo just crashed.  David was hungry and he went and got KFC - chicken nuggets and fries and a chocolate shake but he said that was not good.  Isaac was upset when he first woke from him nap but then he was playing in the room.   Grandma and Granddad had slept for about 2 1/2 hours; we wanted an earlier night and also wanted to bath the kids so we went with Grandma to give the kids some food in the hotel.   Indigo wanted to sit next to Isaac but then wanted us to feed her.  I was feeding Isaac and so she said "my tummy wants Mommy to feed me" so you can see some of that competition kicking in.  I asked her if I was going to have to call Mrs. Goldberg (her teacher) and tell her that Indigo could no longer feed herself and would have to feed Indigo her snack.   That made Indigo laugh and she told me I was silly.   We coaxed her to eat some supper with bribes of sips of her apple juice after "x" number of bites.  In the meantime, Isaac polished off three fried dumplings, and a small bowl of noodles with "meatballs" and some fried egg.  The story of the knife is that we kept getting these bowls of noodles and it's almost impossible to get them out the big bowl into the smaller bowl and then to get them into a bite size for the children, so we asked for a knife to cut and this is what we got!   I think I might have to purchase a knife to carry around - but better remember to put it in checked baggage on the flights - other that, or quit getting the noodles, and that's unlikely.   We got the kids vanilla and strawberry icecream and Indigo wanted to feed her brother.   That was so sweet.   We then went to see the fish in the lobby pond and to see the indoor pool - no swimming there - it's beautiful but FREEZING.  We had a fun game out in the hall way having both kids run back and forth to mama and baba and that was a lot of fun.   Isaac is now loving the elevator!   David made it a game of counting the floors as we go up or down and then getting excited when we hear the "ding" at the end so now the whole family counts and Isaac watches and tonight he was saying stuff too as we did the numbers.   Also, when we heard music he wants to bounce up and down "dancing".   Well, the fun ended at tub time - I can't wait to have a photo of both kids laughing in the tub but that is not yet to be.   We made some progress in that Isaac sat down this time and perhaps cried a little less vigorously but he was not happy and we had the toys and the cups and big sister trying to show him how fun it is.    I cuddled him in his towel afterwards and he settled down and we put on jammies - he was near comatose with tiredness - I think he had more walking and exercise today than he is probably used to - but he is keen to be moving.   In fact, before we went "out" for the evening we stopped at Granddad's room and Isaac was pitching a fit because he wanted to be out and on the go.   Sweet photo of David reading to them before bedtime - Isaac was almost already completely gone, thumb in mouth, bless his heart, his thumb is raw and calloused with peeling skin from the sucking.   Kristi M. - no shots yet of them asleep on a bed together - our room has a king and a roll away and the crib.  Also, he is not as keen on Indigo's affections which makes me feel bad - she wanted to hold his hand walking in the lobby and he completely blew her off, not to mention when he clocked her on the head chucking a board book because he wanted us to get him out and go adventuring!   Tomorrow is our last full day in Nanjing - I have got to find some time to fit in a little shopping!  Here is the link to the photos from today:  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623342112502/

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/

Isaac Gotcha Day!

Aahh, the long awaited post.   It's really the first time I have had to sit down and write about the day's events but I am also having a very difficult time with my photos so we'll see what you get in the way of photos by the time I get the post typed out.   Most importantly, we received Isaac today and he is one little cutie pie chap.   Indigo has also embraced the role of big sister, even at times where I am sure it is hard for her to see him getting so much attention.  
So, very little sleep last night.  Up this morning and enjoyed the smorgasboard of breakfast.  I think Grandma and Granddad cannot believe the extent of the offerings on the breakfast buffet.   We left with Denise at 10 am for the Jiangsu civil affairs office.   So, quite a funny story when we arrived because there was only one nanny with one child sitting there and we were led to believe the child was Isaac - did not look like the same Isaac I had last seen in October photos but you're told this is your kid so you go with it.  Anyway, dear sweet Indigo goes over the child (we're ushered to the other side to do the official paperwork part) and she is giving "him" his toy cars and his doodle board etc.   They are getting along great - we're snapping photos and Granddad is taking video.  Well, it was not Isaac, it was a girl!  That sort of broke the tension a bit.  I should have deleted more of these photos but since I am having so many photo issues they are included and you can see how much Indigo interacted with this little girl.   We saw two other couples from our hotel coming in and receiving children - apparently they were from Nanjing SWI so closer and Isaac was coming from Suzhou.  He was the last child to arrive and we got the photo through the window of his van arriving and then him coming through the door.   We had scooped back our toys for him although not before Indigo had helped herself to some of her other "friend's" fruit loops.  Isaac looked adorable.  Very bundled up.  He was very calm and Indigo started playing with him and he loved his little cars (thanks for the blue one Becky) while he played with his cars was his first glimmer of a smile.   Indigo wanted to feed him and was giving him biscuits and snacks and wanting to hug him etc.   She was incredibly sweet.   David and I had to alternate signing papers and then I spent a while with two nannies from the SWI and the guide going through my list of questions to find out things about him.   Apparently, unbeknownst to us, at 2 1/2 he still takes a bottle of formula at night - not something we were prepared for - more about that later.   He let me hold him and he let David hold him and really started to smile when David would lift him in the air.   We took our family photo for the paperwork and got some nice group photos too.    We then left for our van and he showed the first signs of being upset but I was able to hold him and he was okay.   We came to our room and it was definitely at least his lunch time and probably his nap time too - don't know what time it actually was.   We signed more papers with Denise.  At this point he was really unhappy and crying and Denise said he was saying he wanted his mama (he has been with foster family).  So very hard to see him so sad but we are also relieved that he has bonded to people.   Also, he was able to be comforted.   We took out the photo album that had been sent to him via the care package we had sent which had a bunch of photos of us in it and we started looking at them and he got really excited and started saying Mama and Baba and was excited to see Indigo.    We ordered in room service - some yummy beef noodle dish that has been a hit and he ate a cup of that - with me feeding him it with the chopsticks although I had cut the meat up.   Okay, so the kid was way overdressed!   He had on long sleeves, a turtleneck sweater and a thick fleece lined coat.  He had on long pants and over those he had on thick padded pants (and Barbie pink shoes).   Our room is hot and when we took his coat off he really lost it - sort of violent tantrum - very frustrated with us.  However, he again recovered fairly quickly and he was so tired.  we put him in the crib - his loveys appear to be the panda we sent him and the blue fleece backpack with the pig on it that we sent - he strokes them and holds them.   He also sucks his left thumb - oh well.    I rubbed his chest and tummy and he fell asleep.   Indigo was bouncing off the walls and there was no napping from her.   We were told that he loves the outdoors.   After he woke up we put him in the stroller - he seemed to not mind that at all and we went out for a walk.   We stick out like a sore thumb and had so many stares and people taking photos of us - far more than I remember in Jiangxi but Jiangxi has a lot more adoptions so perhaps the locals are a bit more used to it.    Grandma and Dad joined us for our walk and we headed over to this huge department store/mall complex - quite fancy.    We had to find the formula that apparently this child needs at night.  This was quite humerous.  None of the tins of formula had directions in English so even the one we could find where the figures showed a number of scoops, we did not know how much water to add.   We had about 5 lovely non-English speaking girls all trying to help us and believe we were ultimately successful with the aid of some pictionary.  Of course that store - although it was fabulous, had no bottles so we go up about 3 levels to a mega super posh fancy baby/kid store - awesome.   We found a bottle and adjoining the store is a super fantastic indoor playground area which Indigo wanted to do - it is fee based.  The kids have their temperature taken - no jokes - just a point at the forehead type with a temp device and their hands are squirted with sanitizer.  Indigo had a blast - she seemed more comfortable there than at any playground she has been to in the states.   If I get pictures up you'll see this one  little boy in a lot of photos - he seemed to love indigo and followed her around all over the place and was talking to her.    Isaac now would not take off his new coat and so we were just watching.   However, he then wanted to go over and seemed to really want to see his big sister and his dad BUT you had to pay to go in and even worse, take shoes off.  He was no longer wearing Barbie shoes but the little Thomas Tank sneakers I had brought for him -  a little big  but I think the other shoes were too tight.   Well, Dad paid for him to go in and he was zapped by thermometer and had his hands rubbed.  I was not going to try to remove his coat but did take off his shoes - he was not pleased at all.   We found Dad who held him awhile and he seemed happy to follow around to see what Indigo was doing.  By now, she, being the hot furnace that she is, had stripped down to short sleeve t-shirt.  I think the parents were appalled - those kids were so bundled up - half of them looked like they were in buntings and the heating was on in the building - hot, hot.   We left to come back and enjoyed the tail end of quite a spectacular water fountain display set to music, ending with the can can - it was super.   On the way back saw the local moped method of delivering flowers and avoided being run over - barely.    We came back to room and played with the kids and Isaac had a lot of fun looking out the window and playing with his car and then Grandma brought in some bath toys in a little net bag and he thought putting them in and out the net was the best.    We got these great smiles when he was laughing about David throwing Indigo up in the air - that was the best, to see that smile.   We ordered room service and he packed away some fried rice, some chicken and some green vegetable (although earlier we were told he did not like vegetables - well, he loved those ones).  We were putting off bath but Indigo needed to have one from her hard play at the playground and Isaac seemed like he could be a bit cleaner - we knew it was not going to go well.   We were afraid to take his clothes off and did not know how he would cope with the bath.  I ran the water and we got Indigo in - she loves the bath and we had the cups and the toys - he cried the minute we took him in and just cried and cried while taking off his clothes and the whole time in the bath - it was pitiful.   He would not sit - stood the whole time, calling for mama (and not this one) and had tears pouring down his face.   We washed him and went for broke and even did his hair - it's short so not too much water needed.   Afterwards, I just cuddled him in his towel and Grandma brought his net bag back over with some of the bath creatures and he calmed down again.  I rubbed him all over with lotion - his skin is very dry and combed his hair and put him in his jammies and he seemed much happier.   Gave him a bottle which he almost finished and he and Indigo went to bed at the same time - she was asleep first.  He was sucking his thumb and loving on that backpack - I am stressed about the straps strangling him and he has his panda.  He has kicked off all the bedding.  Right now, all my peeps are fast asleep.  Indigo has her head off the bed and pillow and is resting it on the bedside table - does not look wildly comfortable to me.   Few other things - Indigo may want to be Spanish - night in Shanghai she stood up in bed - when apparently asleep and shouted out - es muy grande.  This morning when I was lying there awake, she goes, uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, seis...
Also, Isaac seems to be horribly afraid of elevators.   We obviously need to use one in the hotel when we first noticed - he just burst into tears going into the elevator.   At the mall which was many levels, and we had the stroller, he cried every time we went into an elevator and then again back at the hotel although we did feel that last time was perhaps slightly more subdued crying.   it's hard to gauge this point where he is developmentally but he is certainly interested and curious in things.   We were told that he loves cars and that he loves to be outside and he did seem to enjoy the time out in the stroller.  Okay, so now I am having another shot at photos to include with this post.   Lots of official stuff tomorrow.   We are enjoying the comments we are receiving - please don't be silent stalkers.  If my long awaited photos work - have ended up purchasing Flickr account then this first lot will be way too many photos and are not edited out - just too late and too tired to deal with that but you'll get a good flavor of how things are and hopefully I have been detailed enough that you'll largely figure out what the pictures are.   If this works then I'll be more selective in future posts but the first day photos of Isaac are so special to us (not to mention dear other little girl...)http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/?saved=1