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.