Twas the Night Before Christmas

I never, ever thought I'd be spending a Christmas Eve in China.  But here we are, after a busy day with our bags all packed and three little elves all tucked in their beds.  Three little elves.  Three perfect little blessings.  The best Christmas presents in the world don't come in a box.  They cry, they giggle, they pout, they snuggle.  They bring the joy of Christmas every day.  They are our girls.

Frannie has already changed so much since the day we met her with the crazy hair hat on.  We are seeing more and more of her personality every day.  She is funny and fun, but she also has quite the little temper on her.  She wants to be held by me or in the carrier constantly.  She's starting to show some affection, and snuggles into me when I hold her.  I want to smother her beautiful baby face with kisses.

I'm thinking a lot tonight about the changes that are still in store for our new daughter.  I remember well when Emmie--who had just started to settle down a little at the end of her adoption trip--walked into our house and started to cry.  It was as if she was saying, "Not this again.  Stop changing things on me."  For months after returning home she was terrified every night.  I would lay in her room for hours and hours every night until she fell asleep.  So I can't help but worry for Frannie, who has seemed to settle in to our routine here in China.  I hate the thought of her feeling scared when we mix up her scenery yet again.  It's OK to be hopeful, but it's foolish to think that the hard part is behind us.  Not to mention the fact that the day after returning home and jetlagged, we'll already be at the hospital getting her lab work done, which is sure to be traumatic.

So Merry Christmas to everyone from China and I'll sign off with some pics from the past two days, which have really been nice family days.  We are so lucky to have these girls in our lives.  Wish us luck on the very long journey home!

Visiting a Buddhist temple.  Patrick and I absolutely loved it and
everything Connie taught us.

Liuhua Lake park.  Connie said, "I planned the temple for the adults,
the park for the girls."  She was right on-the girls had a blast.

Late night dim sum.  Frannie can EAT.

Oh, shoot.  She's hooked on Starbucks already.

Pure joy!

Lychee Park.

Flower boats.

Enjoying a peaceful boat ride.

Emmie performing "Let It Go" on the boat ride.

Super excited to get a bowl of turnip cakes.  She eats and eats and eats...

Christmas Eve dinner.  A little different than usual.

Out celebrating our last night in China and Christmas Eve.

The pedestrian mall area was packed with people celebrating.

And, of course, Baba reading "The Night Before Christmas."

Shopping and the Consulate

Does Frosty the Elf visit people living in hotel rooms in China while they are adopting their third daughter?  Well, of course he does!

Frosty flew a long way to find us.

The girls woke up to a visit from Frosty as well as some letters from Santa sent right from Santa's Village.  We are doing our best to keep the holiday spirit alive while here in China.  We are so happy to see holiday decorations around and hear Christmas songs everywhere we go.  (Michael Buble seems to be a favorite.)  Still, it's weird spending the holiday season away from home.  But holding my daughter now, I know that coming as fast as we could was absolutely the correct decision.  Pushing things off and leaving her here to keep from disrupting the holidays seems so selfish.   Especially when it could have snowballed into an ever longer delay due to the upcoming CCCWA computer system upgrade.  I didn't bake holiday cookies or decorate as much as I usually would or get to participate in the last minute bustle.  We'll be eating our Christmas dinner on a plane or in an airport food court instead of with my family who we miss very much.  But I will have the best Christmas present of all right there with me.  I'll be with my family and new daughter.  Isn't that what Christmas is really about?

Baba reading letters from Santa.

On Sunday, we headed out shopping with Connie.  We actually were not even supposed to be with Connie on Sunday, but she admitted that she loves to shop and would be happy to join us for a half day.

First we headed to a tiny jade store.  It was the same jade store that Helen took us to on Emmie's adoption trip.  I bought some small jade circle pendants for myself and the girls so we could all match.  As an early Christmas present, we decided to get me a jade bangle, something I've thought about getting for awhile now.  Connie told me that Chinese women say that if it hurts when you put it on, then it's the right size. Chinese women also never take them off, so they buy the absolute tiniest bangle then can jam on their hand.  I tried a few of the larger bangles on but didn't like the way they looked so I decided to try a smaller one that I *could* take off if necessary.  The jade dealer put a plastic bag around my hand and wrist and told Connie to tell me to sit down before he tried getting it on my hand.  Terrified, I sat down and the owner and his wife jammed it on my hand.  I wish I had a video of me squealing as they did it.  They promised me I would be able to get it off with copious amounts of lotion.

Ouch!

Hand throbbing but with my lovely new jade bracelet on, we headed to the same pearl store where we got Emmie and Rosie's pearls.  As soon as we walked in the owner recognized us.  We all picked out a perfectly lovely strand for Frannie and watched their quick work stringing them.

Watching intently as their little sister's pearls are strung.

Our last stop was at the Government store, where we always go to buy some fancier gifts.  After shopping, they treated us to a traditional tea service which we all loved.

After a quick ramen break in the room and some playtime, we headed out to stroll Shamian Island.  We took the now-familiar walk through the pet and spice markets full of noises and smells and crowds to the quiet and relaxing island.

We've eaten a lot of noodles around this table over the years.

Spice market.

Shamian Island.

Monday was our Consulate appointment.  I'm not sure if anyone really gets very nervous about the Consulate stuff, but after our experience on Rosie's adoption trip, I'd say we were a bit anxious about the whole thing.  It went smoothly, and now we just have to cross our fingers that Frannie's visa is issued without a hitch.

After our appointment was done, we tried for a little holiday photo session in the Holiday Inn lobby since they have such nice decorations.  That did not work particularly well as one of our little friends does NOT like to be put down by mama.

Emmie looks sick because she's rocking a NEW cold now which she
has generously passed on to Patrick and me.  Will the germs ever stop?!?!

Merry Christmas from China!
(Can you hear her screaming, "MAAAAAAMA" because she did not want to be put down?)

That's better.

Since we only visited Shamian briefly yesterday, we decided to spend the day over there relaxing and shopping for squeaky shoes and souvenirs.  We made our usual stop at the Starbucks there, which has to be one of the nicest Starbucks in the world.  That's where each of our girls has had their inaugural sip of coffee.  It was such a nice day just hanging out like a regular family, and made me think of what it will be like when we are home and living our "normal" family life.

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and prayers for our health and healing.  We are inching closer every day to where we want to be...home.  It's a hard trip and a long trip, but each time we have done it, we have gained an unimaginable new joy in our lives.  This is no exception.

Change is good

OK, so I'm not going to say that waking up in Guangzhou cleared all the bacteria out of our systems. But it did seem to breathe some new life into our reconfigured family. Especially our new daughter.

We've seen way more smiles than tears. She's becoming very playful with all of us and seems ... happy. She says "Baba" and "Mama". With a little prompting, she signs "more" and is able to say , "moh." She's babbling more and even singing. She loves raspberries on her belly and imitating us. She's taken more interest in her big sisters. She's even OK with spending some time with us just playing and hanging out together in the room. Rosie keeps saying to me, "Mama, she's starting to like us. She's happy now!" She eats incredibly well. She eats her congee as fast as we can shovel it into her mouth. She likes playing catch and kicking a ball. She enjoys blowing bubbles, building blocks, and pretending to write with a pen. She has a bit of a temper and yells loudly when she does not get what she wants or when someone touches Mama. She does not like it when any other woman tries to talk to her, play with her, or touch her. Her entire beautiful chubby face scrunches up when she smiles.

After another great breakfast, we headed out to the dreaded medical exam. Although to be honest we were actually looking forward to the medical exam, because we were anxious to see what they thought of Frannie's cough. Also, our guide, Connie, told us that she would ask them to take a look at Rosie with her hives and cough. After getting puked on in the van by our newest family member, we arrived at the medical exam, nearly intact, but smelling like regurgitated congee.

Emmie giving little sister a pep talk before her medical exam.

Rosie helping Connie with the paperwork.

When the doctor was listening to Frannie's chest and frowning, I knew that something was amiss. As it turns out, Frannie has bronchitis which bummed us out, but at least she was prescribed Zithromax and some kind of kids' Mucinex. She took a look and listen at Rosie, too, and said that she had a more garden-variety cough and that her hives were likely an allergic reaction to something. I was happy to hear that the doctor was not able to palpate Frannie's spleen or liver, despite the fact I think she is under-transfused. Frannie passed the ENT portion of the exam with flying colors, and screamed her way through the height and weight.

Since we made it through the exam, and nobody vomited in the van on the ride back, we decided to celebrate by going to one of our favorite haunts in Guangzhou, Tao Tao Ju. We feasted on dim sum and then headed to a local supermarket to stock up on fun-flavored chips and other Chinese snacks. I was actually pretty happy to see that a lot of the snacks and noodles we buy right in Boston's own Chinatown were the same as the ones sold in the supermarket in Guangzhou. Afterwards we strolled the bustling (ie, insanely crowded) pedestrian street right outside of our hotel. Rosie, who is the most sensitive to loud noises, rode around in her stroller covering her ears while the other two loved taking in all of the sights and sounds.

Everyone enjoying some dim sum.  Rosie only seems to eat noodles
while in China.

Rosie is really coming into her own and loving her new role as big sister.

I love a good Chinese supermarket. Frannie seems to love supermarkets, too.
Rosie can't wait to bring her to Wegman's.

Super bustling pedestrian mall outside the Shifu.

I'd call today a success, and definitely a step in the right direction. It makes our hearts happy to see our new daughter starting to relax, play, smile, and enjoy her new family. Because we are enjoying her so much.

Frannie sandwich!

A Park and a Plane

On Thursday, we headed to a children's amusement park in Nanning.  It's sort of one one those time-warp parks, not that kids mind one bit if the rides that they are going on are stuck in a different decade.  At this time of year, all of the rides are not manned, so if you want to go on a ride, you have to hunt someone down to come over and run the ride for you.  At times it seemed like there was one lady who was running from ride to ride, switching them on and off for us and a few other kids.  Hong Kong Disney it ain't, but the kids loved it nonetheless.  Frannie did a lot of cautious watching from her carrier as her big sisters had fun.

She ate another great breakfast.
This girl can EAT.

I was a little afraid P was testing the weight limits of this ride.
You should have heard the creaking sound when he squeezed himself in with the girls.

Frannie tried this one.  She was a little unsure of the whole thing.
We tried to sit her on one of the horses for a photo and she wanted no part of that.

Christmas in China.

On Friday it was time to pack up and leave Nanning.  In more way that one.  Friday was the day I would label, "Gets worse before it gets better" in the Adoption Trip 101 handbook.  In part it was bad due to the incredible onslaught of illnesses we have all been hit with.  Rosie was sick with God knows what and covered in hives.  P was hit with a terrible stomach thing.  I continued my China-special illness, and Frannie's cough was rattling her entire body.

Sickness aside, this was the time when Frannie seemed the most inconsolable, the most frightened, and the most like she wanted to escape.  She was crying more than not, and refusing to be in the room with us at all.  As soon as we'd walk in, she'd put her arms up to be held and point to the door screaming.  Our guide's guess was that where she lived was big and that our room was small.  I personally didn't think this was too likely.  Because we went through this with Emmie, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this issue.  What I've come up with is that if a person was kidnapped, they would likely feel terrified at all times with their captor.  But wouldn't it feel much scarier to be locked in a room, out of sight of others with your captor than to be out in public with them?  I think it would, and I think could be how our children feel.

So Frannie was just sad and angry.  She wanted nothing to do with us, yet she wanted me to be holding her at all times, which made packing up several suitcases of belongings very trying.  Every moment felt so tentative with her.  If we managed to find something that would make her smile, there was this pressure to do it over and over again, to keep the momentum up in an effort to trick her into being happy.  It worked a little.

We left our hotel, picked up her passport, and headed to the airport.  It's a bittersweet moment, leaving the place where you first met your daughter, but bringing you one step closer to home.

Getting ready to leave the hotel.

Waiting for Glenn to pick up the passport.

Saying goodbye to Glenn.  Can you tell how SMITTEN Emmie was with him?

What a lucky guy!

Getting ready to say goodbye to Nanning.

Baby takes flight!

We left the plane after yet another Emmie celebrity-style photo session (she is constantly being photographed and petted here!) and a throw-up session from Rosie, and met our new guide, Connie.  As sick and tired and weary as we were all feeling, I still felt a sense of calm wash over me as we headed towards the Holiday Inn Shifu in Guangzhou.  It's a place we have spent so much time--more than we wanted to because we were stuck there on Rosie's adoption trip!  As soon as we walked into the lobby, Emmie remembered it well.  It was like deja vu when we walked into our room and realized it was the same room we stayed in last time.

Now we are just hoping that a change in scenery is just what we all need.  For our health, and for our baby's continued healing.