May 06 - This Blog Is Completed - New Blog Begins......

We have completed making posts to this blog and will retain it as a record and reference for others of our China trip to pickup little Emily.

You may visit http://emilyathome.blogspot.com/ to see our continued postings of Emily's progress in her new journey of life with mom and dad at home.

Once again, our thanks and appreciation to all who have taken time to visit our travel blog and to send their warm regards and compliments during our journey. This blog is for all of you.

May 04 Update - 1 Week Home

Announcement: Having considered this over the last week, and in response to a number of folks who have encouraged me to continue blog updates on Emily, I have decided how I want to approach this. Because the purpose of this Blog is all about completing our adoption in China and bringing Emily home, I want to preserve that spirit and so I will complete my final post to this blog on May 6 (one month anniversary of our departure to China), and then begin a new blog for Emily now that she is at home. I feel this is an important distinction as many families who are in the adoption process have access to this blog and it has important context for their future journeys. I want to insure that the true spirit of this blog (Bringing Emily Home) is preserved and not somehow lost amongst all the wonderful new journey we now begin. That said, I also want to honor the new journey and share it with others.

Leap Frog is the Bomb!!! Hee Hee!!

Today is the 1 week anniversary of arriving home, for Emily. All I can say is that Emily has done really really well adjusting into her new home. As you can see in the photo above, her Leap Frog Table Top is a big hit. She just loves to move the slides and push the buttons to make the sounds and movements go. Giving Mr Banjo Frogs banjo a tug and seeing the little colored wheel spin is her most favorite.

That said, I have to admit that her number one favorite play toy continues to be diaper package wrappers! Go figure! :) She latched on to one of the Antic Duck (local Chinese brand) of diaper wrapper way back in Changsha and we have carried that one wrapper every since and still have it set aside to bring out when we are there to directly supervise her while she plays with it. And at diaper changing time, she loves to try to pull diapers out of the bin next to where we do the change-outs.

She blew-off the jet lag by day 2, like it never existed, and moved into a normal routine of sleep, eat, play, cuddle. We have successfully expanded her diet some over the last week, moving her into new tastes and ultimately foods with a bit more fiber content. Dad still makes a steamed egg at night to put in the fridge for the next day's meals and she just loves to gobble it down. She will take Gerber fruits now without gagging, and we are beginning to move her from rice cereal to multi-grain. In China, what worked best was to slip new food tastes (we packed and carried Gerber fruits) into her milk/rice bottle meals. Here at home, we are having similar success by introducing new foods via mixing some into her rice cereal to get her used to the tastes. This even worked with Grandma's super duper thick congee with ground carrots (which on day 1, she did a world class gag fest and made us pull back in anticipation of a "return for refund" on that food) and she will eat the congee straight now.

This weekend, we are going to begin doing sign work with her to help her distinguish to us "tired" vs. "hungry". She uses the same "fuss routine" for all needs at the moment, and we have to do some guess work to determine the real request. The dirty diaper is pretty easy to get the cue on (puuueeee!). The others requires guess work and we succeed usually by showing her the bottle and if we see the arms go up and the rant begin.. we know it is food rather then sleep.

She sits on her own for long periods of time now, even when dad gives her a little latteral push from one side or the other to test willingness to overcome and balance. She is showing the first signs of crawling now (can hold on all fours and is beginning to show signs of chugging the legs), is less hesitant about being on her tummy, and I think will be on all fours moving and cruisin within the next few weeks.

Emily is more and more talkative each day. Though Nancy and I are still clueless as to what she might be saying. It isn't Mandarin, and it certainly is not English. She has developed full blown laughing outbursts over the last week, as well as little "squeals of glee" when she is jazzed about something. She generally has an excellent disposition and is happy and fun loving, while being the analytical type that studies every new thing and every new face in detail. She is very alert and catches even small details (not much gets past her as long as it is in her sight line, or attracted to her sightline via some noise). She will play with a handful of toys in the den, with almost no interaction by us at all for better then 15 minutes at a session. Her only requirement is that she is able to look up from time to time and see that one of us is there (still a bit insecure after all the changes in the last month) As with all babies, she has her moments as well, and if she becomes tired, hungry, does not like the status of her diaper, or loses contact with mom or dad while playing and we leave her sightline, she can temper-up and fuss with the best of them. And regarding tempers... Emily has quite a temper and will let you know it if she does not like the situation.

Of course, as the proud daddy, I have my own squeal of glee when I come home at the end of the day and Emily gives me the great big smile and reaches out to me to take her in my arms. We are indeed very bonded and want to reach immediately to each other for some quality cuddles. Mom just shakes her head and playfully mumbles something about how I am so very much owned now by my daughter.

And that folks, is all the news to report today :)

Alrighty!!!

Photos are back annotated into previous posts now.

Over the next week or so I will add some photos of Emily at home now as well.

Home At Last! April 27 California Local Time

We arrived back in San Jose safe and sound today. Yay!! Emily got duly processed, passport/visa stamped and off we went for the short hop home from the airport, courtesy of Nancy's mom and dad (who have been chomping at the bit for almost 3 weeks now to see little Emily.

Our Trip home began with a short hop from Hefei to Shanghai on the 26th, where we took the airport bus line #1 from the domestic airport to the Pudong international airport. Nice, efficient bus line between the two airports with departures at each end every 15 minutes. From Pudong we hopped the Ramada shuttle bus and bedded down at the Ramada Airport Hotel at Pudong. I highly recommend this hotel by the way. Very nice, clean, good ammenities and food, and most of all it is a baby friendly hotel with free cribs on request in your room. So if you are not going to see the sights in Shanghai on an adoption trip and just need a place to rest after (or before) a long international flight via Shanghai.... this would be a great hotel. It is literally 3-4 minutes form Pudong airport. We awoke the next morning, packed up the few belongings from the night before, grabbed breakfast at the buffet (one of the best in my 3 weeks in China), and hopped the shuttle back to Pudong to begin our two hop flight home to San Jose, via Narita/Tokyo. Both legs of the flight were on time and trouble free. The American hop from Narita to San Jose was a brisk 8 hours and 20 minutes so we had a comfortable flight without the lengthly single hop to SFO from China. Getting out for a couple hours in Narita airport as we changed terminals between Air China and American was actually refreshing as well.

Emily slept twice on the flight to San Jose, for about 2.5 hours each, and so she very much wanted to crash as soon as we got home. In fact, whe fell asleep in the car seat on the 10 minute drive home for the airport :). So we fed her some steamed egg and then shuffled her off to her 5th and final crib of the long 3 weeks journey, where she promptly crashed in about 2 minutes. Now we get to start the interesting process of jet lag reversal and time zone adjustments for little Emily.

I'll go back through my prior blog posts and insert photos and clean up grammar and spelling over the next few days as I get past the jet lag and get photos downloaded to the computer. Time for Nancy and I to get some rest and then queue in on Emilys adjusting schedule of sleep and wake over the next 4-7 days.

Touching Base From Hefei - April 23 Photo Added

Sunday local time here in Hefei.


Weeee!! I'm A Happy Girl....
Sitting on uncle Wei Zhong's
Lap is fun!!


We landed Thursday evening on time, with a pleasant flight, and checked in to the Novatel Hotel in downtown Hefei. Emily did fantastic on the plane flight. We fed her right before flight time, and she relaxed for the first part of the two hour flight and then after just a couple of fusses, she dropped down into a nap for the rest of the flight.

The Novatel hotel (4 star hotel) is the local "baby hotel" in Anhui province. The hotel is very nice, rooms are clean and modern though a bit smallish. Room comes with a crib, free in room broadband access (fastest local broadband I have seen anywhere in China, based on access through the business center here which should be comparable to rooms).

We have been spending the last few days with Nancy's family, eating, chatting, etc. They always love seeing Nancy and now with Emily here, they are double delighted. All the family have pretty much surrounded Emily since arrival. Being a sensitive little baby, while she loves strangers in general, too many stranger pressing too close makes here a bit fussy, so it took a day or so for her to warm up to everyone. Now she is cooing buddies with everyone and seems to enjoy all the attention. The family insists on spoiling us with great food and conversation (most of which goes over my head since it is all Mandarin, but the food is truly awesome). Everyone in Nancy's local family it seems are excellent cooks.

Emily continues to do very well. She has had a bit of a head cold the last few days. Seems all the babies in our group were passing one around (though all seemed pretty healthy when received them), and I guess Emily decided to grap on on the way out of town. On the bright side, each day we see new perkiness in her personality. After receiving a baby that allegedly could sit unassisted at 5 months, yet was a little flopper the day we picked her up, she now sits well with little or no assistance. She also loves to stand on her own two feet with just a lift and assist with mommies or daddies fingers in each hand. She indeed does have a very loud and enthusiastic laugh as Nancy discovered a couple days ago while sitting Emily between here legs and wiggling mommies toes in front of Emily. Emily would just yell out full blown laughs of delight!

We took a walk in the Hefei Lao Ban park in downtown yesterday and Emily just loved the outing. In general, she loves any walk-a-bout we do, but the park was particularly mesmerizing for her yesterday. It is a very nicely renovated park with lakes surrounded by walkways, little gardens, and arching footbridges over the lake from one side to the next. All in all, when strapped to mommies chest (ERGO baby carrier for the win) she is in total bliss on virtually any outing. Many local giggle and like to comment at the little baby in the kangaroo pouch :)

Now that we have the adoption completed and immigrant visa in hand, our pace in China has slowed to a pace where we are less tired and baby gets better scheduled nap and feeding times. We have Emily fulling converted now to Similac (lactose free version) now and she just devours it. Our standard recipe is Similac + 3 scoops of Gerber rice cereal, and 1/4 container of Gerber fruit baby food (currently pears as we ran out of bananas). Mix it all up in very warm water in the bottle and Emily will down 8 oz in about 5-7 mins, 4 times a day.

We finally found the secret to feeding Emily steamed egg. China babies supposedly will squeal with glee for steamed egg. While some of the babies in our group did in fact devour steamed egg, for Emily it was reallyn ho-hum. One day quite by accident, we rubbed a spoon across some fried rice and let her lick it to see what she would do. Wow! Bingo! baby has a taste for salty foods and an actual aversion to sweet foods (such as fruit baby food). So when we got to hefei, Nancys aunt made a steamed egg (perfectly cooked I might add) with a little salt added. Emily wolfed it down. So we now conclude that the orphanage nannies may have been giving food with a little salt added in their afternoon feeding of steamed egg. Since Emily so naturally responded with enthusiasm on a spoon held in front of her, we also conclude that her nanny may have been letting her lick a spoon that had been rubbed or touched in something salty to encourage her to spoon feed as well. Nancy's aunt and cousins were not surprised at all as in China, it is customary to introduce salt into the babies diet as they believe it encourages strength in the baby for muscle development. Don't know if it is true, but the dots definitely connect up here. So many little experiments, so many new discoveries for us each day!

All in all, we are all doing well, bonding fabulously, and genuinely having fun on the last leg of our journey in China. But we very much look forward to flying home later in the week. There is no place like home after all.

TA DAA!! We Are Finished!! April 19 - Photos Added

Yesterday we traveled to the American Consulate in downtown Guangzhou and completed Emily's visa application and receipt process, along with the other families. Emily is now an instant US Citizen upon landing and clearing Immigration in San Jose later this month!! Cheer!!!


Wooo Hooo!! A New Box To Play With!

While I know that some folks feel the final Consulate appointment is rather brief and lacks ceremony, for me personally it was still exciting and not at all anti-climatic. The US Consulate in Guangzhou last year completed just over 7000 adoptive baby immigrant visas, so they very much have this whole thing streamlined and in the groove. We arrived at 3:30 for our 4:00 appointment. Shortly after 4:00 we each went to the visa window to confirm our identity and that of Emily. About 10 minutes later, a very nice woman staff member came out into the waiting area and asked us all to stand, raise our right hand, and to swear that all information provided to the consulate was accurate and true. We all did. And then 5 minutes later, our facilitator Chris received the stack of complete visa packets, handed them out to us to confirm the visa in the passport and the summary sheet attached to the sealed packet. We all did, and then off to the bus for the return trip to the hotel just short of 4:30.

For those who have not done an adoption in China, here is what you actually receive in your packet: 1) baby passport is returned to you with an IR3, or IR4 visa affixed to it. This is a rather complex looking colored visa sticker with baby picture included in the sticker along with name, etc. 2) a sealed packet which contains a stack of documents prepared by the Consulate and sealed, only to be opened by the Immigration officer upon arrival in the US. 3) affixed to the sealed packet is a summary sheet which presents all key information about your baby, including an alias if you provided one on the application documents. For us, this shows our baby as Yin Xia Dou as shown on her Chinese passport, as well as her alias Emily Sarah Williams which will be here name after we complete the optional readdoption process in California after we return. Combined, these three items represent the culmination of almost a year of paperwork, fees, processing, and lots and lots of waiting on our part. We do have a rather thick stack of documents from China as well such as: final adoption certificate (including an English translation), multiple copies of China adoption paperwork, Emily's official vaccination booklet, and a variety of other small odds and ends documents, receipts, etc.



Last night we celebrated with a group banquet in the restaurant at the Victory Hotel. Since Chris was unable to attend he made us a reservation and asked Nancy to host on his behalf and make the meal selections for the group and we had a feast on some really tasty dishes as we got a chance to unwind a bit and later say farewells as all the families head their separate ways the following day. We also arranged to have our gifts for Chris left in his hotel room for his return later in the evening. We were all told that Chris loves books for the US, so when Nancy talked with him later in the evening to thank him again for taking such good care of us all, he commented that he had a very heavy package now to pack and take to the post office to ship home. :)


Hey There Daddy! ... Can I Get That Hug Now?!

Let me just add some more Kudos for my lovely wife Nancy. I would just like to say that all the other families really appreciated all her assistance with language translations and suggestions with respect to local practices, shopping, meals, etc. In addition, Nancy had the opportunity to do a personal translation session with each family for the nanny (HTS nannies I believe) packets we each received from the orphanage with our babies. These consisted of a series of twice-monthly progress summaries, a photo of our babies from each month beginning at month 3, an initial photo of our babies as they each entered the infant center program, and each baby also received a hand drawn Christmas wish picture form there nanny as well as hand prints and foot prints. These were a genuine and unexpected treat that we received, and of course all text was in Chinese so that is where Nancy enters into the assistance phase while each parent had a chance to take copious notes :)

And now, I want to take time to publicly send thanks and appreciation to all the folks around the world who are active sponsors and donors to the YiYang SWI orphanage and it's HTS nannies, children, and infant center. Know and be assured that each and every baby in this latest group of little Spice Girls from Hunan benefited and prospered, each in their own personal way, through their early months of development through your generosity and love. Having a chance to know and bond with our little girls over the last week, I can tell you that what you do makes a huge difference for every baby in YiYang SWI, those that find new homes, as well as those that remain. Be proud of your efforts, they are making a difference!!!

Signing off now, for the trip to Hefei later today to visit with Nancy's family before our return home next week.

Charles, Nancy, Emily

Visa Day! April 18 - Photos Added

Every family passed their visa application process yesterday, so today at 2:30PM local time we all hop on a ride to the consulate office (about 40 minutes away) to complete our swearing in ceremony and receipt of visa for each baby.

Since we are an afternoon appointment with the consulate and do not expect to return until after 5:30PM, we decided to do the Red Couch ceremony and photo session this morning so the babies are still fresh and perky. For those who have not adopted in China in the past, the Red Couch is a "must do" on visa day to celebrate completion of all the requirements in order to return home with baby. The red couches are actually located in the White Swan Hotel so we made a short walk there this morning at 10:00 AM and turned the kids loose on the couches for about 30 minutes while parents made the most of the photo opportunities. I got some great pictures of Emily and Nancy, and vice versa. We also did some photo shots of all nine little girls on the couch together. We even got most of them without tears which is no small feat when you put 9 little girls on one couch with adults surrounding them and flashing away with cameras. All in all, a fun event, though a bit stressful for the babies.


Hey! ... Don't Take My Picture!!

Emily hates noisy crowded conditions so she got pretty fussy after about 10 minutes of that gig. After the red couch shoot, I took Emily and Nancy to the central Koi pond and waterfall in the White Swan for a few shots near the waterfall. Emily loves to watch the Koi fish in the water so that was smooth sailing except to get her to look to the camera instead of in the pond :)


Emily & Mommy Checking Out The Leaves

Tomorrow morning, most of the families are headed to Hong Kong for connecting flights home. For Nancy, Emily, and I, we will take an afternoon flight to Hefei in Anhui province to spend a week with Nancy's favorite Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. This is probably the only chance for Nancy's Aunt and Uncle to see Emily any time soon, so while we would really rather head home at this point it is an important step for us to detour to Hefei. I am sure that Emily will get lots of love and cuddles in Hefei and we will get a chance to rest a bit more with the family doting on Emily. So I am sure it will all work out fine in the end :)

At this point, I would like to take time to share with everyone what a wonderful mother Nancy is for Emily. Those of you who know Nancy already know that she is a pleasant, compassionate, caring, warm hearted person. Now just imagine how Nancy exudes all of those traits when a little baby girl that she can call her own is in her arms!! It's not just Emily that has blossomed this last week. The mother has too! Nancy is so loving, nurturing, attentive and caring for Emily. Nancy as mommie was very very important to Emily in those first few days when there was trauma, and fear, and uncertainty in her surroundings and what was going on. Nancy took the time to really get to know Emily's little cues an messages, and to respond to them immediately. She took time to talk with Emily in Mandarin for the first important day when she was pretty well shut-down from overload of experiences all in one day. As the days have progressed, Nancy has been very adaptive and responsive in everything she does with and for Emily. I know that this has played a large part in Emily's excellent adjustment and blossoming over the last week. As the daddy, I have had the priviledge to play with Emily and nurture and cuddle and laugh with her each day, and we very much have a loving and bonded relationship now. But I give huge credit to Nancy both for those early crucial hours of nurture, as well as each and every day of loving care and attention to Emily. There is no way I can express strongly enough to Nancy how much I admire and respect what she does for Emily everyday. So I think it is only proper that I take time to share with all of you how wonderful she is as Emily's mom! Kudos for Nancy!!

Once we depart for Hefei tomorrow afternoon, I may once again be in the internet eclipse zone (as was the case in Changsha where we had broadband access, but it was not so broad, nor reliable). So I will endeavor to post one more Blog entry telling everyone about the consulate visit today to get the visas and then will post from Hefei later in the week as opportunity permits. We will be staying at the local "baby hotel" the Novotel in Hefei so I am hopeful to have internet access there, but can make no promises until I get there and try it out :)

And Finally...A Photo! + Some Updates April 17 - Photos Added

Nancy and I want to thank you all for the kind and warm replies to our posts here! It is nice to be able to share our adventures, and to hear back from our friends and family.

This is a scan copy of little Emily's visa photo shot. As I have said before, she is a cutie, isn't she?! :)

So while she has great big pudgy little cheeks once she starts to smile, one thing I have to make everyone aware of is this little girl has a tiny little butt. Yep, baby has got NO back! But she more then makes up for it with all the spunk and frolic she now sports each day.

So today is the application meeting with the US Consulate. Nothing for us to do except stand by for questions if the Consulate has any. Chris will do the actual meeting and application filing on behalf of all the families.

We pretty much have a leisure day today to get out and do whatever we want after lunch and we get the "all clear" from Chris. Emily loves outdoors and as the weather is now sunny and warm... I am sure we will spend a good deal of time outside today seeing the local sites. I know for sure I will be shopping for more locally made toys with bells in them as she just loves them.

Yesterday we bought Emily a cute little traditional Chinese dress, Teal colored with gold trim and little butterfly patterns scattered across it. She will wear this for her "red couch" photos on Tuesday. I really want to get a little pair of the "squeaky" shoes for her too, for when she is ready to walk in a few months. Nancy shows all the signs of a small buying binge for little dresses to take home as well :)


Emily Waits For Her Medical Check-up
.... A Pondering Look In Her Eyes

Progress Update on Emily:
Let me just start by saying that yesterday she developed and released some really nice vocal squeals when she gets really happy (which is often these days). She continues to become more and more animated each day, and we have not seen this plateau yet. She has a very effective little movement of looking over her shoulder slowly to make eye contact with daddy and then giving a great big huge toothless grin and giggle. Yep, you guessed it.... she owns daddy with that move.

She continues to do well with developing her skills for sitting and I expect her to have full balanced sitting within a couple weeks. She has the ability and physical strength, just has not had this coached and developed prior to our receiving her. She has good strength in her legs and can stand with assistance for balance for several minutes at a time. We have to trick her into laying on her belly (by cuddling her and then leaning back so she is resting on our chest) and she had full ability to lift and articulate her head as well as typical crawling movements with legs and a good level of arm strength when she wants to apply them. This makes for a good outlook for a quick move to crawling after she matures with sitting. [babies in China orphanages go straight from crib to walkers at about 5-6 months age so they generally do not learn unassisted sitting and absolutely devoid of crawling skills. On the other hand, when we put them in walkers at the Dolton Hotel in Changsha, some of them were pretty much hell on wheels.]

Emily has developed a taste for licking mommies food spoon, which is a habit we think she picked up from her nannies at the orphanage. If Nancy takes a table spoon and rubs the back side of it in any food that has a salty taste to it, Emily will stick out her tongue and lick and lick and lick with joy. We now have her on a regular pooping schedule after the initial intervention with a suppository at day 4 to get her going. Chris advised that we put a little bit of honey in her milk at each feeding as this is a traditional remedy in China for constipation. We have taken to putting a third of a container of baby food banana in as well in place of half of her rice powder. While the normal orphanage diet is a bottle of warm sweetened milk power (4 parts) + rice powder (8 parts), this combination is definitely binding in nature so I have to wonder how they kept em flowing at the orphanage. I am guessing that they fed them mashed fruit and fruit juices in the afternoon. Emily shuns baby food at this point, so we have opted to slip it in her milk for expediency with the honey and seems to work fine.

Tomorrow is our final meeting with the US Consulate where we will swear-in that we have provided factual and accurate paperwork and further swear that we will provide for and never abandon Emily. At the conclusion of this brief ceremony, Emily receives her IR3 visa and a super secret sealed envelope we are not permitted to open and must present to the Immigration officials when we land in San Jose.

GuongZhou - The Last Leg :) April 16 - Photos Added

Coolness .... On a Walk-A-Bout With Mom

Easter Sunday here. After several days of rainy windy weather in Changsha and here, the sun is finally peeking through and the winds dying down. We expect some warming weather, which is refreshing for change and make for less stress on mom and dad with keeping wind and cold from the baby.

We arrived in Guongzhou late (very late, 11:30 PM) and then headed to the hotel. Emily did surprising well on her first air flight. She was tired and hungry at flight time, but would not take and food. She had no difficulties at all with the air pressure changes, and while being somewhat fussy at first, she settled into a nap about half way through while strapped to mom in her carrier. The long bus ride to the airport (40 min) was generally good as she loves bus rides and likes to look out the window.

After Check-in to the hotel, Emily went straight to bed, and we crashed quickly as well. We needed to be up again by 7:30 to get ready, feed Emily, and go grab breakfast before meeting back at the hotel to start the days activities for the next step in adoption (visa photos for Emily, medical exam, and paperwork prep for visa applications with US Consulate). Due to a huge annual trade show here, we ended up staying at the Victory Hotel (and actually the old hotel annex) as rooms were just not available at the White Swan. The city is bustling with activity and many foreigners are here at the hotel.

Are You Looking At Me??

First item for the day was visa photos, at a photo shop a short couple blocks from the hotel. I am happy to say that Emily gave one of her very best smiles for that photo. A smile in fact that I have yet to capture myself on film. So we ordered up extra photos of that to take home as they were so cute.

Next item, a short walk of 4-5 blocks to a local medical clinic that is approved by the Consulate to perform the required medical exam for visa application. Basically, the exam is three steps and you go to a separate booth for each. They do a basic physical check, followed next by weight, height, temperature, and lastly a basic test of hearing and response to sound and sight stimulus.

Then it was time to go back to the hotel and stack up some zzzzzz's for Emily and us for an couple hours. Timing was perfect as Emily usually crashes at 11:30-12:00 for a two or three hour nap. Great recovery time for us as well :)

Last item of the day, beginning at 3:00 is to meet with our facilitator (Chris) and do all the required paperwork prep for application for immigrant visa for Emily. This little girl no literally has paper work that exceeds her own weight I think!

Emily and I enjoyed playing and looking out the windows at the trees in the park below, and an afternoon feeding while Nancy handled all the paperwork. By early evening, it was time to choose a place for dinner and then settle in for the night. We ate at the local Thai food place around the corner and I must say it was fantastic food. On the way back, we did a bit of shopping, got a nice little teal colored traditional Chinese dress for Emily, and then headed back to crash for the night.

Today's activities are more relaxed after the hectic Friday night and Saturday. Our group of families will be headed to visit an Buddhist temple in the morning then free leisure activities in the afternoon. I plan to shop for a few more toys for Emily as they have some great little rattles and balls in the shops that have little bells in them (one such rattle was Emily's favorite in the orphanage). They make lots of bell like noises and are bright colors.

Emily continues to do well, and gets more and more extroverted with each new day. Nancy and I are amazed at how much her personality has blossomed over the last week. For a little girl who was quiet and introverted much of the time in the orphanage, and known for her aversion to strangers.... she exhibits no such behaviors any more. She continues to learn new things quickly and becomes more bubbly each day. She will happily flirt with complete strangers and capture attention with her big smile, poking little tongue and giggly noises now.

We expect to finish up the Consulate work and the final appointment by Tuesday local time. Wednesday all the families will depart for home (or other destinations). I will post again in a day or two on our progress and activities since internet services is much improved here in GuongZhou.

Gotch Day +4 Cruising Right Along - April 14 - Photos Added

Apologies for the long interval between posts. Internet service in Changsha is less then stable, and Yahoo mail is totally unstable (so I have not been able to check my mail account at all).

Emily is doing outstandingly! Over the last few days she has just blossomed into a happy frolicking little girl. I just love seeing her big little grin and that little tongue poking out when she is blissing out. With the limited internet here, you will all just have to wait on photos though. But let me just say she is even cuter then her dossier photo and now sports a full head of hair.

Each day with Emily is new learning for her and for us. She initially bonded with Nancy, and so I stayed back a bit as she habitually did not like strangers at the orphanage. Nancy quickly bonded on the more supportive level with feeding, diapers, nurturing, etc. On day 2 she was more responsive to me and less hesitant so I was able to begin to engage her with play toys and lots of play time. By the end of day 3 she was equally bonded with us both and in some ways even stronger to me then to Nancy. We taught her to put her hands up when she wanted to be picked up and held from her crib (she's a quick study on new things by the way). And she now interacts with us on all levels, and I am happy to say she is not hesitant of strangers at all any more and will grin and flirt with people both in our group and complete strangers in the hotel or on the street.

Emily particularly loves being loaded into her Ergo carrier on Nancy and taking off for outdoors. She coos and giggles as soon as she sees Nancy put on the carrier.

Developmental progress is excellent with Emily. We think she suffered vs some of the other kids in the orphanage because she tended to exhibit shyness and fussiness. However, one very interesting event is that she literally was averse to sitting on day 1, yet by breakfast today, she could sit with little or no assistance at all on the seating couches in the cafe. Very quick progress with just patience, coaching and preping by us. She continues to be very fussy about new experiences and her first reaction is to cry and reject. However after we have done something with her 2-3 times, she begins to settle down and quickly adapt. She adores human attention and will soak up all Nancy and I have to offer, and then some :)

One thing Emily arrived with is a strong set of self-nurturing skills. She is very capable of going to sleep within minutes of hitting the crib and has a whole little talking ritual to herself she goes through in the process. She will do this same thing if rocked gently in Nancy's arms to relax her before setting her in the crib. Sleeps soundly, and generally through the night with no fuss.

The last milestone for her this week was to do the all important poop. We elected to assist her with this last night and our adoption facilitator Chris kindly administered a proven and effective little suppository ointment tube for us (as he has done for countless babies over the years). Worked like a charm too. She did two nice poops within a half and hour and then settled into a nice nights sleep. We are including some honey in her milk/cereal formulas now to encourage continued regularity.

So many other things to share about Emily, but that can wait til a later time. We just wanted all our friends and family at home to know she is doing well, as are we.

Today we receive her final adoption certificate and her passport. Yay!! Later tonight we all head to Guongzho for the last leg of our adoption Journey - the all important US Consulate meeting for her immigrant visa.

More to come later from Guongzho.

Gotcha Day +1 Whoo Hoo!! April 11 - Photos Added

What can I say...... except that baby Emily is wonderful, adorable, and doing fine!! It was a true joy to see everyone with their new babies yesterday and again today at breakfast.

Emily is a treasure beyond compare. Very alert, like to watch everything around her, even beginning to talk some and can identify mommies nose, ear, and mouth on request (in Chinese of course). She is a very shy baby and is not one to take easily to strangers, so yesterday was rough for her. But by this morning, we had her cooing and giggling and smiling some so she is doing superb all things considered.

Today she got her first bath from mommie and new clothes for the trip to breakfast. We were able to feed her yesterday from the bottle using her normal formula from the orphanage. Today while she would not take congee at breakfast, steamed egg was devoured with delight! She was friendly and happy seeing strangers today so that is a great positive sign that she is settling down and getting comfortable.

Yesterday was a marathon. At 9:00 we arrived at the civic center in Changsha and the babies arrived the very same moment and followed us in. Within 10 minutes every family was holding their new babies, and after a few delays we headed back to the hotel to start paperwork immediately with Chris. At 2:00 it was back to the civic center for the afternoon to complete the legal adoption filing, notarize all documents, and pay all remaining fees. At around 5:00 we were headed back to the hotel. Very tiring day and very difficult for the little ones, but today I can see and say all are doing very well.

We wait the rest of this week in Changsha for the final adoption certificates and the baby passport in order to travel to Guongzho to complete the visa paperwork with the US consulate early next week. So the rest of this week is "get to know baby" time and maybe a couple of outings to tour a few sites in Changsha with Chris later in the week.

All in all.. other then the marathon pace yesterday........... we have had a wonderful experience and so happy to have Emily in our arms and legally ours now, as are all the other parents I'm sure!

Dolton Hotel by the way is fabulous. They are THE baby hotel in Changsha and we are all on a single floor devoted to newly adopting parents. Fabulous, with the possible exception of squirrelly internet service... but hey I can take that :)

Will touch base again later in the week if I can. 'til then cheers from Changsha

Changsha - April 10 - Gotcha Day! -Gotcha Photo Added

All families are safe and tucked in at the Dolton Hotel. :) All families are doing well, and of course we are all excited about this mornings events.

At 9:00 Am we traveled to a local government office to present our passports and Travel Authorization Letters for verification. Paper and passports were crosschecked and we each receive our little girls immediately. Yay!!!

Little Emily in Mom's Hands at Gotcha Time

General plan is for us to return to the hotel after this meeting for a couple hours of quiet time, then off to afternoon meetings to begin the paperwork process for completing legal adoptions.

Shanghai - Changsha (April 9)

Quick morning update before we pack and scoot to the airport :)

Had a great nights sleep after the massive crash-out on the bed around 10:00. Nancy tells me I literally was snoring within 3-4 minutes after my head hit the pillow. For me, usually it requires a good nights sleep on the second night to really clear the jet lag. And so be it... I feel much refreshed this morning.

Checked in with all families last night and this morning, Everyone is here and doing well (in various stages of jet lag of course). Until we are hooked up with Chris later today in Changsha, Nancy has become the unofficial travel coordinator for all families, helping with communications, offering translation and other help with the locals as needed.

Each family of course already has various little stories and adventures to tell, but I will leave that for each family to share as time permits :)

Nancy and I will pack this morning, then walk the local streets to grab some breakfast. (Hotel buffet was not included in our room price and my experience is the hotel buffets are not worth paying extra for in China unless you are just too tired to go outside for some local food). Once we come back to the hotel, it will be 10:00 ish and time to get everything ready for an 11:00 checkout and taxi ride to the regional airport (which is where all domestic flights arrive/depart).
We depart for Changsha at 1:40 PM and will arrive there at around 4:30. Chris, our Heartsent facilitator will meet us there and we will be in his trusted hands for the next week or so as we pick-up the babies and work through our paperwork, notarizations, passports for babies, etc.

I will provide updates to this post once I have internet access in Changsha (wherever and whenever that may be).

'til then.... Cheers!

Saturday April 8 - Shanghai [Updated]

[Updates at the bottom of post]

OK, after crashing last night and getting some great sleep for the first few hours, it became an series of short naps until 5:00AM at which point we are up and I figured it would be a good time to update the blog.

Note: I am not able to access the actual blog posts for some reason (China censorship of blogs, or just hotel computer DNS foul-up), so I will post em and refine them later after I have a chance to browse. In general, I will try to make a new posting each day to create the time stamp and sequencing of blog posts, and will make updates later as there is more information of interest to fill in.

Nancy and I will be heading into downtown Shanghai this morning for food, some shopping, and a bit if sightseeing. Then head back to the hotel after lunch and start to see about connecting up with the other Heartsent families. We know that some should already be here as of last night and others will be arriving through the day and evening.

Nancy being a native of Shanghai (came to the US in 1986), always loves to see her home city and the changes taking place.

Daily updates!:

Spent the early part of the day getting live with our cell phone in Shanghai. Easy here to get local SIM cards to put into your phone. HOWEVER, newer cell phones are designed with firmware that prohibits you from just removing your provider SIM and installing a purchase-n-go SIM card with local minutes. We did not know this until we popped the new SIM in and the phone (a Motorola V550) demanded something called a Subsidy Password. This is a lockout code required to allow the phone work in any local cell region and is done to allow phone companies to keep you captive to their regional net. So, after getting mad at Cinglular and Motorola, we just went shopping and picked up a cheap local phone and off we go :) I do not recommend local cell phone service unless you are fluent in Mandarin, since Nancy is, this is a great safety net for us and the group.

After phone shopping, we headed into downtown Shanghai along the shopping district (WaiHai Road). There is a famous open market there that Nancy likes to shop and haggle at. We hear the market will close in another month though due to government pressures. It is possible to buy "seconds" and "gray market" designer products like Prada and Gucci there (many of which are actually made in China). Nancy is usually able to buy anything she likes for about 90% discount off the "caucasian" price :) as long as I am not standing near her as she puts the Shanghaineese shopping moves on the merchants. I went and toured the local city park down the street, plus shopping for snacks and water, and left her to shop for a couple hours. After shopping, with a bag full of gifts to take home, Nancy and I reconnected and we headed off for local food at one of the many great local restaurants (where I am usually the only non-Chinese in the room).

Later in the Afternoon we went back to the hotel and then to the Waterfront walkways across from the hotel for some fresh air. Later afternoon, we started connecting by phone or phone message with the rest of the families (some not arriving until mid-evening yet). Nancy called Chris to confirm if he would meet us in Shanghai or in Changsha. He told us he will meet us in Changsha at the airport and be with us from then on. So we let all the other families know that Shanghai means we will all be on our own, and need to plan on taxi or car service to the regional airport no later then 11:00 to give the usual time to check-in and loiter at the gate.

Evening time gave us the opportunity to Meet Kai Wong and his family (Fair Oaks office) and chat and catch up on events together. Kai and his wife were in China traveling to take their adopted daughter (Katie) to see her home city where her orphanage was (insert city name here later). Katie, and their other adopted daughter Hanah are adorable and having a blast in China. We went out to dinner with Kai and his family at night down town and had a blast. Great food, great conversations and fun.

After a long dinner, we taxied back to the hotel, by which time I am on chapter 2 of jet lag and needed to show and crash for the night :)

(refined updates later, as time permits)

Safely In Shanghai [updated]

Updated: April 8, AM

We are in Shanghai and and settled in at the Peace Hotel for the night. After taking a nice long hot shower, we crashed almost immediately and got some really good power sleep for several hours. Then the time lag kicked in and it has been 30 minute naps off and on for a couple hours now. It is 5:30 AM and no more sleep for now I think.

Our Flight Over:
Living in San Jose, Nancy and I took the opportunity to try a different flight route this time and avoid SFO completely. Instead we flew to Shanghai from San Jose by taking American Airlines to Tokyo and then a connecting flight on ANA to Shanghai. The total flight time is a few hours longer due to the connection in Tokyo, but it is really fantastic to be able to fly from San Jose since we live only a few miles from the airport. The return leg will be the same routes, and with the long leg being the Tokyo to San Jose flight on and American 777, it will actually make things easier for us and for Emily on the return home as San Jose International is much less hectic and not 90 minute car service after clearing Immigration.

We arrived on time in Tokyo on Friday and had no difficulties making the terminal transfers and check-in between American and ANA. Operations at Tokyo airport for international connecting flights are crisp and efficient, with the exception of some language limitations if questions are asked. So we had about 90 minutes once all settled in at the ANA gate to do some shopping and snacking in the airport.

The flight from Tokyo to Shanghai was also pleasant, with great food on the airline (for a change) and with an evening arrival in Shanghai after the early evening Jumbo Jet rush well ahead of us, Shanghai International was almost empty and we cleared immigration and customs in less then 20 minutes with bags in hand. No lost baggage, and only about 30 minutes behind schedule at the end of 17 hours travel.

We hired a cab from the airport to take us to the Peace Hotel. Fast, took us 35 minutes, happily no traffic as it was after rush hour. Cab fares are very reasonable in Shanghai. We made the long trip from the airport to the Peach Hotel in The Bund for 145 Yuan.

Hotel check in was fast and uneventful. The staff are friendly and professional. We elected to get a room with a king size bed, so that lands us in one of their executive state rooms on the 6th floor, and hence we have a great bed, nice large room & bath to spread out in, and a computer for typing all of this into the blog as well. Hotel rooms are pricey in Shanghai and this one runs us $198 a night, but after a long trip... it is money well spent for our short stay here in Shanghai.

The Hotel is very old (built back in the 20's) but is very nicely restored (with modern updates combined with original features and charm) and gives you genuine opportunity to feel the ambiance of earlier imperial British presence here in Shanghai. Nancy and I generally stay at one of the newer 4 or 5 star hotels in downtown Shanghai when here, but this is a nice change of pace, pleasant, and besides this is our rally point chosen for us by Heartsent.

[Photos to come later]

That's it for now, time to go relax and try for maybe one more nap before we get up and hit the city in the morning.

Weeee!

It's Wednesday the 5th, the work day is about over.. and we are now less then 20 hours to departure.

Needless to say... neither Nancy or I will sleep well tonight. In fact.. ever since TA/CA day on March 27, a full nights sleep just is not in the cards for us any more. Just too excited about Gotcha Day! Night time has become more of a series of naps, followed by some reading or TV until falling asleep for the next nap. Excited!... that's it.... and yet the word can't really state the feeling fairly either.

Over the next few days, all 9 families will be making their way to Shanghai. It will be really fun to finally get to meet everyone face to face as we prepare for the short trip to Changsha by air. I can just imagine what sleep (or lack thereof) will be like on Sunday night!

We have a 15x20 inch enlarged photo of Emily (from her referral picture) on our bedroom wall these days. As one on-line friend has reminded me several times over the last month, I need to spend some quality time admiring Emilys little fingers, because those are what she will be busily wrapping me around very soon :) That does not help with the sleep thing at all, but it is definitely fun to do.

This will be our last blog post until we are in-country in China. Wishing safe travels and arrivals for all our companion families traveling with us to pick-up their baby girls too!! See you all in Shanghai!!

Cheers!

Our Travel Plans

Seems like so long ago that we started this journey! Filed our application paperwork with Heartsent Adoptions on June 23, 2005. DTC on October 21, 2005 (and eligible for expedited referral, as Nancy was born in China). Received our referral for Xia Dou on February 28. Now it is time to travel to China for "Gotcha Day". We are almost complete! /Cheer!!!

So where are we going, and what will we be doing?

April 6 - Depart San Jose for flight to Shanghai (via Tokyo). Spend two nights in Shanghai, and meet up with the rest of our group of 9 adopting families.

April 9 - We fly into Changsha city, Hunan Province.

April 10 - On Monday we will meet with the director of the YiYang SWI orphanage and we will meet our daughter, Xia Dou (Emily Sarah), in person for the first time. From this point on, Emily is with us!! This is "Gotcha Day", the day all adopting parents wait for... when baby joins family.

April 10-14 - We will spend the week in Changsha to complete China legal adoption paperwork for Emily, obtain her passport and travel visas, in preparation for travel to Guangzhou. If we are fortunate, we will also have opportunity to visit Emilys' orphanage sometime during the week.

April 15 - To complete our adoption process we will fly to Guangzhou in Southern China. Here, Emily, will receive a physical, we will fill out additional paperwork (can't have too much paperwork for this little girl), receive clearance for issue of her IR3 visa to travel to the USA.

April 18 - Final meeting with the US Consulate in Guangzhou where we will receive Emily's visa.

April 19 - Travel to Hefei, in Anhui Province to spend the week with Nancy's favorite aunt & uncle, and cousins.

April 26 - Travel to Shanghai again, stay over night in preparation for departure home on the 27th.

April 27 - Travel home to San Jose (via Tokyo), arriving home 10:35 AM local time in San Jose. Pass Immigration and customs... and Emily is officially a US citizen as soon as she clears immigration in San Jose.. YaY!! A quick drive home to settle in and crash for some real sleep time, then it will be play time for all of us together. :)

Emily Sarah @ 4 Months of Age

What a cutie!!

Yah.... Yah.. all the parents say that, don't they?! :)

Xia Dou (Shao' Doe') means Summer Bean

Her adopted name will be Emily Sarah, but she will always be Xia Dou Dou (little summer bean) to us :)


March Progress Update from YiYang:
Xia Dou is healthy and doing well.
Weight: 16 lbs
Height: 25.5 inches
Chest: 16 inches
Head: 16.5 inches
Foot: 4.5 inches

Referral Dossier Translation:
Yin Xia Dou was found at the front gate of Hunan City University by a university retiree, Mr Tsia Ray Hua. Later that same day, she was brought to YiYang SWI. She wore a red cotton baby suit and was wrapped in a small blanket. She had a round face and thick dark hair. YiYang police department was unable to locate her biological parents after some investigation and nobody came forward to claim her after 2 months of newspaper postings, thus she was confirmed abandoned. She was named Yin Xia Dou, Yin for Yin (YiYang) city, Xia for Summer (her time of birth), and Dou meaning bean, because her caretakers wished for her to grow up strong (bean is a symbol of strength).

Xia Dou was 4 days old when admitted to YiYang SWI. The doctor gave her a physical examination, found her to be healthy and doing well: her weight 7.7 lbs, height 19 inches, head 13.5 inches, chest 12.6 inches.

At 3 months of age, Xia Dou would laugh when teased, could raise her head while lying on her stomach, and would play with her hands or touch her own face when lying on her back. When she heard music, her eyes would brighten up and she would try to locate the direction of the sound. She could grasp things with her hands and visually follow movement of colored objects. Capable of standing for short periods with someone holding her underarms.

Photo above taken at 4 months of age, shows she has light complexion with two bright little eyes. She likes to listen to music and play with colorful toys that make sounds. She likes to play games with her caregiver. When her caregiver talks to her, she will stare at the caregivers face and try to talk back with "ooooo" sounds. She can sit for long periods of time with some support.

Favorite activity is to listen to music. Favorite toy is a little ringing bell.