1 Week Home!

Nyah has been home a week. In all reality, her adjustment once we arrived home could not have gone better. She immediately was on a good sleep schedule. Bed at 8pm and up at 6:45am and 1 nap a day and she goes to sleep quickly as long as she can see mommy. She sleeps through the night. She is now comfortable in our house and in our yard, as long as there are no "strangers" around. Unlike in China, when she is not comfortable and is being held, she doesn't shy away or cry... she warms up quickly and flirts from her mommy's arms. She now answers to Nyah but I got so used to calling her Nyah Pei Pei in China and for a few days at home that now Nyah seems so short so I have been calling her Nyah Kate (which is her legal first name).

Her personality: playful, impatient, silly, chatty, playful, adventurous

She likes:

• when Evan and Price pick her up and carry her around
• to play with Pokemon cards more than dolls
• when Caleb walks in the room
• to dance to music
• to run on the couch even though she knows she will be "fussed at" by mommy
• to have her hair brushed
• to collect toys and store them in containers
• to eat... a lot and often
• watermelon, rice, vanilla soy milk, yogurt, and noodles the best
• to have mommy hold her sippy cup up so she can drink even though mommy has seen her get a drink without help

She dislikes:

• waiting for food
• waiting for drink
• waiting for someone to unbuckle her seatbelt
• waiting for mommy to pick her up when she wants to be held
• having someone else pick her up when she wants mommy to hold her
• when the doorbell or phone rings (puts her in a total panic)
• when she thinks we are leaving the house and no one is picking her up
• barrettes in her hair
• pears, cheese

She doesn't mind when she gets dropped or tackled by her brothers or when she falls down trying to run.

She does mind when her brother puts a baseball helmet on her head or when you temporarily need to take a toy out of her hand to change her shirt or to put her in the car seat.

She is extremely impatient when she knows someone is preparing food or drinks. This is manageable when it is food because if we throw a couple of Cheerios her way she gets quiet but if it is the bottle before bedtime, the screams go from the first glance of the bottle until it is in her mouth. I may have to spring for premixed formula.

Nyah now has four new teeth since September 1st. Two on the top just poked through in the last 24 hours.

For me, going back to changing diapers has not been a problem at all. Trying to figure out how to keep an 18month old awake on the ride to pick her siblings up from preschool so the afternoon nap isn't ruined has been a challenge. Adjusting to my new life as a stay-at-home-mom has been hard, though I got to run twice this week and that was good mentally for me. Remembering to move everything out of the reach of a toddler is making us ALL a bit crazy!

But she SO makes us all laugh with her antics.

I went back and read one of the "What to expect" books about toddlers last night and I think she is on target for motor skills. The book indicated an 18month old should be able to say at least a few words and we are not there yet if the words have to be understandable but if the writers accept babble, she would get an A+. I know I have written about it before but her "talking" is what makes me smile the most. She babbles on and on and points her fingers and looks so serious as if she is telling you the most important thing in the world and the best part is if you nod your head, she doesn't catch on you really have no idea what she is saying.

Here is another short video where I tried to catch the talk. I didn't get the finger pointing though so I am going to keep trying... problem is she knows when I am filming and she often stops. She will not venture out the back door to our screened-in porch yet but I am sure it is just a matter of hours.

So all is well! We are blessed!

A Sunday at Home

Nyah continues to be a trooper. Today she had her first ride in a stroller and after a 30 second protest, decided it was a pretty cool thing. She also, finally, had her first bath with just a small fuss at the start. Then, she did not want to get out! A few more baths and she may be totally clean. Nothing like the smell of a freshly washed baby!

She slept well last night - from 8pm until 6am and then took one 2 1/2 hour nap today. She was only really fussy this evening when she was away from home and around a few family members she doesn't know well yet. Caleb seems to be the one still really struggling with jet lag. Brynn is struggling too in her own way, offering me this afternoon a laundry list of ways I do not treat her right such as never reading to her (because she was not in the room when I was reading to her brothers), not allowing her in her own room (once, today, while Nyah napped in their shared room, a room that Brynn rarely plays in and has never slept in), and never letting her be the one to feed the sucker fish (that was Price's job while we were gone and Brynn's was to feed the other fish in the evenings). I have made a conscious effort to not focus too much on Nyah and more on everybody and I think I have done it well. We were expecting Brynn to have a rough time, just not so soon and at this point, we think it is not so much the new sister but more anger at me going away for 2 1/2 weeks. She did the same thing last winter when we went away without kids for a week. Brynn's mood cheered up at the end of the day when she even helped me get Nyah ready for bed voluntarily.

Tomorrow Doug returns to work and Price and Caleb to school so it should be a bit calmer around here noise wise but less help for me! But it is all good right now and I feel very blessed!

Nyah is home!

Just a short post to let everybody know that Nyah is truly home. For the first time since she was sick in Guangzhou, I am seeing her be happy, independent, and playful, in spite of the chaos our house holds. She was thrilled to see daddy at the airport, smiling widely and playing with him immediately. I know that had to be heartwarming for Doug because it was for me.

Today the other kids introduced themselves to her, over and over and over again, and she never really seemed terribly overwhelmed. She was running and laughing all over the house, fussed only a short minute when I finally made her sit in a high chair to eat, and cried only briefly on a car trips to the soccer field today (and last night coming home) when she had to be buckled into a carseat. She also watched fearfully as Brynn took a bath tonight; I was hoping she would want to get it in but she kept running away... maybe tomorrow. She took one nap today and went to bed at 8pm so I think she is doing well time-wise. I guess I will find out for sure tonight but I could not have imagined today going anymore perfectly, well, except for the fact that I am am very tired and not very patient, though my 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon helped.

Of course, life started full force today with three soccer games. We are at Price's in the picture. Nyah made silly eyes and grins at the people who came over to us at the field. She is a trooper. It almost seems like she knows she is home by how relaxed she is!

Not many pictures today (just a lot of soccer ones that I'll go through later and post on the other blog tomorrow) but tomorrow we have no where to go so I hope to get a few to post of our family.

Thank you again for your well wishes while we traveled. I cannot even explain how wonderful it was for Caleb, Doug, and I to read the emails and comments on the blogs. While it was a fun journey, it is also a stressful one and reading kind and encouraging words always made the day a bit brighter. Thank you also for everyone who helped out on the homefront while we traveled... my mom, Doug's family, Karen and Denise especially! To know everything was okay at home and our kids there (and Doug once he was home) were being treated extra special definitely made the travel easier!

I'll post to this blog tomorrow, and then probably 1 or 2 times a month after that until Nyah has been home a year. The other blog will be up and running again tomorrow too and will be the one we use the most so visit us there! http://www.managingthemadness.blogspot.com/.

Wrapping up our time in China!

Thursday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG) was a busy but fun day! At breakfast I ran into another mom from Louisa who is adopting her second daughter! I recognized her first daughter from school... she goes to the same school as my boys do. How funny it is to think we met in a hotel restaurant across the world when we live a mile away from each other.

We met our guide Joe at 8am and headed to the Great Wall. He tried to take us by the jade market first but since we are not big shoppers and had been there last trip, we declined. I think that through him for a loop since it takes up time and I am fairly certain the guides get some type of bonus for sales when they take you to these places because they all seem to want to take you there.

Nyah, Caleb and I climbed the Great Wall and even though I ran 10 miles the Sunday before I left for China, my calves are aching from our climb!! The stairs are very steep and uneven, with some more like a step and a half and with others curved from wear and tear. We went higher than I did last visit (we climbed to the building on the top left of the pictures) and had a few laughs along the way thanks to a couple of ladies from Australia and Scotland who were quite comical. Caleb was again a minor celebrity and was asked to pose for a picture with a young Asian man.

We then headed to the Summer Palace and it was beautiful. There was a large man-made lake and beautiful walkways. We took a short boat ride across the lake. This picture makes me laugh because here we are surrounded by all this history and right there is the hugest tv I have ever seen... no doubt put there to showcase the Olympic events. Caleb had his hair rubbed twice and on a few occasions, when our guide was not around, we were surrounded by Asian tourist groups inquiring about Nyah. They rubbed her face and I heard some ooh's and aah's and saw lots of smiles. Most families tour Beijing before the adoption and we were the only caucasian family with an Asian baby that I noticed in our journey today so that might explain a lot of the attention. Well that and the fact that Nyah is just adorable!

So we had time after that so we let Joe take us to the Silk Factory which involved a short lesson on how silk is made and a LONG sales pitch. We didn't buy anything but it was beautiful. I may have been tempted at the start of the trip but at this point, I am too exhausted to shop or to pack anything else!

After the quick trip to McDonald's for Caleb's dinner and a pass by the Bird's Nest (the Paralympics are taking place so you cannot get close; this picture is from the van window and while you can't see it here, Caleb thought it was neat that we could see the torch flame above the stadium) we headed to the Acrobatic Show. It was again amazing and Caleb seemed to really enjoy it. I enjoyed it too since Nyah slept the entire time. Then it was very early to bed... around 8:30 but it was very much needed!

After a great night of sleep, on Friday we began our journey home with our 3:45 flight from Beijing to Newark. Nyah was GREAT on the plane... the quietest of the five children her age that I saw board. Other children crying doesn't bother me at all ever and this plane ride, I found it a relief as well to know that if she started up, she would be one of many and that I wasn't the only parent struggling to hush a child. She played with whatever leftover eating and drinking items were around... a spoon, a cup, etc., listened to the music, and even walked the aisles looking a bit tipsy doing so but having fun even though it seemed to annoy one of the flight attendants (and it wasn't meal/drink time either!). She only fussed when she needed a diaper change or wasn't able to switch sleeping positions easily. We bought her a seat even though she qualified as a "lap baby"and it was so worth it to have the space for her and I to stretch out and store toys. I didn't sleep for fear she would fall but I did get to watch 3 movies!!

When we landed in Newark she became a US citizen and she is now a Jersey girl like her mom! We arrived 30 minutes early which eased my mind a little having only two hours originally to get though immigration and customs and to switch terminals. We arrived in plenty of time only to have our plane to Richmond delayed by 2 hours. At that point we were cranky and Nyah had added another tooth to her tooth count but we arrived safely, got to the house around 12:30am, and headed to bed!

Wednesday in Guangzhou

Today was our Consulate Appointment and since no cameras were allowed inside and we spent the morning packing and doing some last minute shopping, we took very few pictures. It would have been nice to have one final group picture at the consulate since our family was leaving from there to fly to Beijing and another family was taking the train to Hong Kong but there was no time. I so enjoyed meeting in person the others who endured the long LOA wait with us and, hint, hint, I hope to hear how they are doing!

The consulate appointment was short but sweet as now Nyah will be a citizen when we arrived in Newark on Friday. We have her passport and visa in hand and the official paperwork, until the follow-up social worker visits begin, is over!

Nyah was definitely over her sickness today but she has regressed as far as being independent. She cries if she is put down anywhere outside the hotel room.

We arrived in Beijing from our 2 1/2 hour flight after 11pm and checked into the hotel at 12. It will be a short night since we are meeting our guide at 8am! China regulations meant every one had to sign a form at check-in saying we would pay for fees, etc. even Nyah! Nyah was very restless on the flight and it makes me very nervous for the flight home! But she also slept terribly last night and so did I so we are both overtired and irritable!

Just when I was losing my mind...

I had a feeling when the sun came up this morning that I would only be looking at it through the window of the hotel room. Poor Nyah just wanted to sleep and drink but everything she drank made her wake up and get sick and she still had a low fever. She insisted I hold her while she slept (and would cry if anything changed, even if I coughed). With the computer out of reach and not knowing how much time I had to read, I have watched more Chinese TV than you can imagine... I think I may be fluent! There were times I forgot I was listening to another language as I watched a Chinese version of Oprah, lots of sappy videos on MTV Asia, and infomericals that promise to make my skin whiter (not sure that is needed), my height 6cm taller, and my body skinnier by drinking a special tea. Too bad I didn't know how to work the phone to place an order for the tea.

Nyah's fever broke around noon but she still wanted to sleep. And then, about the time I was about to go mad from boredom, Nyah decided she could eat and everything stayed in its place. So we went walking for a bit and that was the extent of our day. I was craving comfort food tonight and all I wanted for dinner was the whipped cream I saw on top of some of the Starbucks drinks the rest of the family has been consuming (I only have gotten tea from Starbucks here and at home... not a coffee drinker). My dad suggested a mocha frappochino and let's just say, I am glad that I live in a small rural town and that the one coffee shop there is not a drive through so I will not easily be able to tote all my kids in there. Heavenly! We got to see all the lights on the buildings lining the Pearl River tonight and that was nice, but I forgot the camera!

Our documents passed the Consulate test today so we should be getting Nyah's visa tomorrow and will head off to Beijing, getting in late.

My dad and Caleb had a busy day and I am happy they had fun. They did a little shopping and Caleb swam in the pool. It is on the roof! They met a family who lives about an hour away from us in Virginia... what a small world! Dad has now met 2 other helicopter pilots on this trip. This afternoon they joined the group to go to the pearl market though they were just along for the ride and Caleb enjoyed the company of another boy his age on the bus ride. Dad managed to buy a jade pendant I asked him to look for, though apparently is was somewhat comical since he didn't know the Chinese word for "pig" (Nyah was born in the year of the pig) and the store clerk didn't speak English.

Nyah late tonight has started nodding her head yes when we ask a question, even if "yes" makes no sense as a response. She is very sure of herself when she does it. She also points to herself if we show her a picture of herself. She has been extra clingy this evening... I think the 24 hours of sickness spoiled her a bit! She also today purposefully played up to the camera... notice the mischevious smile in the picture. She is a hoot! Nyah also has a new tooth on the bottom left and the one on the other side is about to break through.

Here is a little video of her "talking" to grandpa!

Maybe more tomorrow depending on how exhausting the flight is... we probably will not get to the hotel until after 11pm.

Kate

No way to celebrate 1 week...

Not a great day for Nyah. It started with a terrible night of sleep... she cried in the middle of the night (a first) so I put her in the bed with me but she was all over the place so neither of us slept well. She felt hot so I stuck a thermometer sticker under her arm so I could check it at the first signs of daybreak.

She had a slight fever (less than 100) when I woke her and she did not want to be awake.

She clung to me the entire walk to the medical appt. and screamed bloody murder being weighed and measured (19.8 lbs) and having her body examined. Guess what? They let me know she had a fever... and you would think it was a big one by the reaction there but is was 99.

The only time she didn't cry was when she was on my lap in the ear/mouth check room... and there she shut down. For five minutes she didn't respond to squeaky toys and tambourines inches from her ears and then just as the Dr. was trying to call our guide over to inform me that Nyah is deaf, she must have flinched enough to pass the test. This is the girl who dances when music is playing so I wasn't concerned and I agree with her, the doctor was a bit scary with his glasses, mask, and satellite-dish looking thing on his head.

We were only at the zoo a short while which was perfect because Nyah was not up to it. She fell asleep at lunch and just as I finished, she woke up crying and inconsolable. The rest of the day has been spent in the room, on the bed. She has slept off and on, screamed off and on, ate a cracker off and on. She is miserable. In the picture she is holding the liquid tummy calmer (it didn't work).

Hopefully back to the fun stuff tomorrow.

Kate

Red Couch Photo

Well, today our group met for the traditional Red Couch photo. First the newly adopted only. As you can see (click on the collage and it should get bigger), it was not very successful. From the left, Cali (22 months) and Nyah were crying hysterically, Li Hua (Allie, age 8) took it in stride, Addison (2 1/2) in the back never left Daddy's arms but still joined the crying bunch, Sheila (the youngest of the group at 12 months) seemed to wonder what all the fuss was about, and Sophie (3) on the right had huge tears in her eyes as well.

And the cause of all the chaos? The paparazzi of course!

Nyah did better in the group picture but if you look closely, she is holding the same green straw (from Caleb's Starbucks drink this morning) in all the pictures. Overall, Nyah was traumatized by the event even though I was never more than 2 feet away from her. She did not let me put her down without crying until she woke up from her short nap this afternoon.

Today I think she is finally realizing that when we say Nyah Pei Pei, we are talking to her. She also started feeding me a bit today which is cute. At the same time, she is coming more demanding and throwing fits if she is told no or doesn't get her way and I am not finding that so cute. I keep telling her that she is welcome to have more freedom at meal time to play with her food and try to feed herself if she would sit in a high chair but for some reason, she just isn't getting the message! :) It is hard to make the choice between letting her cry when she can't have something she is eyeing or giving in knowing she still isn't comfortable with us. She is definitely a drama queen. Here she is gazing at her brother Caleb playing on the equipment... she doesn't need to play herself - watching Caleb is her favorite thing!

I bought her three dresses today and while they are cute, I am such a t-shirt and shorts person and they seem impractical for right now since I am using a carrier 1/2 the day. But that is mostly what they sell here (I have yet to find a pair of shorts for sale anywhere). Today she has clothes I brought from home on and she is quite the fashion diva from behind with a hair band holding the straps of her shirt together so they stay on her shoulders and a diaper pin above her rear so her shorts stay on!

But the girl can wear anything and still look good!

Tomorrow we are headed to the zoo. I think all six families are going which should be fun. We have to suffer through Nyah's medical exam first. UGH!

Okay, I hate not having picture editing software here and the internet connection is too slow to use the online editors and I hate not being able to hear the videos. I tried hard to get one of Nyah babbling today and I took four but I remember one was better than the rest. I think it is this one but if not, there are a few good face shots!

Until tomorrow,
Kate

Goodbye to China... by Doug

I just received this email from Doug... his "Goodbye to China" entry...

Good Bye China…I am sitting in the airport waiting on my flight from the Guangzhou Airport to Hong Kong….where tomorrow morning I will board a plane and head for the states. I can’t even begin to describe the impact that this trip has had on me. What a fabulous experience this has been and what a hard time it was to walk away and leave the crew to head home this afternoon. Grandpa, Kate, Caleb, and Nyah will not be able to leave until the rest of the paperwork is complete which is near the end of the week.

We arrived in Guangzhou last night. Thanks to Kate for asking to have our flight from Nanchang to Guangzhou bumped up a little earlier, we were able to arrive in the early evening and see a little of the city last night. Xi Xi, our guide in this city, is awesome. She is high energy with a great personality and lots of knowledge. She will be fun for the crew over the next few days. It is very westernized in this area, which is nice. Guess what…….We actually ate at an Italian restaurant last night and woke up to Starbucks this morning. Double Chocolate Chip frapochino---my favorite!!!!! Guangzhou is a very nice area with lots to do, unlike Nanchang where we spent the last five days. Kate, Ron, Caleb, and Nyah will be able to see some cool sites over the next few days, while mixing in all of the paperwork and appointments for Nyah.

Speaking of Nanchang….Don’t get me wrong, although Nanchang was not such a great place to be a tourist, I am so thankful that we spent several days in the “real China”. This is the Province where both of our girls were born and spent the first years of their lives. Just to have visited areas like Hong Kong and Guangzhou does not give us westerners the real picture of China. In Nanchang, we got it! Even Xi Xi called Nanchang “real China” compared to Guangzhou. What an important piece of the puzzle this is for us as we journey through the rest of our lives with Brynn and Nyah.

Nyah was doing so well when I left today, although she had become much more clingy to Kate and did not want to really have much to do with me. Her emotions have been running a little testy the past few days and mommy seems to be the answer. Maybe the hotel move has her a little on edge, not real sure. But under the circumstances, she is doing very, very well. Kate is a little under the weather with a pretty nasty cold, but Caleb and grandpa told me that they will take good care of mommy for me.

Thanks to everyone back home for everything. A special thanks to Nana, Papa, Grandma, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Darryl for watching after Evan, Price and Brynn. This experience would not have been possible without you. I can’t wait to get home to see them and give them big hugs and to get back to the hustle and bustle of the S family…I actually miss the chaos….well a little bit. Thanks to all of our friends, family, and co-workers that have sent us the kind and encouraging words before we left and while we were here. You do not know how inspiring those words are for us.

Well, off to catch my flight to Hong Kong, find my hotel without a guide, find my way back to the airport at 8am and fly 16 hours back to the US. If all that works out, I’ll be home Sunday night. I look forward to reading the blog with the rest of you over the next week to hear about all that is going on with the crew in China. Good night all and good bye China!

~Doug

Saturday in Guangzhou... from Kate

Today was another fun day. Doug spent his last few hours on mainland China taking in the sights of the island, well as much as he could in-between rain showers. He is now in Hong Kong. Here he is enjoying an icy beverage...

And here we are posing at the White Swan, a local hotel well known to the adoption community and where I stayed last time. The lobby and pool are beautiful but I will say the rooms we are in are bigger and nicer. For those of you coming soon and want to save money, we are in the Annex building of the Victory, in a business suite, with a king size bed (and it is soft!!), free internet (and computer to use) in room!

Here is our "Red Couch" photo (a Chinese adoption tradition)... we wanted to get one before Doug leaves. Tomorrow our group will get one as well - but I know that Nyah will be crying in the one that is just all kids so I wanted to get a decent one today.

While Nyah slept today the boys went to the local park so Caleb could try his feet at hackey-sack. I don't know exactly how the encounter with the school children started or what happened (maybe Caleb will write about it on his blog tomorrow), but their adventure made for some cute pictures.

Nyah now has 3 pairs of shoes. They are the kind that squeak when you walk and while Brynn refused to walk in them until I took the squeaky out, Nyah doesn't seem to notice. She had her first really good nap today and when she woke up... watch out!

She was full of herself in the room tonight. Our guide, XiXi (pronounced See See) came to our room (and presented Nyah with a chop she made herself!) to let me do tomorrow's paperwork without the entire group since Nyah will not stay with anyone else without crying hysterically. Well Nyah was chatting (it is not Chinese our guide says, just babble), laughing, playing with Grandpa, and was just being hysterically funny. Later she was extremely cranky when I changed her diaper, put her in her pj's, and made her bottle, so I guess she just likes extremes. She continues to be very wary of new things. I tried to put her on a small slide, still holding her, today and she had a fit. But she is enjoying walking more and more holding my hand when we are outside, though if we come across a large group of people she stops in her tracks and refuses to move. She also found herself in the mirror today and that was too funny. Today I finally got her to come to me when we are in the room when she wants me instead of crying; tomorrow I am going to work on her showing me she wants "up" rather than just standing there like a statue.

One of the places we went shopping today was a store called Jenny's. Our guide says most of the adoptive families were coming in today so there were very few actually shopping today so the shops were not crowded. Jenny was very nice and asked me to help her understand English. She had highlighted words in an email and asked me what they mean... "drop it" as in "drop the subject" was one. She also asked me the difference between "pleasure" and "pressure" because she pronounces them the same way. Nyah cut our English lesson short but it was fun to try to come up with ways to explain the words.

Okay, the funniest part of the day... I had the opening of the para-Olympics on and there was music. Nyah walked very fast across the room to get her "free gift with purchase" rattle and then proceeded to move inches from the TV and dance. Caleb and I were laughing so hard. I think I finally have a video clip short enough to upload (no video editing software here) where I caught some if it... hope it works. And please, the sound does not work on the computer, so if I am saying anything embarrassing, let me know!!

I would be typing all night if I described today's strolls through the parks. Dancing, Kung Fu, Chinese children playing everywhere, adults of all ages hackey-sacking, etc. There were also many couples having their wedding photos taken.

It was all truly amazing!

Until tomorrow, when I get to meet the other 4 families we will be sharing the next few days with,

Kate

Flying to Guangzhou

Greetings from a new city. There is not a lot to write about today... we spent most of the morning hanging out at the hotel packing and the rest of the day getting to Guangzhou and settling in.

I was so nervous about how Nyah would do on the plane after her hours of carsickness yesterday but it appears that airplanes fall into the same category as vans and taxis... extra clothes and barf bags not needed. She never slept on the plane and we kept her busy with what I think was an entire box of cheerios. She also had fun playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa in the seat behind us.

She is starting to chatter a bit and is rather goofy. She is also very particular and her dislikes include high chairs and the word "no" even though I say it very nicely. She likes to be held or to walk holding a hand and all other positions are not up to her standards. I tried to give her a bath the other day and she cried and stood herself up (she was in a baby bath tub) and then standing up tried to play with the toys that were in the inch of water below. I even tried sitting her on the edge of the tub so she wouldn't have to squat but she wasn't having that either.

Doug leaves tomorrow at 5pm for the airport so he will be able to take in some of the area tomorrow. We had a good dinner tonight though I am slightly embarrassed to admit it was Italian! So odd that we rarely go out for Italian food at home and that is where we ended up eating while in China. Traveling with Doug and Caleb has definitely mixed things up a bit. Nyah also had her first French fries at lunchtime... she liked them until we gave her a spoon of rice then the French fries were history.

By the way, the pants she is wearing are the 6/9 month size and they are falling off her! I planned on picking up some more clothes for her here tomorrow but now I have no choice because it has been raining here and when I opened the luggage, her clothes, which were on the bottom of our duffel bag, were soaked! I think the suitcase spend some time outside at the airport. Oh well, gotta go shopping I guess... darn.

Until tomorrow,

Kate

Doug's view on things...

Wow! What an experience this has been!!! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect during this trip and it has really opened my eyes to what our world has to offer.

Nyah has been doing so well. She laughs, she giggles, she cries, she plays, she is just adorable and is coming out of her shell. She has definitely attached to “Mommy”. If anything at all looks or feels a bit shaky—it is mom, and mom only, that can comfort her. The downside is that mom is the one that has to hold her, all of the time, so Kate’s arms are a beginning to tire, but starting to look a bit like The Incredible Hulk!

I have been able to hold her a couple of times, but usually after a few seconds she wants mommy back. I was able to feed her for the first time tonight at dinner without a cry, that was fun.

We found out today that Nyah and Evan have one definite thing in common—they both get car sick. We went to Nyah’s finding place and the orphanage today. It was about a three hour drive each way and about five minutes into the ride she became car sick. Kate, always being prepared and ready, had packed extra clothes, extra blankets, and all the necessary supplies…just in case. Mom scored an “A” on that one!!!

Going to the finding place was a really neat experience and quite fulfilling. We took a few pictures (ok I took a bunch of pictures) while many folks just stared at us trying to figure out what we were doing. We debated and debated whether or not we would take the long trip to see her finding place, it was well worth it.

Our friends had once told us that when you go on a cruise, you will begin to plan the next cruise before the journey is over. I am feeling a bit like that on this trip….hmmmmm!!!

~Doug

Note from Kate… The building behind the gate is the orphanage. The entrance to the Wanzai Civil Affairs Building is the other building picture… that is what it says going down on the right. Nyah is being quite a giggler today and is starting to get into everything. And let’s just say that Doug’s “hmmmmmm” will change when we get home – when the reality of having five children hits so someone please pick his mother up off the floor.

Exploring Nanchang

Today was a busy day but enjoyable... even Caleb said he really enjoyed it. In the morning the five of us took a taxi to the hotel where I met Brynn and visited the Tengwang Pavilion.

This afternoon, our guide Mary took the two families to the porcelain shop (I wanted to pick up something for Nyah for the future) then we strolled through a park, where there were playgrounds for adults (kids too, there just aren't many there)... badmitton, exercise equipment, walking paths, etc. It was beautiful and the people were very friendly. And Nyah walked almost the entire time in the park, holding on to a hand but she will be hands free before long.

(Meg... notice the Syracuse U. hat! Though she was wearing it she didn't know what it represented so we filled her in.)

While we all get stared at non-stop when we are out, Caleb draws the most individual attention next to Kara's friend Julie with her blonde hair. I asked him today if he noticed people staring at him and he said no. He was very polite to those who asked him questions and posed for a few pictures in the park.

We then went through a neighborhood food market and went to a Chinese restaurant and for $9 a person left full. It was delicious. We were not very adventurous, recognizing everything put in front of us before we ate. Mary keeps trying to convince Doug that he needs to try pigeon when he gets to Guangzhou - she even said restaurants frequently limit customers to one because it is very popular. Doug says someone can have his.

Nyah had a good day. She is giggling more now but especially with Caleb... she worships him and just lights up when he is around. She also let Doug hold her for a bit today. She is starting to come out of her shell in spurts, touching lightly others that come near her, even strangers in the stores, but keeping close to me and making just a handful of sounds, but that is more than we have heard previously.

We were excited that our travelmate Kara pushed to have our 8:00 flight on Friday changed to 3:00 so we will be getting to Guangzhou a little earlier and Doug will have more time to spend on the island there.

Tomorrow Doug, Nyah, and I are taking a very long car trip to Wanzai County to see the area where Nyah was born and lived until Monday. From what I have read, it is quite a poor area and there is not much there (our guide told us to bring lunch) so we will be there likely for only 1/6th of the time we ride in the car but I think it is important.

More tomorrow!

Kate