Happy Easter! At least, I think it's Easter. Hard to tell what day it is. There were balloons in the lobby this morning, so we guessed it was a special occasion. And it's Sunday. My brain is frazzled.

Highlight of the "tours" so far has been visiting the Henan Provincial Museum. Wait a minute...that's been the only tour so far. Of course, the focus is the kiddos, but we're all getting stir crazy. These hotel rooms are tiny, and Caden is bouncing around like a pinball half the time. There isn't much to do, so nearly all of us jumped at the chance to get out and do something. And this something was pretty frickin' cool. But I'm a total nerd who loves museums...just ask A. She'll tell you. Absolutely HATED going to the Smithsonian with me when we were in DC...


The museum itself is set up like a pyramid, with the earliest stuff on the first floor, things getting "newer" as you go up. Everything's in Mandarin and English, except on the fourth floor, the top of the pyramid. There, everything's exclusively in Mandarin and focused on Chinese astronomy...and I'd swear I saw some artifacts that alluded to extraterrestrials.

Lots of pictures. Not a lot of commentary. Shaolin Temple tomorrow. I'm dreading the 2-hour bus ride each way (and inevitable poopy diaper(s) away from homebase that will entail), but I'm thinking it will be pretty cool.

We had to get out of the hotel today. And get out we did!

We made a morning trip to the "Manhattan City Shopping Mall" to get a stroller. On the way, we were treated to what appeared to be a baby beauty pageant. You know, like those they have that reality show about? If Lance and Stacey Farley are reading this, they know exactly what I'm talking about... Anyway, I realized rather rapidly that a stroller was something I should've bought early on. While we both enjoy the ergo carrier and the closeness it brings, this chunk of a boy is killing my back when I put that thing on for more than a few minutes. Good thing I've got those chiropractor appointments lined up when I get back to the States!



He loves the stroller...so long as we keep moving.

We also found another...interesting...store in the mall on the way to Wal-Mart (more water and another suitcase). Not sure what they sold in there, but it was just another example of things that are just a little "off" here.



Another example would be the number you call for emergencies. You can see it posted on the fire box from the Henan Provincial Museum, below (more on the museum in the next posting).



After we got back, got lunch and chilled for a bit, we decided to head out to the park and get some dinner. I broke one of my cardinal foreign travel rules: I agreed to go to an American chain restaurant while in a foreign country. But Mom needed a break from the local cuisine, I think.:) So we headed out to the park (beautiful public spaces here), where they were having some sort of music festival. I'm not an afficianado of Chinese music by any stretch, but it appeared that they were having small, localized contests to see who could best imitate trash cans bashing together while skinning cats. I guess if you're into that kind of stuff, it was cool. Mom and I preferred the scenery:



From the park, we waded through a sea of humanity and tricked-out electric scooters to get to what we thought was going to be Pizza Hut, which we thought was just past McDonald's, a little way past the park. Along the way, we were treated to another impromptu talent show. This time, a "human angel statue." I have no idea what that meant, but from the size of the crowd...who am I kidding? Every crowd--for everything, regardless of the event--is ridiculously large here. The great part about this one was it was right outside of the McDonald's...which, it turns out, was in the opposite direction of the Pizza Hut from the hotel. So guess what we had for dinner? You got it! The boy had his first taste of Americana...sort of. Chicken McNuggets and fries. Loved 'em!

And he was asleep before we got back to the hotel. 5:45pm until a little after 6:00am.

Can't take him anywhere...break a bowl, poop on the furniture...

Today was a "down" day for the group. No excursions, tourist- or adoption-related. Just plenty of quality time with the kiddos. And boy, did Caden decide to make that quality time memorable for us!

He started by breaking a bowl at breakfast. Should've seen that one coming. He likes to throw things...I just thought that maybe the Apple Jacks would keep him occupied enough. Guess I was wrong. As soon as I got up to get my breakfast and turned my back, I heard a crash. All I could do was close my eyes and start aplogizing profusely to the service staff in the restaurant at the hotel. I was trying to avoid having him eat directly off of the high-chair tray, even after it had been wiped down with sanitizing wipes...but I think we're just going to have to bite the bullet.

He took a nice nap shortly after breakfast. Three solid hours. So dad got a good nap in, as well. I wasn't particularly tired, but sleep when you can get it, right?

After the nap, I took Caden up to the child "play room" in the hotel. It was somewhat underwhelming, but kept Caden occupied for a good hour or so. He was kind enough to poop right after we got there. The boy has impeccable timing when it comes to these things (more on that later). Luckily, no one else was in the room, so I was able to change him and he was able to keep playing. No changing facilities in China. That's one of the biggest inconveniences we've run into. That and the non-potable water.

And yes, the anti-bacterial wipes were put to great use following the play room time.


We spoke with Yisha, our CCAI rep here in Zhengzhou, and she has arranged for a trip to the Wal-Mart shopping center for us to find umbrella strollers, baby items, etc. Just a couple more things required and we'll be set. We're burning through water like crazy. One of the by-products of not being able to ingest the water from the taps here. We've been through nearly a case of bottled water in just one day.

For dinner, we decided to go to the noodle shop next door again. The first thing we saw was an old American man barking Chinese at the staff, we presume paying his bill. He stopped in the middle of his Mandarin and said "Hello, how are you today." Talk about surreal.

Mom went with something a little lighter and we used those for Caden's dinner, as well. I had noodles with mutton. That's right. Mutton. It was pretty good. Like mild beef. Very tender. Would've been a totally uneventful dinner (except for the old man) had Caden not leaned to the side, looked the other direction, squinted really hard, and grunted. We knew that meant trouble...but we had no idea just how much. Suffice it to say, I had to carry him out in front of me to our hotel next door, strip him down, and throw him in the shower. Sometimes, that's all you can do when confronted with a mess of that magnitude. Add in the fact that changing Caden's diaper is a two-man job under the best circumstances, and it was just the best course of action.



Not a lot of pictures from today. I did find some pictures on Mom's camera that I thought I'd include:

It's Official!!!

Today was the day we went back to the registration office where we had "Gotcha Day" and received our official adoption certificates. It's official! The adoption is final! At least in the eyes of the Chinese government anyway. Not sure about the US government, but I think for them, as well...the paperwork just has to catch up to them.




It was a very happy time for all the other families. Luckily, it appeared that all the other kids had a good night last night--their first night in their new families. Caden slept like a log from roughly 5:00pm until 6:15am. He decides to take naps at the most inopportune times.




This was him sleeping at the notary's office. He fell asleep on the bus, about 5 minutes before we got there. Slept through us walking up 6 flights of stairs (no elevator). Slept through me handing him to Mom. Slept through her handing him back to me. Slept through getting our picture taken with the notary (sorry...don't have that picture for some reason). Slept through 4 flights of stairs on the way down...until some nice man decided we all needed to hear his side of the cell phone conversation a few flights up. I guess some things (cell phone rudeness) are universal...

At the notary's office, there was a flurry of paperwork signage, just as you would expect. We had to put our complete trust in Yisha, our CCAI rep, as she was telling us where to sign and what to write and where to date the forms...they were all in Chinese. Whatever it takes to bring those precious little guys/girls home...


Next was back to the room for some "rest." I put that in quotes, because Caden has no idea what that means when he's not sleeping. The boy goes full-speed, all the time. Gets into EVERYTHING. I really hope A's got the house child-proofed before I get back, or else we're going to find him in a pile of dishwasher soap, with a lighter in one hand and balancing dishes on the end of a butcher knife with the other.

We decided to hit the noodle shop in the hotel next door for lunch. Caden loved it, eating like a horse as always. I thought it was really good, as well, but it didn't sit too well with Mom. She was down for the count and unable to go on the afternoon's excursion.




After our "rest," we went on a shopping excursion to the Lotus shopping center. It's like an upscale Wal-Mart. No photos from inside...I was too focused on getting the stuff we needed: diapers (the boy's going through 5-6 a day, easily), water (we're all going through much more than the hotel provides), rice cereal, spoons, bottles, laundry detergent (hotel laundry is outrageously expensive), plus some little bread treats that Caden is fond of (thank you Yisha for checking with LOCC on that). I think we're set for the next several days. But the ride there and back was a little scary...



Tomorrow, if the weather breaks (it was raining this afternoon), a trip to the park. I'm sure there will be great pics from that.

Gotcha Day!!!

Today started out pretty much like every other day: Alarm went off; showered; shaved; got the baby bag and paperwork togeth...OK, that was where it was different. We went down to the hotel lobby and had a rather weird breakfast (I actually had sea cucumber at one point), then all met together, waiting for the bus.



To say we were anxious would be the height of understatement...even for those who had been here and done that.

As we rode the bus to the "gotcha" location--some government office building with a nice little park out front (that will be important later)--it started to hit me. Maybe it's my Oklahoma public education...maybe I'm just slow...maybe I've been compartmentalizing a bit too much. Who knows. Regardless, it really started to become real at that point for me: Holy crap! I'm getting a kid!

I wasn't the first through the door this time, I'm sure to the chagrin of some in our group. It's probably been a point of annoyance for some that I seem to be in the front a lot. It's not on purpose...I promise! But I heard those who had already been through the door say, "They're already here!" Turns out, Caden was one of the ones who had already arrived. I walked through the door, Yisha is already calling, "Liu Jin Jie." I'm stripping off bags as fast as I can, telling Mom to get the camera going, looking around frantically for my little boy...and someone walks up with a little kid, no cleft repair, dressed all in pink. Again...I realize I have an Oklahoma public education, but I was pretty sure that wasn't Caden. I swung my head to the right, to the play area, and see my precious little boy, dressed all in blue...except for his zebra-striped James Brown shoes. And the nanny starts walking toward me. No big build up. Just BAM. There he is.






We've got tons of video, but we'll have to update with it when I get back.

The little guy wasn't particularly happy to be handed to a big, white, bald-headed man. Probably not what he thought was going to happen when he got in the car that morning. I can certainly understand his being upset. But with some food, some play, and some walking around outside in that beautiful little park (more video on that later), he came around. He really hammed it up on the bus ride back to the hotel.





He fell sound asleep about ten minutes out from the hotel. But we still had one family who had to receive their little girl. They had been there for us, so we were going to be there for them. Up to the fourth floor landing with a 30-lb bag of lovable dead weight and we all stood there waiting for Jeremiah and Andrea's little girl to arrive (she had a much longer trip and couldn't be at the government building with the rest of the kids). Caden slept right through that, too.

He was up for a while after that, eating like a maniac. I was hoping he would nap through me having to go do paperwork, but no such luck. He stayed in the room and played with Mom while I took care of the paperwork for tomorrow with the other parents. He also decided to grace Mom with the first poop. Too bad I missed that...:-)

Caden's finally down for a real nap now. Dinner after he wakes up, more playtime, then a bath and bed. Long day for all of us. Let's hope the night goes well...

Day 2 - The Great Wall, Amazing Race Porta Potties and traffic that makes you miss DC....

After crashing hard last night around 9:00 and sleeping (or trying to) near a buzzsaw called Mother, we got an early start today. If we weren't awake when we got on the bus, the traffic certainly woke us up:






We went to a government jade store--which is good, apparently, ensuring the quality (and authenticity) of the jade. Jade being the diamonds of China, of course. We heard many interesting concubine-related tales involving jade yesterday at the Forbidden City, as well as the health-supporting qualities of jade, so we were all looking forward to the opportunity to see artisans working with and purchase this miracle stone. It was quite interesting and they got a good bit of money from several of us, but I cleared out half of my shopping list and knew that I purchased high-quality stuff at the price I was told to purchase it...so a win-win, I suppose.





Then it was on to the main event: The Great Wall of China. Turns out that now, I'm officially both a man and a Hero of the People's Republic of China. Chairman Mao said so. All because I climbed my fool ass up and down that wall. It was definitely worth the pain to say I did it, but holy crap was that thing steep and were those steps hard to deal with! Uneven does not begin to adequately describe them. Some were four inches high, some were two feet high. It was completely random. It wasn't like you could just get a mindless rhythm going and just start cruising...you had to watch every step, going up and coming down. But man, was it worth it--and not just to receive the labels from Chairman Mao, either.




After the Great Wall, we went to lunch, where they had some complimentary "Beijing White Liquor" on the table. The three guys at our table all took a sample shot. Smelled and tasted just like tequila. One shot was plenty--especially for someone who's had a really bad tequila experience. As with yesterday, the food was great. The restaurant was right above a government "cloissone" store, which is a type of copper artwork. It was beautiful, and there were some nice Christmas ornaments--but they weren't on the approved shopping list. So I just browsed...while being hounded by the staff. But I really think Adreanna and Addie would've liked some of the ornaments I saw. Oh well...

Then it was on to the Olympic Village for a brief stop to take pictures of the Bird's Nest stadium and Water Cube natatorium. Both beautiful structures in their own right. But Adreanna and I are huge fans of The Amazing Race, and I saw something on the grounds there that made Amazing Race history: porta-potties. A year or so ago, a team was racing for the pit stop at the Bird's Nest. One of the contestants just couldn't hold it any more and had to stop at one of the porta-potties nearby...and it cost that team the race. So I just HAD to take a picture...



Early start tomorrow. We get on the plane to Zhengzhou, then Wednesday is Gotcha Day. The anticipation and tension is building for all of us. We were all talking a lot more about it today...it's getting more real, I think. It's really good that we've got someone with us (Brandy) who adopted from Zhengzhou just a year and a half ago--she's been giving us a lot of helpful information on how everything went with her.

More tomorrow with impressions of Zhengzhou.

First Day In Beijing

Really. I'm happy to be here. Seriously.

We started the day with a trip to the Hutong "Alley" District, near the Forbidden City. We took a rickshaw (a "semiautomatic BMW" in the words of our guide, George) to the home of a resident, Mrs Feng, a retired high school physics teacher. She showed us her "old school" home, which was the same type home Chinese diplomats lived in during Imperial days.






After lunch, we went to Tianenmen Square and the Forbidden City. George provided quite a bit of interesting "non textbook" information for us regarding the background of certain landmarks and rituals in China's history related to what we were seeing. So much so that he drew a crowd of locals at times. I'm not sure they understodd his English, but they seemed to enjoy his stories. At that point, it also got VERY windy...





We didn't get to see as much as originally planned, due to some foreign dignitaries showing up and military police shutting off a majority of the Forbidden City. I snapped a picture of the party poopers before they got started:


We ended up sitting around with a few thousand of our closest friends, waiting for the one exit to open up so we could leave. The crush of people trying to get out was unbelievable! No OSHA standards here!

Throughout the day, all of us in the group learned more about each other. That made the day worthwhile, regardless of any tours we took.

Early day today. Great Wall, Olympic Village and acrobat show tomorrow. Everyone was seeming to wear down in the early afternoon, so it was a good call on George's part to shuffle the original schedule around a bit. We're looking forward to the Great Wall...but looking forward to Wednesday (Gotcha Day) even more.