Welcome to Parenthood

Today's post is a bit of "This and That" from Tuesday and Wednesday. I posted about being "official" before our eventful afternoon and evening on Tuesday! So, here we go . . .

Tuesday, July 30

Zeke has been nursing a cold since Monday and after returning from the Civil Affairs office it decided to get worse. Then the game was on . . . how to get a child who won't eat/drink anything unfamiliar to take cold medicine? We brought a syringe so we started with that. Hmmmm . . . all down the front of a screaming little boy (oh, those crocodile tears!). On to Plan B!  I made a bottle of milk and snuck some in . . . that worked! Nap time and he goes right down. About half an hour later up comes everything he has eaten since breakfast as well as the medicine that is supposed to help him feel better. Poor kid . . . puking three times while still half asleep can't be pleasant. All over him, his blanket, the sheets, and the lovie. We think it was the medicine that did it. Stinkers!! I changed his clothes, putting him straight into pajamas, and then he proceeded to sleep for about 4 hours. We worried that he wouldn't sleep through the night but took the gamble because the poor kid was pooped. When he woke up drenched with sweat it prompted another first . . . a bath in the tub.

First Bath

Zeke needed to be washed up but we hadn't attempted a bath yet and weren't sure how it was going to go. As you can see from the picture it required Randy holding him in the water. It took about 5 minutes just to get his feet in all the way. He did enjoy throwing the rubber ducks though! We let it go at that and I ended up washing him down with a cloth while Randy held him up. We will attempt a full bath another day!

Tickles and Noises = Laughter

After the bath and a new set of pajamas (Stacey, the Superman pajamas were a hit!) he had perked up enough to have some fun with Daddy and try a french fry for the first time. We can't get the kid to try ANYTHING new but Randy handed him a french fry and down it went. Go figure . . . Randy went and grabbed dinner for us from the McDonalds next to the hotel.  Quick, cheap, and there was no way we were attempting to eat out with a sick kiddo!



Superman and French Fries


Wednesday, July 31

Zeke's "Oooo, Oooo" Face
(We see this when
something excites him.)

Today was a mellow day but one where Zeke's stubborn side decided to sneak out! We didn't have to go anywhere until mid afternoon so we headed to a huge park that is across from the hotel (large enough you could easily get lost!). We wandered for about an hour (we will go back another day for a longer visit) and then headed back for nap time. Zeke has never had a problem going "night, night" when asked but all that changed today. Can you say tantrum? He pulled out all the stops . . . crying, laying on the floor flapping his arms and stomping his feet, rolling around, etc. At least he doesn't have a high pitched scream! It was so out of character based on the last few days that we were caught somewhat by surprise. Then we started talking about it and it made sense. He is still processing his new parents, that he is with us forever, and he is starting to get comfortable. Comes with the territory of a 2 year old too. ;) So his two hour nap turned into about 30 minutes prompted by pure exhaustion. He finally fell asleep on my lap and I made the mistake of moving him onto the bed . . . tantrum episode number 2. Nap time over . . .

Sign in the Park
(There were flowers
in the background.)

 



In the Van

Later that afternoon we went to the police station to finish the Chinese passport application (Zeke is still a Chinese citizen until we land in the USA so he has to travel on a Chinese passport). After arriving we found a place to sit and wait our turn.  Within a matter of seconds, Zeke jumps down and starts running from chair grouping to chair grouping looking at the other children (the room was full of adopting families) and offering his toy helicopter. This was a BIG deal because his helicopter and the little police car have been glued to his hands since Gotcha Day! We were amazed by the social little person that was emerging before our eyes! Our turn at the main desk took about two minutes (check our passports, check our paperwork, take a picture of Zeke) and then we were on our way. 



Heading to Dinner

We arrived back at the hotel close to dinner time so we regrouped and decided to walk to a local restaurant recommended by our guide. Since this particular restaurant caters to local clientele and not tourists it was interesting navigating the language barrier.  We were happy to see a picture of every dish in the menu!  Randy picked a few for us to try making sure at least one included noodles for Zeke.  When the food arrived it was AMAZING!  The only issue was that the noodle dish was spicy.  We ended up with five different staffers, each speaking just a tiny bit of English, trying to get the point across that we wanted plain noodles.  Unfortunately we were unsuccessful. Although they brought us lots of other things they thought we were asking for! Since there wasn't anything Zeke would eat we had to have them pack up our dinner so we could finish at the hotel . . . Zeke decided he was going to make it impossible to stay in the restaurant to eat. Not having a nap definitely kicked in!  So, we had dinner in our hotel.  Us, amazing authentic Chinese and Zeke, noodles from a cup!

We are on a sharp parenting learning curve but can only imagine how hard it is for Zeke not to be able to communicate his needs/wants. We can only guess and we are the adults so we have to be the patient ones. ;)  Tomorrow is another day and we are relishing every moment!

We Are Official!

We had our final appointment at the Civil Affairs office this morning and are now officially a family of three! The Chinese government gives you a day to decide if you are happy with the child they gave you . . . YEP! More than happy!

Here are some random pictures from last night/today:





First Night at the Hotel

Waiting to Head to Breakfast



Waiting for Our Notary Appointment

Zeke is Ticklish!



Playing to Pass the Time



We Are Official!





Gotcha Day!

This morning we got up at 4:30 a.m., left for the Beijing airport at 5:45 a.m. and were off to Guangzhou for Gotcha Day! As we were waiting for the bellboy to pick up our bags we couldn't stop grinning. I had butterflies galore in my stomach and Randy would just start laughing at random times as he thought of what this day would bring. We woke up a family a two and would be heading to bed a family of three.

Our flight from Beijing to Guangzhou was an uneventful 2 hour and 45 minute trip. Upon landing and claiming our baggage we met Helen, our guide for the duration of our stay in Guangzhou. She is very experienced and efficient at helping families through the Gotcha Day process. She took us to our hotel, China Hotel Marriott, and then we departed for the Civil Affairs office. When we arrived there were about 15 other families in the room in various stages of Gotcha Day.  Some were checking paperwork, others were meeting their children for the first time, and some were in the final stages and getting ready to leave. Seven of the children being adopted that day were from Zeke's orphanage.  We walked in and immediately Helen had us checking paperwork.  Once we confirmed that everything was correct we found a place to sit and she disappeared.  When she returned she asked if we were ready to meet our son.  We responded with a resounding YES!

Helen showed us where to stand and then Zeke was brought from another room.  All of the children and their nannies were in a separate room that was curtained off until each child's adoptive parents arrived.  When Zeke was brought out and led toward us he took one look at us and tried to run the other way.  It was such a surreal experience to see the child we have been looking at in photographs for seven months in the flesh.  An amazingly wonderful jolt to the senses.  At that point Helen suggested pulling out some of the toys or snacks we had brought with us in order to entice him near. The first attempt was a lovie. That ended up on the floor within a nanosecond. Next was a Little People police car and that did the trick! We were at the Civil Affairs office for about 30 minutes trading off holding and getting to know Zeke and taking care of paperwork.  After the initial attempt to escape (and a few wiggling moves when being held) Zeke seemed more than willing to stay with us.  We were very surprised that there were no tears, not even when his nanny left.





The Little People
cars were a hit!

Mommy & Zeke
looking at animals
(Civil Affairs Office)



When we were finished at the Civil Affairs office we went to the largest grocery store we have ever been in (four stories!).  It was a good thing we had Helen to guide us around or we wouldn't have found anything in a timely manner.  We picked up some diapers (turns out Zeke isn't potty trained), snacks, food for lunches, and a stroller.  Then we went back to the hotel and spent the evening in our room playing with our son. We have noticed that he is very observant, will mimic actions (Randy kicked a little soft soccer ball we brought and when Zeke picked it up he tried to put it on his foot), and REALLY doesn't like standing/walking on carpet in bare feet. As a matter of fact, he refuses to do it! Tile, no problem, carpet, no way! Not surprising since he has probably never felt carpet on his feet before. :)

Daddy & Zeke watching cars
(Hotel Room Window)

After finding out that he likes noodles, does not like the texture of the baby fruit pouches (yet), and loves crackers, he fell asleep next to me on a chaise lounge. I moved him to his bed and the first real tears of the day commenced. Back to the lounge next to Mama, thumb in mouth, and back to sleep. Apparently the chaise is where he will be sleeping tonight. He is currently crashed out under his new robot blanket. We were blessed to walk through this day with a very mellow little boy (Helen and our driver even commented on how mellow Zeke was). Well, he is mellow for the moment . . . there is a little twinkle in his eye we are anticipating will soon make its way into his actions.

It has been an amazing day!

We are thankful for all who have been praying and ask you to please continue. Zeke seems to be coming down with a cold, so please add that to your list.

First Family Photo (The car was NOT going to leave his hand)



Blessings,

Robyn & Randy

Beijing Days 2 & 3

Day two in Beijing was packed full of site seeing, rain and crazy traffic. Apparently we encountered an amount of traffic that "never" happens and if we didn't have an amazing driver we would have not made it to our destinations. The day was supposed to begin with a trip to the Great Wall but the two lane road we were on came to a dead stop. Our driver turned around (a lovely 10 point turn) and we headed to our secondary destination first. (We found out later that on this two lane road a large tour bus ran out of oil and there was a head on collision of two cars. When there is no shoulder and people driving on the wrong side of the road in an attempt to get somewhere faster this creates a VERY large mess!)

 

We headed to the "Tombs" where 13 of the 16 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (and the empresses as well as the concubines) are buried. All of the associated buildings were built in the early 1400's, near the same time as the Forbidden City. The picture attached is the Emperor Zhudi (aka Yongle).

 

We were finally able to make it to the Great Wall after we stopped for lunch by coming at it from a different direction (Thanks to the masterful driving prowess of Ahn!) We were both expecting to see a stretch of wall, long and straight, like seen in most movies but we were taken to JuYongGuan which was an important mountain pass. It was raining and cloudy when we arrived but luckily the rain stopped as we were climbing the stairs of the wall. Steep stairs and hundreds of umbrellas do not get along! We had about an hour for a round trip so we went as far as we could in 30 minutes before heading back down. This took us up and through three different battlements. We learned that if a battlement had a peaked roof that was where the soldiers defended from, but a flat roof was where the signal fires were lit to let the soldiers know how many enemies were attacking. This was an amazing experience! Our last stop for the day was an acrobatic show that was mind boggling!

 

 

Day three was much calmer. We started our day by attending a BCIF service (Beijing Christian International Fellowship) in the morning. To get through the door you have to show ID to prove you are not a Chinese national. No Chinese are allowed to attend. :( Most of those in attendance were part of the Embassy community, business people who are living/working in Beijing, and/or tourists.

Our final excursion was to the Temple of Heaven. This was built the same time as the Forbidden City (early 1400's) and is three times the size of the Forbidden City (HUGE!). It was a scorching 95 degrees and we were very thankful that the previous two days were cloudy and a bit cooler! Umbrellas have a two fold purpose in China, sun and rain. It became apparent why today. It was very nice to have "traveling shade" while walking through the Temple of Heaven Grounds.

 

We spent our final afternoon in Beijing relaxing at the hotel and moving items around in our bags so they meet the 44 pound weight requirements for our flight to Ghangzho tomorrow morning. We leave at 7:30 in the morning and when we land we head to the Civil Affairs office to meet Zeke . . . GOTCHA DAY! It's finally here!!

Beijing Tours

Today was a whirlwind day around Beijing! Since we arrived in Beijing a day early (due to flights) and aren't leaving for Guangzhou until Monday morning (many families are leaving for their provinces Sunday morning), we have been blessed with having Sara (our guide) all to ourselves. Today we went to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace.

It is currently summer break for the schools in Beijing and the surrounding areas so all of our stops for today were PACKED! The tourists around these attractions were mostly Chinese. Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace have a draw similar to what Washington DC would be to an American.  The area around Tiananmen square was especially crowded because Mao's tomb is on one corner of the square.  There were thousands of people lined up around the building waiting to go inside and pay their respects to the man who united China.

The funniest part of our day came when we realized we were just as interesting to the Chinese as the monuments they had come to visit. Whenever Sara took a picture of us with our camera at least 5 to 10 other people would stop and take the same picture . . . of us! We also had people approach us and ask if they could have their picture taken with us. It finally got to the point where Sara jumped in and told the people to leave us alone so we could continue with our tour. It was rather humorous. We looked around to see if this was happening to the other white tourists (when we saw them) and it wasn't. When we asked Sara why we were so interesting she said it was because we both have fair skin, I have blond hair, and we are both very tall. :)

Here are a few pictures from our day:



Tiananmen Square & Mao's Government Building

 

Forbidden City



Summer Palace: 
There was a corridor 732 meters long with
paintings on the top and side beams. 14,000
different paintings were represented.



Chinese food in a Chinese restaurant in China!



Robyn & Randy



We Made It!

After 16 hours of travel we are safely in Beijing and trying to stay awake as long as possible to help with jet lag. We ran into three other families who are traveling through AWAA in the San Francisco airport and two families adopting through different agencies. It was pretty easy to pick out the adopting families in a waiting area; we were basically the only white passengers. During our wait we were able hear several "first trip" stories from several of these families as well as meet several children who had been previously adopted.  Everyone has such a unique adoption story!

We had two very uneventful flights (just how we like them!) and upon arrival in Beijing were met by an AWAA guide. Our guide, Sara, will be with us throughout our time in Beijing. She was a great source of information on our ride from the airport to the hotel.  We will enjoy learning as much as possible from her about the culture and unique aspects of Beijing as well as China in general while we are here. 

We arrived at the Radisson SAS Hotel around 3:45 p.m. Before going to our room, Sara walked us through some details regarding adoption paperwork we would be filling out and verifying in Guangzhou. She also told us to exchange the money we would need for our orphanage donation, other miscellaneous adoption fees, and any tourist money we wanted.  Apparently exchanging large sums of money must take place in Beijing because there is no daily limit on how much can be exchanged.  Most other places, including Guangzhou, have a $200 daily limit.  Since we were exchanging $7,300, the majority of which was for adoption related expenses, this was good advice.  The exchange rate during our time in Beijing was roughly 1 US dollar to 6 Chinese yuan.  Even though we knew this, we were still unprepared for the huge stack of yuan we received in return for our small stack of US bills!

After exchanging our money and putting it in the hotel room safe, we walked to a local grocery store to purchase bottled water (you cannot drink the tap water) and then crashed for the night in order to be ready for our first tourist day in Beijing.

Our hotel room







View from our hotel room

More to come later!

Robyn & Randy

Red Thread Journey

When Randy and I first started our international adoption journey I wasn't sure how or what to document, but I knew we needed a record, not only for us, but for Zeke.  There are so many steps and emotions that come into play with adoption that a traditional baby book wasn't going to work.  I wasn't quite sure where to start, but then a friend loaned me her daughter's adoption book (Thank you Stacey and Erin!) and the ideas started to form.  What has evolved is a scrapbook full email updates that were sent to immediate family, pictures of Zeke we have received throughout the process, letters to Zeke from Mommy and Daddy, and documentation of other steps and milestones. Each page is a mini-reflection of how much we have grown to love our little boy!

Today I opened to the first page in Zeke's book and was finally able to finish it!  The last four squares on the page titled Our "Red Thread" Journey have been empty since the beginning of June, but now that we know our leave date, GOTCHA DAY! date, and return date, it is complete.  The pages that document the actuality of these dates won't be done until sometime after our return, but the knowledge that everything has been set in motion to make them happen is, in the best possible way, a bit overwhelming.

A sneak peek at the first page of Zeke's book . . . 

The Center Poem Reads:
An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to
meet regardless of time, place or circumstance.  The
thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
Chinese Folklore

6 days and counting!
Robyn

Changes . . .

Not a lot of new news, but a bit.  It turns out we are leaving on the 24th rather than the 25th of July (A huge cost savings in ticket prices - thank you AWAA travel department!).  So, we will have an extra day in Beijing to check out the sites.  We also have been introduced, via Yahoo! chat, to the other AWAA families that are traveling to China at the same time.  We have both coasts represented: Florida, Virginia, Oregon, and Washington.  AND small world, but there is another family traveling from Washington (Seattle!) and they are on the same flights we are on the 24th!  I love how God works. :)

So, we continue getting ready for Zeke to invade our lives in every way!  I finished up the closet in his room today.  One of the projects on the final "Pre Zeke To Do List."  27 inches of dead space at one end of the closet did me no good in a house with limited storage space.  Randy to the rescue!  He built in three shelves and I gave the closet a much needed paint make-over.  Now toys, blankets, and sheets have a nice new home! 

                                                                        
Randy and I keep looking at each other with crooked little grins, shaking our heads, and trying to let it sink in that we are heading to CHINA to pick up our SON . . . IN 12 DAYS! :)                       

Adoption Journey Overview

Our journey began in November 2011 with a focus on domestic adoption.  This shifted in June 2012 when circumstances beyond our control caused us to prayerfully reconsider our adoption options.  We knew we would still adopt but it became apparent rather quickly that God had something other than domestic adoption in mind.  Near the end of July 2012 we applied to America World Adoption Associates (AWAA) and chose to participate in their China Waiting Child Program.  Once accepted, more paperwork than we have ever seen started coming in through mail and email!  

The First Picture

By the end of November our home study was complete and our Family Coordinator informed us we could be matched with a child any time from that point forward.  This was when we figured the true waiting would begin.  How long would it take for them to find a child who matched our profile?  Weeks?  Months?  Years?  We didn't have to wait long to find out!  That same night we received a call asking if we wanted to review the file of a two year old little boy.  This is when we first "met" Zeke. We knew from the moment we saw his picture, as grainy as it was, that he was our son!  

12.12.12

We followed the required steps, accepted his file and were "pre-approved" to be his parents!  This wasn't official acceptance but a way to put him on "hold" until the rest of our paperwork was completed, logged in with the CCCWA in China, and a Referral Acceptance (RA) was issued and received.  It was so difficult not to share our news with everyone but we were told we had to wait for our (RA).  After accepting his file in early December we were given updated pictures.  Now we had a mission: push our paperwork through all of the required government agencies as quickly as possible!  Our dossier was sent to China early January 2013 and was officially logged in on January 30th.  Then, we waited . . . 

04.12.13

On April 29, 2013 we received our RA and were FINALLY able share Zeke with our extended family and friends!  This was followed by another paperwork frenzy and the wait for Travel Approval (TA).  Our TA was received July 8, 2013, travel dates confirmed the following day, and tickets purchased two days later!  

With this (very) short summary, you are now up to date!  The next chapter of our story begins on July 25, 2013 when we board an airplane that will take us to Beijing, China.  We hope to make frequent posts during our time in China as a record of our in-country journey and to keep family and friends updated.  

We are so thankful for everyone who has been a part of this process through prayer, words of encouragement, donations to our adoption fund, and just being there when we needed to vent, cry and/or laugh.  We love you and are grateful you are a part of our lives and that Zeke has so many people who already love him!

Robyn & Randy