Homeward Bound

It's our last day here. It's been two weeks since we left home, and how much our lives have changed in this short time. We feel so blessed to have two wonderful daughters in our family now. Though painful at times, the 2+ year wait was certainly worth it now that we have Makena. Already, it's hard to imagine it being any other way.
Yesterday one of the highlights was going to the largest park in Guangzhou. It was beautiful and lush. As we walked around, we soon came upon the hacky sack area, where clusters of people were playing hacky sack with the Chinese version of a hacky sack, called a jianzi. It's a stack of plastic disks bound together, with feathers on one end. Same idea as a badminton shuttlecock (I think that's what it's called.) It was fun just watching people, young and old, kicking it around and doing fancy moves like kicking it from behind their backs, over their heads, spinning around, etc. And what's fun is that it's a very congenial and social atmosphere, and anyone can jump in and play, even total strangers. We were all too embarrassed to join in because they were so good, but Philip, Sarah, and Martin (our 3 China Team guides) all jumped in at one point. They were all pretty good!
We bought one of our own and tried it out. Some strangers even joined in. It's much harder than it looks, especially when you're wearing flip flops! Note Mom's great form. I remember my mom showing me this when I was a kid. Clearly it all came back to her as she deftly juggled the jianzi back and forth between her feet while doing a handstand. Just kidding. But as you can see, she does look pretty confident! Meanwhile, (see next picture) you can see where the jianzi is in relation to Conrad's foot...and the look of dismay on Mom's face. But within minutes, Conrad was showing off, bouncing it off his head and chest and doing his own fancy moves.
Last night we had our farewell dinner at a mega-karaoke bar. I don't quite understand why karaoke is so huge in Asia, or at least in China and Japan, but everyone does it and most do it pretty well. We asked Philip how often he went to "KTV" as it's called here, and he said "Oh I used to go very often. Now, not so often. I think the last time I went was a very long time ago, like two months." For me, the last time was in Japan in 2001 and prior to that, 2000 with the same Japanese group but in Seattle. And before that, never. This was Conrad's first experience and I think he got a kick out of it. But Martin, Philip, and Sarah were all very good singers, so it wasn't nearly as fun as when a totally tone deaf person sings with great flourish, or when someone's alter-ego emerges the moment they have a microphone in their hands. Oh I get it now. Maybe that's what Conrad and I were there for...

But sadly, this was probably the least appropriate venue for these poor 2-year olds who freaked out the moment they set foot into the dark room with flashing strobe lights, disco ball, neon lights, loud music, and mirrored ceiling. I probably don't have to mention that Makena had a blast.

Here I was thinking that upon our return to the U.S. that we'd have to hide out for a while and protect her from too much stimulation. But really, everywhere we've gone has been sensory overload in terms of the numbers of people, the sights, sounds, and smells of just being in a big city in China. And last night, the karaoke was probably the height of it all. Anyway, with all the kids terrified of the room, all of the families left right after eating dinner, which left Conrad, me, Kalia, Makena, my mom, and the 3 China Team folks - Martin, Philip, and Sarah. We didn't have the heart to leave too because they were so excited to sing, and plus it was fun so we stayed and sang with them. Kalia even got up and sang a bit of Mamma Mia, but don't ask her about it because she'll deny it.

Today we wrap up the trip with a farewell lunch. Then we head to the U.S. Consulate to pick up our visas and go straight to the airport. As long as two weeks might have seemed at times, they really did cut it down to the shortest amount of time possible. And when I hear horror stories of people who've gotten stuck in countries for months at a time because of corruption and unexpected delays, I'm very thankful that this has been so efficient, well-organized, and pleasant. Thanks for following the blog and being with us in spirit throughout our journey! We look forward to introducing Makena to all of you very soon.

All Things New

There's not so much to do while Makena naps, so I've got time to kill. We're all excited that we get to go home tomorrow. Two parents in the group are especially anxious to get home, as they've been hit by the bane of all travelers -- stomach problems.

In the past 11 days, we've had the amazing experience of receiving our children and watching them adjust to their new lives, new parents, new people, new situations, new experiences, new surroundings, new stimuli, even new clothes, new toys, and new foods. While Makena took to us instantly and seems to relish all of the newness of her new life, the other children have taken a little more time. Being 2 year olds, all of the change was so much more traumatic and so much more difficult. Two of the three didn't smile for the whole week, and they looked absolutely shell-shocked and so very sad. They've already come a long way and this week, it's been really neat to see them smiling and interacting with each other and with other people.

It feels like we've been here in Guangzhou forever, but at the same time, it feels like it's gone by fast. It's been so fun trying to figure out Makena's personality and her habits, although most of her personality seems pretty obvious. But many of her habits, I think, were hard to read at first but now seem easier to understand. For example, she reaches and grabs. Hard. Whatever she wants, she reaches out for and grabs with all her strength to pull toward her. If she wants your attention, she'll grab you anywhere she can and pull you over to her. If she truly was confined to a crib 22-23 hours a day as I've been told is common in some SWIs, then it could very well be something she learned to do if she wanted anything. And now that she is learning to walk, when she tries to pull herself up to a standing position, or if she is about to fall while walking, she reaches out and grabs anything and anyone to steady herself or to save herself. Anyone is fair game, even a 2 year old child who weighs less than her.

On top of all that, she's incredibly exuberant and excited about pretty much everything. So if she's walking toward someone, she's very excited the whole time, and just when she's about 3 feet away from her destination, she gets so excited that she's almost there that she practically starts running. And loses her balance. Then lunges for the final stretch with arms outstretched and a "Waaaahhhhh! Hahahahaah!" laughing like crazy and hoping she'll land in someone's arms or somewhere softer than the ground. It's fine when it's me or Conrad. Not so fine when it's someone small. We'll see if these things don't happen as often as her walking improves!

We're working hard to teach her how to be gentle, and we can already see a lot of improvement just in the last 11 days. Kalia's been a saint about it. A couple of times, Makena has pulled her hair so hard or fallen on her so hard that Kalia's in tears. But rather than let Makena see her cry (lest she feel bad for hurting Jiejie) Kalia will bury her face in me and cry quietly until she feels better. She forgives so quickly and within minutes, is ready to play with Makena again with all the same patience and gentleness as before she got hurt. What a lesson in forgiveness. Still, we are hoping that Makena will get the idea of being gentle before she thinks her first name is "Gentle." And we hope Kalia will learn to be a little more assertive. It's all good. We're enjoying the fact that they truly complement each other in terms of personality, and I think they each can learn something from the other about balance and moderation.

A little description of the pictures:
Photo 1: Makena is a happy girl and very much a ham. She definitely mugs for the camera and this is a perfect shot of her mischievous smile/laugh that pretty much makes anyone laugh when they see it. When she wakes up in the morning, she makes this face. When she wakes up from a nap, she makes this face. When she sees me, Conrad, Kalia, or Laolao, she makes this face. When she's proud of herself, she makes this face. Actually, whenever she sees Conrad holding up the camera to take a picture, she makes this face.

Photo 2: She's tough and she loves roughhousing and horseplay. She's got a great big belly laugh and when she laughs hard, she sounds EXACTLY like her cousin Kamden which is sort of uncanny.

Photo 3: A shot of Makena about to leap off the bed toward me. We've been trying to teach her how to get off the bed or couch backwards, on her belly, legs first. Last night, as she crawled full speed toward the edge of the bed, we waited to see if she'd slow down to turn around. Nope. So Conrad let her crawl off and he caught her mid-air upside down, to see if she'd realize what she'd done. She just laughed and laughed and thought it was so much fun. I guess that backfired.

Photo 4: Out for a walk, Daddy with Makena in the carrier, and Kalia with her baby in the carrier. Kalia ditched her carrier pretty shortly after because she didn't like all the smiles she got from strangers. She's like me--she hates attention from anyone, even if it's positive.

LaoLao is proud of Kalia ....

I just want to note once again what a special child Kalia is. She has such a kind heart. I am just so proud of her as I watch her behavior not only with Makena but with the other little 2 year olds.

One night we had a pizza party in the Dining Room and all the kids were eating and playing on the floor. Well, Makena was walking around and she was getting ready to grab this unsuspecting 2 year old. Kalia ran up and extended one hand to block Makena while using her other hand to protect the 2 year old. Isn't that sweet?!

I also saw Kalia holding a 2 year old's hand to walk her to the bus (with the parent on the other side). She's just so special and very sweet.

Of all places Kalia wanted me to take her to ... the Arcade at the Mall! I was afraid I'd lose my sense of direction and couldn't find our way back. Kalia told me, "Don't worry, LaoLao. I know the way." And she indeed knew her way there and back. I don't need a GPS as long as I have Kalia with me. She's been giving me directions since she was only 3! Back to the Arcade ... I can't think of a place I dislike more ... the noise, the loud music, the big (older) kids, etc etc. I sure had no idea how to operate any of these machines! Good thing Conrad brought her once and she told me which ones she can play and how to play them or LaoLao sure wouldn't know!

A Souvenir for Kalia

Kalia mentioned that aside from bringing Makena home from China, she'd also like to bring back a squat toilet to install in our house. She thinks they're totally cool and easy to use, and I love that she doesn't have to touch a single thing in the bathroom stall. The less physical contact with public bathroom surfaces, the better. As pleased as I've been with the cleanliness of most public bathrooms here, I was actually hoping to show Kalia some of the old-style communal trenches. Maybe next time when we're not in such a big city.

I jinxed myself when I marveled at how we all somehow managed to stay healthy despite Makena's goopy nose and ubiquitous snot. But fortunately, I'm the only one who has caught it, and I'm trying hard to keep it at bay with a potent combination of Emergen-C and some kind of mystery potion my mom gave me. It's a Chinese herbal remedy, and true to all Chinese medicine, it must be mixed with hot water; it's black; it reeks; and it tastes poisonous. But somehow, it's working and I am feeling pretty normal after only one night of feeling crummy.

Chinese medicine aside, it's been really nice having my mom here. Not only does she offer an extra pair of hands, she takes joy in feeding Makena so that we can eat, she babysits one or both of them so we can go out in the afternoons, she has a nice clean room to escape to when our room gets too crowded, she takes Kalia out for some special one-on-one time, and she even takes lots of pictures for us when our hands are full. It's been really special to experience all of this together.

This morning, Conrad stayed in the room while Makena napped; Mom took Kalia to the Grandview Mall's insane arcade; and I sat in the hotel restaurant with 3 other parents and the 4 China Team staff members doing paperwork for 2.5 hours. I earned the job because they requested that the parent with the best handwriting fill out the forms. Not that my handwriting is anything special, but I'm sure you've seen Conrad's handwriting...

Today's paperwork is to apply for a visa for Makena, so that the moment we touch U.S. soil, she becomes a U.S. citizen. How awesome is that?! The famous Norman Niu, director of USAA, dictated line by line, exactly what we were to write in each line of each form, down to the spacing and punctuation. This is where USAA's reputation comes from--that they do not make mistakes because they are extremely meticulous about the paperwork, which means that there are no unanticipated delays because of forms being filled out incorrectly. After we filled out all of the forms, one staff person organized and collated each person's stack, then checked each form in each person's stack. Then, Norman checked each stack himself and gave it the final okay. They submitted the forms to the U.S. Consulate on our behalf, and on Friday, we will pick up our visas from the consulate and go straight to the airport.

Among the paperwork we sorted through today was the abandonment certificate, which details the nature of the child's abandonment. Of the four girls in our group, two were abandoned at two weeks of age (Makena being one of them); one was abandoned at 6 months; and one was abandoned at 10 months. Two were left at the gate of the Social Welfare Institute (the orphanage); one was left in a park; and one was left just outside the city gate. I just can't imagine how a mother can abandon her child, at any age. (Maybe the people of Nebraska can imagine...) And now that I know each of these four little girls, it's even harder to fathom. At times, filling out certain parts of the forms made me so sad--in every spot that asked for "City of Birth" we were instructed to write "unknown." Imagine that.

The weigh-in

Hi everyone,

We're starting to settle into a routine here (as you can see above).

We've resumed the daily appointments at various government agencies. Yesterday, we went to the medical office so that the kids could be approved for travel into the US. No scabies, TB, SARS, or other ailments allowed. Thankfully, runny noses and crying are permissible. Makena came in at 76cm in height and 10.2kg in weight. We haven't quite done the conversions; we just know she's solid and strong. The woman at the clinic also noted that Makena had a big head (for those of you keeping score at home). In the end, all the kids were given the medical green light and we left the clinic to go shopping. The clinic is just around the corner from the White Swan Hotel (there's a book by that name) which historically has been the hotel of choice for adopting families. Our guide Martin told us that the various adoption agencies' need for rooms eventually outgrew the hotel's availability. No complaints here as our service apartment is way better.

The hotel is located on Shamian Island which I believe is just west of downtown Guangzhou. The architecture here is distinctly European and on a beautiful afternoon with a picturesque green promenade running down the center of the island, there were countless couples in their wedding day attire waiting to take pictures. Kalia thought she spied Cinderella (girl in blue-ish dress) and Belle (yellow dress) walking down the street. I spied a Starbucks.



Makena continues to work on her walking. 29 steps when I counted yesterday! She's strong-willed and very persistent. Kalia has finally realized that she can take a break when she needs to by walking into the bedroom and closing the door. She recharges her batteries and soon is ready for more sister play.

We're going to have to come up with some apt nickname for Makena; I'm not sure "beast" is socially acceptable. Her head bangs into the table edge and, while we cringe, she just laughs. She eats more than Kalia at dinner. And you need UFC moves to hold her down while changing her diapers. Did I mention she's strong? We don't fear for her safety among this group. Instead, we constantly have to protect Kalia and the three 2-year olds from Makena.

There's lots more but I'll let Selena and Rebecca add some. We did get a group shot of all the adopted girls! Guess which one was the second-heaviest of the bunch?


Joy (on the far right) weighed 10.4kg. Makena 10.2kg. Hannah and Lena both 9.9kg.

LaoLao adds...

This baby can sure put food away! She has her bottle, then works on half a cup of rice cereal. After that, she digs into table food and eats everything! This morning she had a chunk of tofu, one shu-mai, and half a boiled egg. When I was too slow with the food, she grabs my arm with both hands and brings the spoon to her mouth!

It's a very good thing Makena takes long naps. Watching her is a challenge. After half an hour, I'm tired. She's non-stop action. She doesn't want to crawl. She only wants to walk. She'd come over and pulls herself up by grabbing hold of anything that's in her sight ... sometimes at something that does not give her any stability or support, like Kalia's dress! Then she reaches for your finger so she can go walking, or I should say stumbling with you. When she wants to change direction, she reaches for your other hand. How smart is that! After half an hour, I'm exhausted!

Our new service apartment is REALLY nice! It's new and comfortably furnished with Scandinavian style furniture. We have 2 big plasma TVs and a BOSE system which I, of course, do not know how to use. The only annoying thing was the music they pipe into the dining room and lobby ... the entire tract consists of 3 songs. I listened to the Entertainer and 2 other ragtime pieces over and over. While I had breakfast, it played at least 20 times ... no exaggeration. When I mentioned it to the waitress/hostess, they said they had no control of it because it was on the central system. They have long ago learned to tune it out. When I complained at the Front Desk, the girl also said she "never noticed it". You know what? This morning the music was changed! Now it is some Jazz piece. Since Jazz all sound the same to me, I wouldn't know if it is the same piece that plays over and over.

Don't buy a Chinese crib!

Today we moved to a new place, where we'll stay for the rest of our time in China. It's a luxurious 1-bedroom service apartment, and aside from the sleek modern decor and high tech gadgetry, we're loving the extra space, the kitchen, and the washer and dryer (except it takes 4.5 hours to do a single load). It was actually cold outside today so we didn't get to go for a swim, but the pool looks pretty inviting too.

We didn't really do much today. Probably the most interesting thing that happened was when Conrad put Makena in the crib for the night, and the entire bottom fell out onto his poor toes. Turns out the crib is mostly glued together at all the key joints and the crib just came undone. (Remember what I said about the cribs horrifying any American child safety specialist?) We called housekeeping for another one, which they promptly brought up. We made the switch, and they left. After they left, I thought I'd test out the spots where the last crib had fallen apart, so I looked at the rail and saw that it was loosely glued. I gave it a very slight tug and the entire rail fell apart and the bottom of the crib fell out again! It was almost comical. So we called for our third crib. I think they were out of cribs and said they had to go search for one and that it might be a while. Fortunately we found an extra crib within our group, and Conrad went to get it. So far, this one seems solid. We'll see.

The quilt that came with the crib was a classic. It has a picture of a mother elephant and a baby elephant and says: "childrens clotfes and things childrens clotfes sleepins beg. My baby How are your? Mum.I'm fine. nk you. thank"

Huh???

Conrad went out and bought the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" on the street for 5 yuan (about US$0.80) and we were all excited to watch it tonight, but it ended up being in Chinese. Darn!

Wild Animals

Martin set low expectations for the zoo so we were all pleasantly surprised by how lush the zoo was. True, some of the enclosures were decrepit, but some were well-kept, and the grounds were certainly beautiful. Kalia and I didn't even get to see the dirty lazy panda (that was when we saw the squat toilet instead--which by the way, Kalia thinks are great), but we did get to see the zoo's wildest creatures (see first photo). Yes, these little dogs were actually in their own enclosure and were being displayed as zoo-worthy animals. Sort of a stretch, I think. How random. We found that pretty funny, as well as other random things, like this sign on a rock in the middle of a pathway indicating that we were standing at an excellently managed scenic spot. (See second photo)

The next two photos were taken at breakfast. The breakfast buffets at Asian hotels are the best! In addition to the standard breakfast fare is dim sum, Japanese breakfast foods, and dessert. Plus they usually have random things like chicken nuggets and spaghetti.

I have to say that Makena eats like no baby I've ever seen before, although I've heard before that these babies are often great eaters. She's definitely feisty and impatient when it comes to eating. When she wants it, she wants it NOW, and boy will she let you (and the entire restaurant) know. I get a little flustered trying to get her bottle ready when she's hanging onto my legs yelling at the top of her lungs to hurry hurry hurry! It's funny to eat with the other families, who for some reason feed their 2 year old children as if they're infants. They're so careful about what to give them, and tend to only give them rice cereal, rice soup, tofu, and bread.

One couple swears their 2 year old daughter with a full set of teeth does not know how to chew so they even mash up white rice for her rather than let her eat it "whole." Meanwhile, Makena's chowing down on anything and everything at the table, from curry chicken to grilled lamb to zhajiang mian to dumplings. The one thing I forgot to bring with us is a good bib for eating. I wonder if they make one with a hood, since she likes putting things on her head (like the noodles from lunch today).

The photo above is of her asleep in the crib that would horrify any American child safety specialist. Not only is it very easy to climb out of, the bedding is a loose quilt laid on top of the hard wood frame. There's a little pillow and tons of toys. In fact, I've seen her sleeping in this position on a few different occasions, where she's almost sitting up and leaning on her teddy bear. It was one of the nice touches of this hotel--they left a cute teddy bear in each crib. Another nice touch was the note they left on our desk:
"Dear Client: Thanks for your attention! It is hard work accompanying with happiness to look after kids. If you need any help, please call our assistant manager. We are very pleasure to offer our help. Congratulations to a lovely angle joining your family!" Butchered English never ceases to amuse us. We're amused a lot here.

Finally, the last photo. Makena's first flight. Think she likes it? Given what we've seen of her personality, we predict she'll be an adrenaline junkie. I foresee some trips to the ER in the future. Groan.

Daddy's Little Girls

Makena is officially a "Lai" now, at least in the eyes of the Chinese government. Yay! Yesterday we completed the China portion of the paperwork and applied for her Chinese passport. It normally takes a month for them to issue passports, but adopted children's passports are expedited, so we can get them in 5 days. Next week we tackle the U.S. portion of the paperwork, and I hear we will pretty much be doing that right up to the time we leave for the airport. Anyway, we are "free" for the rest of the week in terms of not having to do paperwork.

Even the paperwork has been painless. We're lucky in that our group is so small and the paperwork takes a lot less time than if we were a group of 20+ families, which is more commonly the case. The "China Team" staff here takes great care of us, and they walk us through the paperwork line by line, and they ask us to double and triple check every single line. One mistake could mean a delay in the entire process, so they are ultra-attentive in making sure we do it correctly.

While we wait to do the next round of paperwork, we're going on little outings each morning. Yesterday we went to Beijing Road, a pedestrian shopping street. We found some cheap clothes for Makena - since I didn't know what size she was, I hadn't brought much for her from home. The Chinese clothes always crack me up, with all the weird, nonsensical sayings on them. Actually, the funniest one I saw was a cute pink sleeper with flowers and butterflies on the front, and in big letters across the chest, it said "Daddy's Little Boy." I'm kicking myself for not buying it.

This morning we went to the Sun Yatsen Memorial, and learned all about
Sun Yatsen and Chinese history in the Republican Era. For those of you who know what I do for work, UGH! That was one topic I did not want to hear about! Tomorrow we're going to the Guangzhou Zoo, where Martin (our guide) says there's one lazy, dirty panda.

We've fallen into a pretty comfortable routine, thank goodness. The orphanage (SWI) had her on a pretty regimented schedule of eating frequently throughout the day and taking only one short nap after lunch. As it turns out, she does nap twice a day. I'd like to think that Conrad and I are good at making our kids sleep well, but I think it's more that Makena's getting a TON of stimulation that she never got before; she is now with a family who's attentive to her individual needs rather than being in a "dorm" of 10 babies who sleep and eat acc. to the SWI's schedule; and on top of that all, she's literally learned to walk in the past two days and I'm sure that takes a lot of energy to do.

Kalia is finally warming up to the China Team staff, and she no longer needs to sit with Mommy on the bus. Now it's all about Sarah, one of the staff members. Sometimes it's even about Martin, "the guy who talks a lot." Kalia seems to get a lot of attention here for some reason. Even when she was at the Friendship Store (a department store) with Laolao, a woman marveled at Kalia's excellent English. Haha! Then she marveled at Laolao, that she could understand Kalia's fluent English. I guess the concept of Chinese Americans is still unfamiliar to some people. We seem to get that a lot when we're in Asia.

here is LaoLao again ...

I've been waiting for Selena or Conrad to do the next posting, but they are all out for lunch while I am watching Makena take her nap ... so here I am again

I am definitely wrong about the orphanage shaving Makena's head! When I was a baby, it was customary to shave babies' heads to help prevent prickly heat. So, I just naturally assumed that was the reason Makena has no hair. We were told she never had hair! Imagine a Chinese baby without a headfull of thick black hair! When Kalia was a baby, she had enough hair for 2!

I still do not understand why China delays so much with the entire adoption process. when I look at the 2 year olds vs Makena at almost 11 months, what a difference in how the children are adjusting to their new parents and environment. Out of the three 2 year olds, after 3 days, only one is slowly coming out of her shock and trauma. The other 2 are not doing too well. Makena does not show any sign that she hasn't been with her new family forever. This little family of 4 appear like they've been together always! If I weren't here to witness this miracle take place before my eyes, I'd find it difficult to believe. Praise God for answered prayers!

a note from LaoLao

Makena is a whirlwind of action, all right. In my experience I've not watched a more active baby than Makena! It was just so heartwarming to see her take to her new family so readily ... to all 3 of them. I'm trying to stay a bit in the background so they will form a solid bond quickly. It looks like I don't have to aid in that process because this bonding took place very instantly! There was definitely no separation anxiety or trauma when Makena's caretaker handed her to Conrad. she just went from Conrad to Selena back and forth, never to give her caretaker another glance. All the while Kalia was entertaining her...

Kalia is just so good with her baby sister ... it's very touching.

It's funny, when Makena is cranky, she looks at Mommy to see what she'll do about it! They were all so tired from the 2 days of non-stop activities. I had my own room ... quiet and peaceful unless I wanted excitement. Yet I was just as tired! We all seem to wake up in middle of the night for hours and if lucky, we'll fall asleep again for a little bit before having to get up in the morning.

Yesterday I took Kalia shopping while Conrad and Selena went to the Chinese agency to officially adopt Makena. I have to say I was snubbed at the Friendship Store when I remarked the t-shirt was too expensive (US $30). The salesgirl took it out of my hand, threw her head back and made a "tsk" sound. What China has to learn about "service"! Oh well ...

The China Team is taking us shopping this morning ... to a street where they do their shopping. We expect prices will be much better. Makena needs a long sleeve t-shirt for the air conditioning. We prepared for heat and humidity, but since our arrival it's been on the cool side. Each day is gray and occasionally drizzly ... fine with us! This afternoon everyone will go to get the babies' chinese passports. Next week will be dealing with the US Consulate.

Discovery

What a blur it's been. Or rather, I should say, what a blur Makena has been. She is nonstop energy! It is hilarious to see her BIG personality shine through right from the start. From the short time she's been with us, we can safely say that she's daring, adventuresome, bold, fearless, insatiably curious, and, um, has a bit of a crazy streak. In about 60 seconds, she managed to investigate every corner of our room, fiddling with every knob, pull, and handle, opening every drawer, door, and cabinet, and climbing onto and into pretty much anywhere she could. We've got some serious baby-proofing to do at home. As I said in the last posting, we were thinking that she'd be motor delayed and wouldn't know how to crawl. When we spoke with her caretaker, she told us that Makena could walk if someone held her hands. Well, apparently, she can also walk without someone holding her hands! She just picks a target and barrels ahead full-speed, whether it's toward a table, chair, or unsuspecting person (which is oftentimes Kalia who then gets tackled from behind). She even took a flying leap off the bed toward Conrad as he approached and he fortunately rushed forward and caught her mid-air. Several times we've grabbed onto her ankle just before she crawls full-speed off the bed head-first. The past day and a half have been full of new discoveries. For her, she seems as if she's making up for lost time, racing around at breakneck speed trying to take it all in. For us, we had prepared ourselves for some physical, developmental, and emotional issues that are common among orphans. True, some of these things might eventually surface later on, but for now, they are nowhere in sight. Meanwhile we're enjoying the process of discovering who she is.

Aside from worrying that she'd have physical delays, we thought she'd be on the fragile side. I think she's actually the strongest baby I've ever known. You should see her fight off the suction bulb - I felt like I was arm wrestling an adult. (I know, you say it's because I'm so weak and wimpy, but Conrad backs me up on this!) We'd been bracing ourselves for long, sleepless nights and while they HAVE been long and sleepless, it's because of jet lag, not Makena. She sleeps right through the night without a peep, which we are so thankful for. We were also warned that she might be afraid of things like stuffed animals, but she adores the bunny rabbit that Kalia picked for her, and she seems to enjoy any stuffed animal that comes her way. We were also warned that she might be afraid of the bath, since many babies are only sponge bathed rather than immersed in a tub of water. Definitely not the case for Makena. She and Kalia had a blast in the tub - lots of splashing and laughing. Conrad came out of the bathroom looking like he had taken a shower fully clothed. We were also worried that she might not take to Conrad since all the caretakers at the orphanage are women, but she took to him right away.

Kalia has been a champion big sister and has handled things beautifully - things like getting pinched, squeezed, poked, and tackled, but also things like sharing attention and being gracious about it. I can tell she's having a little bit of a hard time sharing me, but she gets me back at night, quite literally. We're sharing a bed, and she practically sleeps on top of me. So I don't know what really keeps me up at night - the jet lag or the 40 pound 98.6 degree blanket of sharp elbows and knees.

Kalia adores Makena, and Makena has gotten so attached to Kalia that she wails when Kalia leaves the room! (but not when I leave the room!) Kalia can make Makena laugh like no one else can. There's something so sweet and special about the bond they already share.

It's been wonderful having my mom here, not only to help out, but to share in the experience of helping to bring her new granddaughter into our family. She was there the moment Makena became ours. It means so much to me, and I know it'll mean so much to Makena when she's older.

It's 5am and I was thinking I'd go back to bed, but Kalia's been awake for an hour now and will no longer comply with the "Shhh! Mommy's working! Lie there quietly for a little bit." Until next time.

Gotcha!

Sorry for the delay in posting pictures. It's a combination of internet problems and jet lag, but primarily it's because we've been unbelievably exhausted. We've gone from a relatively calm family of three with a calm, cautious, mostly mild-mannered 4.5 yr old to a family of four with a bundle of furious frenetic nonstop energy, who's definitely making up for lost time. It's been absolutely wonderful, and we had never dared hope for such a seamless transition for her in terms of bonding with us. At the "Gotcha" moment, they handed her to Conrad first, and she stretched out her arms to be received. She came to me just as easily and willingly. But as my friend Laura predicted, our little ace-in-the-hole would be Kalia, and she was certainly right about that. As the other children in our group wailed inconsolably when placed with their new families, we sat in the corner with Kalia working up a serious sweat doing her one-man show for Makena, singing, dancing, playing peekaboo, and doing silly things, and Makena just laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a beautiful, unforgettable moment. Actually, there have been lots of those in the past couple of days. Like when I saw Kalia looking lovingly at Makena in the crib and whisper with a sigh of total contentment, "Makena, you're the best baby sister in the universe." Like catching Kalia doing loving things like stroking Makena's cheek. Like seeing Makena wake up in the morning with a great big smile upon seeing us. Like witnessing her first staggering drunk-like steps after worrying that she wouldn't even be crawling yet. Like going through two interviews with the Chinese government officials and afterwards being informed that she is officially our daughter.

Picture delay

Hi everyone-

It's been a wonderful, hectic day! We're all doing fine but we're too tired to write. We owe everyone some pictures of our new daughter but for some reason, we can't upload pics! We'll keep trying. Can't imagine that China wants to censor Makena!

Love, C&S&K&M

Lao Lao wants to add her 2 cents worth ...

I have to say Kalia was the BEST traveler among us all! The 3 grown ups griped and complained about the length of the flight, the bad food, the unfriendly service, the crowded plane, the one video (Sex in the City) that played over and over, etc etc while Kalia either slept or smiled the entire 15+ hours we were on the plane. When we finally arrived, Kalia continued to be her charming self, delighting the others in our group and the China Team.

In the morning we had an hour and half to take a nap before meeting for our Welcome Brunch. At that time Kalia was still sharing my room. While Lao Lao tried to nap, Kalia was bouncing up and down both her bed and my bed. We tried to watch a show on elephants on TV but it didn't hold her interest so Lao Lao got maybe a 5 minute nap. When we returned from lunch, she decided she wanted Mommy so I got to take a good nap! And of course, at night time she was sleeping the entire time we had dinner at the restaurant. Dad had to carry her the entire way home and put her to bed. Well, Lao Lao sure had a good night sleep until past 8 this morning!

We're all super excited to get Makena this afternoon. The group is meeting in the lobby at 2 to go together. You can just sense the excitement as well as lots of anxiety. Selena and Conrad are by far the youngest of this small group. And they are the "experienced" parents as others have no children. I am sure Selena and Conrad will have more updates as either Makena or Kalia or jet lag keeps them up tonight! I'll see when Kalia will be ready to move back to my room ... she is just so excited to get her baby sister. In anticipation, she already has gifts, blankets, and whatever else prepared for her baby sister. She'll be the best "big sister" ever!

Big Sister Thoughts

I like China because we are here because we're getting my little sister, Makena. And I'm staying in the hotel now. I was taking a picture with my baby here. Her name is Kate. I like pretending that her name is Makena sometimes. She's staying in Makena's crib right now.

And I'm getting a baby sister today, named Makena. Makena's going to be my baby sister and I know what she's going to look like because I have a picture of her. And it's gonna be really fun picking her up.

2AM thoughts

Our friend Emmy went to Japan when she was really little. With the typical jet lag that occurs when traveling to Asia, she finally declared, after a few days awake only at night, "Japan is really dark!" I fear that Kalia is finding the same to be true. We're sitting in our hotel room at 2AM and Kalia is WIDE awake. She's very sweet but the idea of whispering while someone (Selena) is sleeping flies completely over her head. So we pulled on some clothes and headed out the door to see what happens in Guangzhou at 2AM.

Apparently, it's the same thing that happens in Vegas at 2AM. Lots of drunk businessmen. Smiling hostesses. And for some reason, everyone's thrilled to see Kalia. They seem to like the thought of a "4 year-old party girl" . We smile and continue on, but it's raining and we don't have an umbrella so we don't get far.

Despite the 2AM wake-up, Kalia did get 11 hours of sleep; it's just that she went to bed at 3PM. We had just returned from a short tour of the city and thought to take a quick nap before grabbing dinner and then going to sleep at 9PM to reset our internal clocks. It worked somewhat in that all the adults woke up, but Kalia pretty much slept through all of dinner and the walk back to the hotel.

Today is the official "gotcha day!" I will say that there is a small bittersweet feeling because these are our last few hours as a family of 3. Selena and I have been together forever so it's clearly more about having Kalia as our only child. She's just been such a pleasure for the past 4 and a half years and I hope we can give her all the attention she deserves.

That being said, Kalia has looked forward to this day as long as we have. Even as I type, she's talking to her imaginary (and soon-to-be-real) sister, "Little sissy, do you want your blanket? Do you want your baby carrier?" She's singing to her baby doll right now, but in a few hours, her sister will be very real.

How strange is that? We're now inside of 12 hours until we receive Makena! Munching on Cheerios in our hotel room at 2AM. Waiting for breakfast which isn't served for another 4 hours. In a few hours, they'll rouse Makena from her crib in the dark for the 5-hour drive to the city. Another life about to be joined to ours. We can't wait...

Ni Hao!

We made it to Guangzhou 23 hours after we left our house. It was a little painful to see on the video flight map, that we flew back over San Francisco about 10 hours after we left home to catch our SFO to LAX to Guangzhou flight. If only there were direct flights from SFO to Guangzhou! The rest of our 15 hour flight went smoothly, but still felt soooo long. Kalia fared the best of all of us. She slept for most of it, woke up with a big smile, and played happily (and quietly) the rest of the time. Whew!

We met our group at the Guangzhou airport--just three other families, which is extraordinarily small considering their largest ever was 44 families. I just can't even imagine. There's one other couple from the Bay Area and the rest are from southern California. A fifth couple was unable to come with the group because some of their paperwork expired. We're by far the youngest of the group, and we're the only ones with a child already. And because they typically match children with families according to the parents' age, we're the only ones getting a "baby" while the rest are all getting children around 2 yrs of age. (Makena's currently 10.5 months old.) I think Kalia will have fun being the little mother of the group.

Originally Kalia was going to share a room with my mom. We thought they both might sleep better that way, in case Makena cries a lot. The hotel set up a crib in every single room, so Kalia was initially very excited because she assumed that Makena would stay in their room. She set up all her own belongings on the bed next to the crib because she wanted to be the one to take care of Makena. She even came to our room and grabbed the teddy bear from the crib and brought it to their room "so that Makena won't cry at night and wake up Laolao." Once I explained to her that Makena would be in our room, after she was done crying about it, she moved all her stuff back into our room (No offense, Laolao!) and is now sleeping in the bed next to the crib in eager anticipation of big sisterhood.

Tomorrow's "Gotcha Day" and we get Makena at 2:30pm! It's our last night as a family of three, which feels surreal and strange and a tiny bit scary, but exciting and wonderful at the same time. We started the adoption paperwork in June of 2006, so it's been a long process. It's all about to become real.

Whew!

I have all the passports and tickets in my hands now. They found it in Oakland and put it on a truck to Pacheco at 6:30am, but it wasn't going to leave Pacheco on a delivery truck until sometime after 10:30am. So rather than wait for the delivery "by 3pm," I opted to go to Pacheco to pick them up. Having never heard of Pacheco before, I was happy to learn that it's actually really close to us. Now I can relax a little until it's time to go! The next time you hear from us, hopefully we'll be settled into a hotel room in Guangzhou.