Friday, February 04, 2005
All Finished!
I can honestly say that it is very hard to believe! But we went to the American Consulate today to swear that all of our paperwork was true and honest - we were then told that we were finished with the whole adoption process... on the Chinese and American side. When Tian's feet touch American soil or concrete, she will be an American citizen. This afternoon our Visa for Tian was delivered to our door along with a packet of information for Immigration in LA. Now we just wait to travel on Sunday.
The decorations here for Chinese New Year are quite beautiful. It is fun to be here with everyone anticipating the biggest holiday of the year in a few days. After teaching about it for so many years, it is amazing to actually be here and see what it really looks like.
Tian is becoming more agile each day. Today she did about 5 sit-ups with me holding down her legs for leverage. When we got her a week ago, she was completely helpless to pull up from a lying down position and couldn't even sit back up if she fell forward between her legs. We are still working on rolling over. She loves her stacking cups and plays with them for hours on end.
We have reserved a bassinette for the airplane (I'll believe it when we see it on the plane) so hopefully she will be able to sleep comfortably for a good part of the trip. Last night she slept for about 10 hours straight. Since the flight is 12 hours going back beginning at 9:00 at night, we are hoping for quite a bit of sleep time.
Have I mentioned the buffet breakfast at the hotel where we are staying? It is comparable to Grove Park Inn but with stir fry and soy sauce in addition to more normal western fare. The buffet is included in our travel package and we look forward each morning to a great meal. My favorite this morning was grated yucca "birdnests" stuffed with sweet potatoes. When Tian realized the inside was soft, she ate all of the sweet potatoe in my third one. She is now adding to the rice diet... oatmeal, yogurt and milk. It is still pretty white, but with some more variation in flavors.
I'm very tired of looking at Chinese shops and I'm ready to come home to our little cabin in the woods! This has been like a family honeymoon, but we are ready for a routine in our own house. Won't Tian be surprised that we don't live in a 5 star hotel with a huge breakfast buffet?
The decorations here for Chinese New Year are quite beautiful. It is fun to be here with everyone anticipating the biggest holiday of the year in a few days. After teaching about it for so many years, it is amazing to actually be here and see what it really looks like.
Tian is becoming more agile each day. Today she did about 5 sit-ups with me holding down her legs for leverage. When we got her a week ago, she was completely helpless to pull up from a lying down position and couldn't even sit back up if she fell forward between her legs. We are still working on rolling over. She loves her stacking cups and plays with them for hours on end.
We have reserved a bassinette for the airplane (I'll believe it when we see it on the plane) so hopefully she will be able to sleep comfortably for a good part of the trip. Last night she slept for about 10 hours straight. Since the flight is 12 hours going back beginning at 9:00 at night, we are hoping for quite a bit of sleep time.
Have I mentioned the buffet breakfast at the hotel where we are staying? It is comparable to Grove Park Inn but with stir fry and soy sauce in addition to more normal western fare. The buffet is included in our travel package and we look forward each morning to a great meal. My favorite this morning was grated yucca "birdnests" stuffed with sweet potatoes. When Tian realized the inside was soft, she ate all of the sweet potatoe in my third one. She is now adding to the rice diet... oatmeal, yogurt and milk. It is still pretty white, but with some more variation in flavors.
I'm very tired of looking at Chinese shops and I'm ready to come home to our little cabin in the woods! This has been like a family honeymoon, but we are ready for a routine in our own house. Won't Tian be surprised that we don't live in a 5 star hotel with a huge breakfast buffet?
# posted by lorrainegriffith @ Friday, February 04, 2005 
