Sweet Dance Moves

Dianjiang

If we had any doubt about how we feel about our little man (and I don't think we did), the trip to the orphanage today made it very clear. We left the hotel a little before 9:00 for the 2 hour drive. The second we got out of the car, at the orphanage David started to cry. He cried longer, louder and harder than we have ever heard him. (I realize that's only a couple of days, but they've been pretty traumatic days.) He was absolutely inconsolable. We found out that he left foster care a week before Gotcha Day and was returned to the orphanage. I'm sure he thought we were bringing him back again. It was heartbreaking. He didn't stop screaming until we were several miles down the road and his tummy was full of milk. Still, I'm glad we had the chance to see where he spent his first months and take pictures for him to have as he gets older and has questions about where he is from. The orphange also gave us a cd with children's songs they play for the babies, so we're happy to have some familiar music to play for him at home.

We made up for the traumatic morning with a really great afternoon. He learned to play ball today--actually roll/throw it back and forth. His accuracy could still use some work, but this is a big improvement from licking the ball, which is all he's done up to this point. He was very proud of some of his throws and even clapped for himself a couple of times. He is also loving pulling to a stand and walking with his hands held. He's making more sounds every day. Sometimes when he wants something he will shout "eh!" like he's from Brooklyn, and when he wants someone's attention he screams "yo!" It's pretty hilarious.

Kevin feels my thank you yesterday was insufficient and would like me to say thanks again for all the comments. We really enjoy reading them every day when we check the blog. We're glad we can share this with everyone at home.

On the road to Dianjiang

Enjoying some lunch

Playroom in the hotel

It's Legal

Well, our harmonious time is over. We returned to the civil affairs office this afternoon, and the adoption is legal.

We actually had a really great night last night. David slept from 8:45 until 6:45. After breakfast this morning, we went with one of the other families to a local market to buy more diapers and formula. The supermarket in China is an experience in and of itself. We saw live chickens, ducks, frogs (sorry Tracey), turtles and eels. David fell asleep in his stroller on the way back and had a nice morning nap. Unfortunately, his afternoon nap was interrupted by the picture taker at the civil affairs office who not only demanded that David be awake for our official photo but poked and prodded him for several minutes to get him into just the right position. He is now a very crabby boy. It's off to bed soon.

All the other families are doing great, too. It's really amazing to see how resilient these kids are.

Tomorrow we're taking a tour of his orphanage in Dianjiang, about a 2 hour drive from Chongqing.

Thanks to everyone for all your support!

Check out our mad face.
David loves water bottles.
Hanging out at the civil affairs office.
Bath time is no fun.

Harmonious Time

The long wait finally pays off. Instead of labor, here's how I spent the last hour before we picked up David.

The Chinese call the time between picking up your child and finalizing the adoption "harmonious time." Our harmonious time began this afternoon at 2:30 at the Civil Affairs office in Chongqing. There are four other families in our travel group, and we all went up to the 14th floor together to meet our children. It was quite a scene. There are 3 toddlers, including David, a 4 year old boy and an 8 year old girl.

David is great. Totally adorable with an enormous, flat head. Every time we've told him that we are "mama" and "baba," he has cried. He fell asleep on the way back from the civil affairs office while we read "Go Dog Go", but that didn't last long. We've enjoyed a snack of prunes and Cheerios, but he is shaking his head "no" at his bottle. So far we've learned that Cheerios are his favorite toy (great grabbing by the handful and dropping all over the place), he can walk with his hands held (though not particularly well) and, according to the daily schedule we received, his bedtime is 10:00pm. Not for long. I hope.

At the civil affairs office

Bus ride back to the hotel

I've been at this for almost an hour. The computer is being very uncooperative. More pictures tomorrow. Sorry I couldn't add more.

Chongqing

We made it to Chongqing. Our group met in the lobby of the hotel at 5:30 this morning to head out to the airport. It was about a 2.5 hour flight from Beijing to Chongqing. When we got to our room, we found a crib and stroller. (Insert Kevin freaking out here.)


Last night we sampled some of the local Beijing cuisine, including Peking duck. Tonight it was time to try Chongqing's specialty, hot pot. This is more or less spicy Chinese fondue with a bowl of boiling spices in the middle of the table that you can use to cook chicken, pork, vegetables, crab and various unidentifiable food items. It was really very tasty.


We also got to see the Great Hall of the People and spend some time at the riverfront. Chongqing is a pretty enormous city, with a population of 8 million in the city itself and 34 million living in the municipality of Chongqing (the blue area on the map to the right).


By the time you wake up tomorrow, David will be with us!

Forbidden City = Concubine Hotel

Today we toured the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall. It started pouring about 10 minutes after we got to the Forbidden City, and so we didn't linger there. We did learn that the emperor generally had around 3000 concubines, and the majority of the buildings there were more or less whore houses. Good times. It dried out briefly for our climb of the Great Wall. No Maas vacation would be complete without a strenous climb at some historical site.

Here is the enormous picture of Chairman Mao--Kevin's favorite.

Us at the Great Wall. I am freezing.

I heart flight map

We made it safely to China, along with the lovely Heath family from NC. Much to my dismay, we did not have individual screens on the flight over, so I was unable to stare at the flight map and constantly pester Kevin with useless information about what we were flying over. We actually flew straight north and over the Arctic Circle to get here. The North Pole made an appearance on flight map between movies which was exciting. (Yes, I'm that lame.) We are wiped out, so it's off to bed. The hair dryer in the hotel is not free, so please forgive my hair at the Forbidden City and Great Wall when we post pictures tomorrow.