Jet Lag

I can get over jet lag expertly, sans a toddler. So Harper finally fell asleep last night a little before 8 pm, but was up at midnight. We had a snack, did some puzzles, read some books, watched some Bernstain Bears on TV, and finally I declared at 3:30 am that it must be time to go back to bed (the cats agreed). She slept well until we woke her up mid-morning to go out into the sunshine. We were off with Harper in her I-do-not-like-this-so-much-its-confining carseat to "coffee" with the gals from the gym where we sit outside. Then after a late afternoon nap, we headed to a nearby park with grandma in tow. Harper really thought this was great fun.

All in all, a pretty good first full day at home for Harper. Jaden is adjusting, too, and a wonderful big sister wanting to push the stroller, feed her, and running all over the park yelling "Harper, follow me!". I can already tell that Harper is going to do some things for her sister that she will not do for me (e.g., give Jaden that battery that I have been trying to wrestle out of her tight fist). The cats are also figuring things out. Minnie is meowing her head off if Harper is crying (she did this as well with Jaden as a baby), and Mickey is enjoying checking out the toys and otherwise observing everything from a safe distance. Harper acknowledges them, saying "meow meow". She has not really touched either of them yet, but her air swipes are coming ever closer.

Both girls in bed tonight by 10:30 pm. Let's hope Harper makes it a chunk of hours, because I find jet lag makes me very loopy. And I have no idea what I did with the TV remote.... I even checked the trash! It would be nice to make Harper the scape goat, but I don't think she had anything to do with its disappearance.

Thanks to everyone who has followed along and supported my adoption adventure. The blog posts, emails, texts, and Words with Friends messages were all much appreciated and made me feel like I was sharing her before we even got home. I will post again in a week or so. Until then, pictures from the day including one from friend, Kim!

"I think I am going to like all these coffee gals." (credit: VI Photos)

"Yes, share with me jie jie!" (held by friend, Nora)

"No grandma, I don't want to hold your hand OR give you a kiss!"

"This is fun and I don't even need to hold on."

"Whoa, we are comin' down fast!"

"The park is for me!!!"

Home!

We are home! It is 6:45 pm and Harper is still on her feet. It was a long travel day, in which she did quite good on the flights. Not a cry out of her the first 8 hours of the 12 hour flight to San Francisco, but after falling asleep and never getting comfortable, she was not a happy camper. So I walked her around the plane and except for a 10 min cat nap in the car after arriving in San Diego, she has not shown an interest in sleeping since we have come home. But she is fading, I think - how can a kid with less than 2 hours of quality sleep go for 24 hours!!! Her tenacity is amazing.

And today had a first.  She was entertaining herself nicely in her seat (I owe this trip to stickers) and I kind of closed my eyes, a mini doze. I got a slug on my arm and "mama"! That was so nice; up until now she has said "mama" when prompted with a picture or looking in the mirror. And she has said it a few more times today. If she would just say "night night mama" I could get some sleep!

Jaden and Diane met us at the airport, which was great. Jaden and Harper are interacting well, and Jaden is quickly learning not to leave things she does not want Harper to have in her reach.

I will keep the blog going a tad longer as Harper explores her new life. For now, welcome home, Harper! We have waited a long time for you.

At Hong Kong airport ready to check in. And for the record,
I was able to transport all of it WITHOUT the cart.

At SFO awaiting luggage in customs. I should have known I was
in trouble as she was showing no signs of sleepiness.

Family reunion at San Diego airport. I am HAPPY to be home with
both my girls!

Sisters. Harper had all sorts of smiles and giggles for her sister's
antics. I think they will get along together just fine.

Jaden showing Harper the collection of toys awaiting her at home.

Jaden really wanted to feed Harper, and Harper, the social eater
that she is, went along with it.

Hong Kong

We had our last "usual" morning routine in Guangzhou, which after Starbucks has included the little grocery store that I remember shopping at during Jaden's adoption. The man who runs the store has given Harper a lollipop every time we go in and so today we told him goodbye and she was bestowed another tasty, sticky treat. I have a few for the airplane if all else fails! We received Harper's passport with US visa this morning and after checking out of the hotel, we went with another family to the train station. I was planning on taking the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong by myself, but after just experiencing it, let me say how thankful I am for the help of this family and the nice man who helped drag one of my suitcases on the train since Harper was kicking to be let down (have I mentioned a sufficient amount of times that she is truly a 2 year old?!?). It was a scenic 2 hour train ride followed by 40 min van ride, but we arrived about 9 pm at a beautiful Marriott located at the airport (I wanted convenience at the end of this trip). Harper arrived asleep after no nap and I hope she gets good sleep tonight since she definitely has a cold and tomorrow is a long, long day.

I am pretty much packed, just have to rearrange some of the stuff in the carry-ons so she does not get into all the new stuff (toys, books, snacks) at once. Our flight is at 11:30 am so we will get up and go to the what-I-hear is a wonderful breakfast buffet; expensive, but I don't plan on eating the plane food! I also exchanged our RMB for HK$ so I have money to buy us some additional snacks. I think I have mentioned that she can eat a lot and her cold does not seem to have slowed her down. And on that note, I am going to go suck on another zinc lozenge!

Jaden, we will be home SOON and we can't wait!!!!!!!!!

Morning lollipop. She is going to miss this quite a bit! Notice her hair - we
did not sleep so well last night as her cold worsened.

On the way to train station in Guangzhou; Canton Tower - tallest building
in Guangzhou at 600 meters.

Having a late lunch while waiting for train. I ordered her a fried rice dish
that had some really interesting seafood; I had hot chocolate.

Tenley (12; adopted this trip), Michael (our guide this week), Maryn (10; Tenley's sister adopted
3 years ago), and Harper. The girls were EXCELLENT at entertaining Harper.

First train ride. Refused to wear her shoes and often ignored me when I
indicated she should be sitting in her seat. But a better experience than the first plane ride!

Play Date

It was a day without purpose other than hanging out while the visa is processed. We did the breakfast buffet (which I am going to miss), Starbucks (in the opposite order!), talked with Jaden on Skype until she wanted to watch TV :), did a little souvenir shopping, and then called our friends from the first week in China - the single mom adopting the 3 year old, "Gong Gong" (again, I do all this phonetically), who will be having bilateral cleft and palate surgery this summer. His mom is a nurse and she met him when he was 15 mo old and she traveled with a group of US doctors and nurses to do cleft repairs. Gong Gong's was too severe for the team, and for anyone else in China. She fell in love with the little guy and worked for a year towards a medical visa and found US surgeons to provide what was needed, gratis. But then, China opened up again to singles for the adoption of special focus kids (older, severe special needs) and she decided with her 9 year old daughter that they would like to add him to their family. So that is how it came to be they were in China and on that elevator the first day when I arrived and I asked "are you adopting, too?" I even saw Gong Gong before they did as he was in the lobby when I went down to wait for Yin Yin. We enjoyed our week together as the kids played and us single moms swapped stories. Jaden would have had fun that week (but still no regrets she did not come, the traveling is tough!). So back to today - Harper and I got in a taxi and went to their hotel about 20 min away to hang out for a couple hours before they had to get in their naps and pack before flying home tonight. We plan to stay in touch. I hope so as they are a very cool family.

Harper is resistant to falling asleep in any way, shape, or form the last few days. And she has sneezed all day and a slight runny nose, so I was not going to let her get away with no nap if I could help it. So it took her an hour and a half in her crib while I sat nearby to finally settle down after periodic protesting, but the cool part was that she was singing little songs, saying nursery rhymes (based on the repetitiveness), and otherwise jabbering away. I didn't dare move from my chair to get my phone for a video, but I should try to capture it. Very cute and she was singing some parts with such emphasis as I am sure she was taught. Also while packing she came across the rubber shoes she was wearing on Gotcha Day, and she insisted on wearing them to bed. Not sure if I can get them off her feet without waking her, and not sure if I want to.

Tomorrow, the train to Hong Kong, which would give me an anxiety attack but one of the other families here under Michael is on the same train and going to the same airport hotel, so that is huge help to me since I have added a stroller and seem to need one arm more to move all my "stuff". So for now, I can continue to focus my anxiety and dread on the flight home!!

Tai chi every morning around 8 am. We are on our way to Starbucks.

The stick-out-tongue phase appears to have been short lived. Gong Gong and his mom, also
little peek of big sister.

Gong Gong and Harper. She's a tad flirtatious don't you think?

Partners in crime.

US Consulate Appointment

We had a 10 am appointment at the US Consulate Office so headed out right after breakfast. But before that, we Skyped with Jaden and Diane, which made me very happy! Not much longer now until we are home. We headed upstairs to the consulate office about 30 min before our appointment - they have two times each day to process 12 families each. Our friends from the first province (single mom with two kids in tow) had the 8:30 am time, which would have been awfully early for us since it was quite a distance away. There is an oath that the parents take collectively on behalf of their child, and then each family meets with an officer to review the paperwork that is required to get the visa for the child's Chinese passport. Our officer was fairly smitten with Harper and she was impressed we were able to visit the SWI. Everything was in order and Michael should be able to pick up Harper's passport with visa tomorrow afternoon. That is the last thing we need to depart China.

Surprisingly, it did not rain today. We took advantage of that and made many mini-excursions from the hotel. On one occasion, we happened into two families with another adoption agency that are familiar from the various required adoption stops. We chatted in front of the hotel for quite a while and then a woman with her 17 year old daughter, whom she adopted 16 years ago, made a point to join us and ask about our girls - they were on a heritage trip that included the daughter being able to review her Chinese adoption records (since she was at least 16). Harper and I then went along with the families (with the newly adopted girls) to do some shopping on the island - it was nice to have English-speaking adults to talk to, and Harper always likes the people in the shops who speak to her in Mandarin. But it seems like she is understanding more and more English (I tell her to get her shoes and she does it), and she will mimic some of what I tell her. Today she was working on "happy" - she just thought it was the funniest word. And then I was making it "happy Harper" and that was hysterical. We went to the Thai place on the island - Cow and Bridge (!) - and ordered take out (she had no nap today and I am weary of what she might do in public - see picture #1 below). It was delicious (more vegetables than I ate all last week, combined) and we both ate a lot. She then had her bottle and I think she may have stuffed herself, but she is sleeping soundly so I guess she will digest it all just fine. And likely be hungry in the morning (she eats a lot!!!).

Harper entertaining herself (and others) while we waited in the lobby of the
building with the US Consulate Office. The more I pulled her dress down, the more she
pulled it up (of course...).

Getting ready to go upstairs for our appointment.

Harper practicing her kisses in the van back to hotel after appointment.
I am warming her up grandma!

Posing in her red, white, and blue outfit special for the day.

And she's off!

Hodgepodge Day

My day started with a little yoga; Harper's day started with watching me. She wakes up very mellow and I can just hear her stirring, nary a peep; she watched me very peacefully. Today we had to go back to the chaotic medical facility for her TB read - clear! And then I had Michael go with me to the bank that is a block away from the hotel, where the ATM machine "retained" my ATM card two days ago (never offered an English option so my attempts to cancel obviously produced some security response). Anyway, much paperwork later, my card was returned. That was a relief. The rest of our day was low key - picking up laundry, dropping off more laundry, napping (I was oh so tempted to close my eyes), going to Starbucks, playing in the room (quite a bit - the afternoon rains go on and on and on...), walking in the light rain because I had had enough of the room, and ordering room service for dinner (noodles for her - of course - and chicken curry for me). Tasty. And on the topic of eating, Harper was feeding me tonight the little yogurt drops for toddlers I brought from home. She got a xie xie (thank you in Mandarin) for each one and was very pleased with herself. I take it as a good sign that she continues to attach to me. She moved on to crackers and I had to distract her because I couldn't take much more. Between her feeding me snacks and trips to Starbucks, any weight loss on my China+toddler diet is going to be negated!

We are in the home stretch; two more full days here then on to Hong Kong for a night before returning home. I am trying not to think of the long flight, but starting to collect little items to distract her (how many things do you need if each keeps her occupied for 5 minutes?!?!). I hope to understand her better by the time we go, fingers crossed!

I feel like I need a big dose of sleep, which I can fortunately get because Harper is an excellent sleeper, so that's it for today folks! Enjoy your Memorial Day holiday. I am in a country where I am reminded how fortunate I am to have the liberties and freedom afforded as an American. And on Friday, add one more new citizen!

Today's hotel room game: Put something under your shirt at the neckline
and have it drop out the bottom onto the floor. Belly laugh. Do it 10 more times.
Get a new item and repeat!

Shamian Island promenade.

Harper in new stroller in front of my haven.

We find a nice Starbucks employee to take our picture. She is snacking on
a chocolate biscotti today (this was before mama got bites of anything!).

Walkway on the side of our hotel block. Very European in design.

There have been photo shoots in the above area every day, throughout the day.
Never quite sure what they are promoting, but I think the couples are announcing
engagements or marriages. This was a very pretty red dress and Harper and I enjoyed
watching her walk, twirl, and pose. I may have a girly girl here!

Xiangjiang Safari Park

There was no official business today and some of us wanted to go to the safari park on the outskirts of Guangzhou. It reminded me of the San Diego zoo/safari park in many ways, but what you will not see in the US is an open range section where you drive among the animals...wild animals ("safari on wheels"). We were on a tram thingy, but locals just drive their cars along the meandering path with nothing separating most of the animals from the cars, and some moats/low natural material fences for the meat-eaters (e.g., lions, tigers) and large animals (elephants, but not the giraffes). After that, we walked from one end of the park to the other ("safari on feet") and it was hot and sticky, but also enjoyable as the grounds are tropical and beautiful. There were frequent reminders that we were not in the US in the form of kids just peeing wherever their parents placed them on the sidewalk - I was pleased that Harper was happy in the stroller. Some cultural differences I will never understand.

We got back to the hotel late afternoon, sans a nap. So now the trick was not to let her fall asleep until an early bedtime so we played her current favorite game - put all the toys on the bed, push all the toys on the floor, laugh, put all the toys on the bed, ... you get the picture (tsk, tsk, right? encouraging her and then hoping she doesn't do it on that hellish 12 hour flight home?!? one day at a time...). And then she was rubbing her eyes so out we went into the rain, which started when we were finishing the safari park (and washing all that pee off the sidewalks, sorry, that's what I kept thinking as we took cover for the worst to pass). I had my travel umbrella and we took the 2-block stroll to Starbucks. Yes, in China, great new experiences, but I need my fix so I had a mocha while Harper ate all the chicken out of the panini they sell. And she plucked a biscotti off the rack and she had that, too. We continued our stroll around the block to get more diapers and she went right up and grabbed a cup of noodles, so once back to the room she devoured those, too. Add a night time bottle of milk and she was out like a light by 7:30 pm. If you are interested, I had a power bar and oatmeal brought from home.

In our one week together, she has changed so much. Much of it is expected as the traumatic experience of Gotcha Day (and I think "trauma" is an accurate word for what many experience, including Harper) ebbs and trust develops with her forever mama. Harper has not been sad since we have arrived in Guangzhou. She is still a little dubious of me on waking in the morning, and kind of looks at me sideways before putting her head down, then looking again (hmmm, that mama lady is still here). This morning was the first time she sat herself up pretty quickly and gave me a smile. Progress. There are mirrors in the elevator of the hotel and we practice saying "Mama", "Harper (or Yin Yin)". She has the cutest little voice!

This is just the wackiest mascot, but everyone else was getting a picture with him. Before this
picture, Harper was touching his nose. Amazing I don't look as hot and miserable as I felt at the time!

A very popular animal exhibit, as you can imagine. Pandas were inside because of the heat.

I liked this guy because he was rubbing his neck on the tree - reminded me of
our Mickey cat at home always wanting his ears rubbed. And you can see the road for tram and cars  -
nothing separating it from the animals.

Harper demonstrating her noodle slurping at lunch.

No-nap girl at Starbucks enjoying her biscotti.