White Swan July 31st

The two Hanchuan cuties, Sophia and Gi.

Red couch beauties.

Travel Group 1196.

Red couch potatoes.

Sweet calm Bertina napping before the medical exam.

Gi playing in the room before heading over to the medical clinic.

Yesterday, we took Gi to have her medical exam done. She is officially 16 lbs. and 28 inches. Today we did our official red couch photos. Enjoy the pics.

Easy Day on Shamian Island

In the waterfall pool of the hotel. Gi is getting very used to being in a pool.

Beautiful park on the water side. Lots of locals doing exercise.

Shamian street lined with trees.

The devil wears Prada---angelic when asleep, rascal-like when awake!

Hello, Everyone!

Once again, in Guangzhou, we can not access our blog to read any comments that you may have left. We will just have to wait till we get to Macau to see if access is better. So far we are spending an easy day on Shamian Island. We walked all around seeing many of the locals. The elderly are very much into Tai Chi and ballroom dancing. Shamian Island has beautiful tree-lined streets. Today at 3:00 p.m., we take Gi to get her physical exam done. More news later.

Finally Some Pictures

No more tears during bath time. I love it now!

Stroller conference in the lobby of the White Swan.

Gi and Mama by the Pearl River at the White Swan.

My brand new Chinese stroller. Daddy bargained the price down to 140 yuan in Guangzhou.

At the Wuhan airport.

Last day at the Shangri La and I'm cranky!

Our favorite hotel in the whole wide world, the Shangri La in Wuhan.

At the White Swan

Hello Everyone!
Yesterday we arrived at the famous White Swan. Man, it is adoption central here! So far we are enjoying our stay here. However, we do miss the Shangri-La in Wuhan a lot. It was not as crowded and much more personable. The White Swan seems more like a processing plant. Gi is doing fine so far. She does have a runny nose and a little cough which I think I gave to her. We are finding out that she is a little firecracker with a very stubborn streak. We think that her foster parents may have spoiled her a bit. Sorry but I don't have any pictures to post today. Ever since becoming parents in a foreign country, the camera is not a priority. Kim, you were right. I desparately need a stroller to transport Gi around. My arms, back and hips are so sore from carrying her everywhere. Ron just went out to bargain his way to a cheap stroller. A couple more observations I would like to share:
1. The shirt that I wear on any given day has become the Kleenex tissue for Gi's snot, tears and soggy food droppings as well as a pull-up mechanism for her to get me to hold her.
2. Rice crackers have become the "shut-up" cookie. When Gi doesn't really want to be held by Ron and starts to fuss, we just give her a rice cracker and she is a happy camper.
3. Bed-head is quite o.k. on baby and mommy.
4. Nap time is a commodity not be messed with.
AND
5. Parenting is definitely a two-person job. It is tough!!!!

Last Day in Wuhan

This is what happens when Hanchuan cutie is woken up to attend a farewell celebration.

Travel group members.

Travel group members.

Travel group members.

Travel group members.

Presents for our babies from our reps.

Celebration cake for our travel group.

Day 4 with Gi July 26

O.k., this is what happens when you let Daddy feed you a creamy dessert. Gi had rice and noodles stuck to the bottom of her butt and thighs. Our travel group went to a really nice restaurant for a fabulous Wuhan style luncheon. Prior to that we visited a Buddhist temple. It was sooo hot and humid. We all got many stares and kind comments.

My side of the story

Ron's version of the adventure.
Scenario: I took a cab(which are all French Reanults 4 cyl, no A/C) with a piece of paper with the name of the store in chinese that I wanted to visit. The trip was short, about 20 min and costed me 10 Yuan( one dollar thirty cents) One funny thing. In China the lanes marks on the road have no significance to the drivers and pedestrians are good targets. At one point a saw a minivan leaving a parking lot, and a chinese man had his back to the van blocking the path. Needless to say that the van ever so slightly touch the man's back knees and the man got out of the way as the van took off. The electronic stores in Wuham are limited. To be honest, I wanted check out how the real chinese people live, shop and work. After being dissapointed with the limited amount of computers laptops and flat screens TVs, I decided to walk around to check the locals.

Nature call: After about one hour of walking and checking out the locals, I felt the need to go. They had toilet paper in the vending machine that took coins only. How do you say change in Chinese? I don't know either and the smallest bill I had was a 100. Luckily, I has some pamphlets that an old man gave me advertising apartments for sale on one side and the photo of the statue of General Lee on the other. In respect for the local hero I used the other side of the pamphlet.

Electronic Store Day 3 with Gi

I think I'm sleepy now.

Whew! Bath time is over. Now I can play.

Boo hoo, I hate taking a bath!

Daddy, I told you I don't like this bath thing!

Mmmmm, noodles...

Getting ready to eat some noodles in a local Japanese noodle house.

Back from the spa, comfy in my diaper and eating again.

After a little dip, we went to the gym to "work out" a bit more.

Miss Lilian and Bertina in the gym.

Not crazy about the water but no crying either.

After Daddy's solo adventure, we got ready to go swimming again but not without a little inducement, rice crackers.

Hello Everyone! It's day 3 in Wuhan with Gi. I'm taking advantage of this quiet moment to blog. Gi is currently napping and Ron is off to some electronic store by himself. Let's pray that he comes back in one piece! Ron had been itching to check out the electronic goods in China. To his disappointment none of the activities we have done so far included a tour to the Chinese version of Best Buy. So this morning, he asked our rep for the name of the store and some simple written translation. Off he went in a taxi while I stayed behind with Gi. Somewhere in Wuhan, Hubei is a Brazilian goofball on the loose in search of cheap Chinese electronic goods. Oh boy!

Alrighty, Ron is back safe and sound. He informed me that prices for electronics is not cheaper than the U.S. Now that he got that out of his system, maybe we can concentrate on more important things! He entertained me with stories of all that he saw including his bm adventure in a department store. When nature called, he had to rush to locate a bathroom in the department store. Upon completing his "task," he discovered that there was no toilet paper to be found. Luckily, he had some department store brochures with him. Need I say more?

Some Observations from Day 2

Getting ready to try the pool.
Getting ready for another round of dinner at the hotel.

We Got Poop!
What a relief! Gi gave us three poopy diapers yesterday. Actually it was, officially, only two poopy diapers. Her first bm with us came when we were bathing her in the sink. As usual she was crying bloody murder. Before we could take our next breath, she dukied into her bath water. So before she could squeeze out the next round, Ron sat her on the toilet where she relieved herself some more. Most of the poop went into the toilet but some of it got on the seat. A big clean-up job followed. We re-bathed her again to the tune of merciless crying. When we finally dressed her, we noticed a foul smell coming from her. Yup, she pooped again in her diaper. So it was another round of intense crying as we cleaned her and re-dressed her. Funny how all crying ceases as soon as the task at hand is completed. Her last bm of the day came during dinner. Again, we noticed a most foul smell coming from her. As I was finishing my dessert in the hotel restaurant, Ron took Gi up to the room. As I approached our room door, I could hear Ron trying to console Gi about another diaper change. Ron later confessed to me that he waited until I came up to actually change the diaper because this time around, it was an ugly one. The pooped had run up her back soiling her onsie.
Baby Bjorn
Gi hates to be put in that but no choice here. She cries intensely while we are stuffing her in it but immediately stops once we leave the hotel room. As expected she is fascinated by all her new surroundings.
Cusine
She will eat most anything. What she doesn't like, she will use her tiny fingers to retrieve it from her mouth. Cheerios is a big hit as well as watermelon and oranges. We still feed her noodles and congee. She continues to drink her formula and honeysuckle "juice" watered down. We also started her on watered down apple juice. We gave her a couple of drops of soda. She was fascinated by it.
Bathing
Well, the trauma continues but she has no choice. Wuhan is extremely hot and humid. Bathing is definitely a daily routine Gi has to endure. Ron holds her while I gently scrub her tiny body. While all of this is going on, she is screaming at the top of her lungs, her little face red and soaked with tears. While she is crying, her mouth is open with agony and you can see her two little teeth. It is the cutest thing.
Diaper Change and Changing Clothes
Screaming cries during the process. Happy camper afterwards.
Bonding
Thankfully, Gi will go to both of us. We actually don't give her much of a choice. We're both pretty much "in her face" on a daily basis. We both feed, bathe, change, carry and play with her. It's kind of like a tag team routine.
Pool
No crying. Was fascinated by it.
Compliments
The locals have been very kind. They tell us that Gi is very pretty (hung pi-liang) and has very big eyes.
Language Barrier
We get by with eating out and ordering our food. Besides the hotel staff, most of the locals don't speak much English. Unfortunately, I don't understand most of their Mandarin and they don't understand my Cantonese. When we dropped off our laundry at a local place yesterday, the employee had to pull up an English translation program from the internet to communicate with us. She was very kind and understanding.
Day Three
Well, today is a brand new day. Let's see what it will bring us. We are tired but have been having the time of our lives. Everything is good and we feel very blessed. Hugs and kisses to everyone!

Day 2 with Gi

It's official! She is ours!

Both daughter and father have short stubby toes.
Like father...
Like daughter...
Eating Machine

Hello Everyone

Thank you for all the kind wishes and comments. We look forward to reading them everyday. Gi did fairly well yesterday. She had occasional episodes of severe crying. As expected, she is a good eater and very small. On Gotcha Day, she was wearing one of the outfits that I sent in the care package. The size was 0-3 months. We did get the elephant toy back along with the disposable camera. Even though her report says that she loves to take a bath three times a day, she wailed every time we gave her one. The pediatrician from the orphanage gave her a clean bill of health. As you might expect it was a very rudimentary examination that took place in our hotel room. Gi, apparently, likes to pinch whoever is feeding her. She will grab your hand that has food and move it to her mouth. She is making good eye contact and has started to gibber jabber with us. Both of us have been able to start the bonding process. So far we have witnessed her standing with assistance, crawling, sitting up and rolling over to get up. Well, today is a brand new day. Let's see what it will bring us. Hugs and kisses to everyone!

She's Beautiful